‘It wore me down’: Postecoglou explains why he quit as Socceroos coach

Ange Postecoglou has given his clearest explanation yet as to why he quit as Socceroos coach four years ago, saying he was disillusioned when Australia’s 2015 Asian Cup triumph failed to leave the long-lasting impact on the sport that he thought it would.

Postecoglou, who is now in charge of Celtic and has already won his first trophy in Scotland after eight months, resigned from the Socceroos after sealing qualification for the 2018 World Cup, with Dutchman Bert van Marwijk later tasked with guiding the team through their campaign in Russia.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has opened up on his still-mysterious departure from Australian football four years ago.Credit:Getty

The circumstances of his departure remain somewhat mysterious to this day, but Postecoglou opened up on some of the reasoning behind why he needed what he jokingly described as a “trial separation” from Australian football in an interview on Stan Sport FC.

The former South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Yokohama F. Marinos boss said he had envisaged that winning the Asian Cup on home soil would be a “seminal moment” for the game in Australia, similar to what some European countries experienced when they won their continental title.

“I had this real clear vision about what I wanted to do as national team manager that I thought would go a long way to – not that I had all the answers, but helping us open some doors to finding some solutions for our game,” he said.

“The reason I was obsessed with winning the Asian Cup was because I thought that could be a watershed moment for Australian football because I think winning is everything. I equated it to the Euros. When a nation wins the Euros, irrespective of how strong a nation – could be a Denmark or Greece – it’s a seminal moment in that country’s evolution because, all of a sudden, they feel like they’ve achieved something.

Tim Cahill celebrates Australia’s Asian Cup final win over South Korea in 2015.Credit:Brendan Esposito

“I thought [that] would then give me the power and also allow me the opportunity and give us as a nation to stand up and say, ‘OK, this is who we are now.’ I wanted us to be the Brazil or the Germany [of Asia] … and that was my starting point.”

But Postecoglou said he was left with a “flat” feeling barely a week after the Socceroos beat South Korea 2-1 in front of 76,385 fans at Sydney’s Stadium Australia in the Asian Cup final, as it dawned on him that the code and the country was not responding the way he imagined.

“I misread what happened, what the impact it would possibly have,” he said.

“And then through that [Russia] World Cup campaign, I felt we’d just gone back into that cycle again of not understanding what it takes to become a really strong footballing nation. It wasn’t just about qualifying for World Cups, it was about having an identity, believing in something.

Ange Postecoglou guided the Socceroos to their crowning moment at the 2015 Asian Cup.Credit:AP

“That was going to be my benchmark – from now on, don’t accept anything less than winning the Asian Cup every time, qualifying for the World Cup and being the number one nation in Asia. And I couldn’t find that golden key to open that up.”

Postecoglou said he was still optimistic about the future of football in Australia, despite a clear decline in almost all aspects of the sport since that Asian Cup win, while the Socceroos are at risk of missing the next World Cup unless they can beat Japan and Saudi Arabia in their next two games.

He said he still followed the A-League closely and noted a new generation of coaches were coming through with the capacity to shape the game positively, but warned the impediments to the overall progression he had always yearned for were deeply rooted in Australia.

“Australian football’s so close to my heart. I said after I left the national team job, Australian football and me just needed a trial separation, just some space, because like a lot of people in Australia, it had worn me down,” Postecoglou said.

“I just want it to succeed so much. I want for us to become the football nation I know we can become, but the problems are so endemic in certain parts of our game that I found it really hard to break free.

“The answers I thought were there weren’t the right ones, obviously. And so moving forward, what does solve it? I just think we need constant scrutiny. There are some bright young coaches out there, some bright young people out there, we need to start tapping into them, and hopefully they’ve got the energy to make us the football nation I believe we can be.”

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