Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tuesday’s semi-final between Australia and Uzbekistan will see goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer become his nation’s most capped player, joining Alex Tobin on 87 caps for the Socceroos.
The 38-year-old Fulham goalkeeper talked to www.afcasiancup.com about reaching his latest milestone.
What does it mean to you to join Alex Tobin as Australia’s most capped international?
It’s a huge honour. If I look back 18 or 19 years to when I first starting playing for the national team, I would never have envisaged that I’d still be playing today and reaching such a milestone. It’s a great honour.
Alex Tobin is a fantastic servant of the game, he’s been a top player for the Socceroos for a long period of time and I made my debut with him in the side as well, so there’s a lot of connection there. He’s a great guy and a great servant of the game and it’s a real honour to be able to equal the record.
What would you pick out as the high point of your career so far?
I think probably qualification in 2005 for the World Cup, when we beat Uruguay and the whole dramatic circumstances and the history behind the games against Uruguay.
[Australia defeated Uruguay in a shootout to qualify for Germany 2006 with Schwarzer saving two penalties as the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974]
There was so much tension in the stadium and so much relief and outpouring of emotion once we had qualified and qualifying under such dramatic circumstances, it’s difficult to replicate that.
Four years later we did it by qualifying for South Africa under very different circumstances. That was a special feeling, because qualifying for the World Cup is the be all and end all, but there are ways of qualifying and if it’s dramatic as it was in 2005 then that’s when it’s pretty difficult to beat.
What impact has moving to Asia had on Australia’s aspirations for qualifying the FIFA World Cup on a regular basis?
What it’s done is it’s made it a fairer way to qualify. It’s given us a path whereby we can play 10 or 15 games and qualify by right. You can have an off day and still qualify. Previously we’ve gone down to two games, a home-and-away leg, and you don’t get very many opportunities for making any mistakes.
Being in Asia has a lot of other challenges; logistically, climate, conditions, facilities. It’s completely different and it can be vastly different from one country to another within Asia. Culturally it’s very different too. It’s been challenging in a lot of other aspects.
It’s been a must for Australian football to be involved in Asian football and it’s been brilliant for us. We’ve qualified by right for the World Cup and we have deserved to qualify.
Being in Asia has lifted our standard as a national team. We have to play at our best all the time. Since we have joined Asia and been the number one ranked team we have always had the pressure of wherever we play or whenever we play the other team has always seen it as a cup final. They are always out to knock us off that perch, which is only natural.
I like that situation, I like to be under pressure and that we have to perform in every game and that everybody’s on their toes and not taking anything for granted.
Prior to that, being in Oceania, we played a couple of games every few years and it wasn’t good for the development of the game. It wasn’t good for players wanting to continue on.
You were going to games and winning 8-0 or 9-0 and it doesn’t do anyone any good, not the team that gets beaten by that score nor us. So to have that strong competition on a regular basis, a drawn out affair in qualifiers, that’s invaluable for the development of the national team, for players coming through into the national team and for prolonging careers.
Had Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation sooner, do you think you would have surpassed Alex Tobin’s record much earlier in your career?
I think that would have been a strong possibility. But it is what it is and I’ve enjoyed it. What I can say is that I’ve had the opportunity to play within Asia. A lot of players who have played with the Socceroos haven’t had that opportunity and I’m very fortunate to have played in Oceania and in Asia. It’s been a fantastic learning curve for me.
How do this edition of the AFC Asian Cup compare with Australia’s previous involvement in 2007?
Performances mean everything and results so of course this is a better tournament. When you get to the semi-final compared to being knocked out in the quarters, it’s always going to be a better tournament.
What I have been impressed by here, in Qatar, are the facilities. They’ve been outstanding. The training fields, the pitches and stadiums have been to notch, comparable with anything we play on in Europe. Also the distances between venues and not having to change hotels have been brilliant. For us, it’s worked in our favour and we’ve been made very welcome since we’ve been here and well looked after. It puts a fantastic light on Qatar.
How has the approach of the Australia team changed this time around?
First and foremost, we never took anything for granted and never got ahead of ourselves. We looked at every game as a big game from day one. India, for us, was a big game. Take out rankings, take out where they’ve come from and how often they’ve played at this level, it was all about us going out there and approaching the game in the right mindset and getting the result that we needed.
So, you must be looking forward to the semi-final with Uzbekistan?
Very much so! This is what you’re here for and this is why you play for the national team. You want to be successful. To have the opportunity to play a team like Uzbekistan in the semi-final is huge and that’s what we set out to do.