NEW YORK, New York -- Players began to feel it properly last week, the morning after the Socceroos' disappointing 1-0 loss to Venezuela; a series of aches and pains across their bodies that didn't quite hit the same as those that normally hit the day after a game. That day's recovery session went ahead as planned, with just one absence that could be tied to these new symptoms, but pretty soon, the hot and cold flashes began to hit. Procedures were swiftly enacted to stop the spread throughout the team, and players were isolated, but by the time Sunday arrived, many of the playing group, as well as several staff, had been rendered bedridden, and training was cancelled.
Most people can probably sympathise with what they were feeling. But then add to that the Socceroos were expected to make the flight from Texas to New York on Monday. And then add to that the expectation that they play 13th-ranked Colombia in low single-digit temperatures. It was not ideal.
Yet, the Socceroos did manage to pull themselves together for that game at Citi Field and, in the end, they were able to acquit themselves well for 75 minutes: holding a high-powered Colombian attack to few, if any, major chances on goal and displaying much more intent than they did in what had been a meek loss to Venezuela the previous Friday. A highly suspect penalty converted by James Rodríguez ultimately opened the floodgates as a group of players who were physically spent were forced to chase the game. But given the manner of the Venezuela defeat and the adverse preparation, it could have been a lot worse.
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"I'm usually a culprit for that, to be honest -- if something is going around the group, I end up getting it at some point. So luckily, I wasn't as bad as some of the others," defender Cameron Burgess told ESPN. "But there were a few of us that are starting to get it towards this game, and a few who had it on the Sunday, where they were in bed -- sort of different stages.
"But it's part and parcel of football. I've played plenty of games in that sort of state, and all of the boys will be the same. So there's no excuse from that point of view."
And indeed, looking beyond the illness that the players didn't want acknowledged to examine the game in a broader context, the Socceroos' defeat in New York made it three on the bounce. And given the timid nature of their defeat to Venezuela, arguably the worst performance the side has produced under coach Tony Popovic, and their struggles to consistently fashion clear goalscoring opportunities became more pronounced against three high-quality opponents, there is some level of scrutiny rising.
For Popovic, who has repeatedly welcomed the scrutiny and expectations as he opts to experiment with a variety of players since securing automatic qualification, the intention will be that the lessons and development taken from these games harkens back to the Socceroos' preparations for the 2015 Asian Cup, where under Ange Postecoglou an experimental build-up won just one of five games during their tournament preparations -- including losses to Belgium, Qatar, and Japan -- only to go on to lift the trophy on home soil.
And there were some hints from this window about the coach's thinking on players. While Nick D'Agostino had shaped as a likely starter against Venezuela only to be forced out of camp with an injury -- one of two training ground mishaps, the other Deni Juric, that Popovic flagged would be looked at -- that Mo Touré was tapped to start both games of the window, making it four in the side's last five games, would seemingly indicate that he's being groomed to play not just a key role at the World Cup but beyond.
"Playing different players from different parts of the world, it kind of humbles me a bit," Touré told ESPN. "I'm someone who always likes to be challenged, and when I'm challenged, I like to set myself more goals. I want to be stronger. I want to be faster. I can always get better. So getting exposed to matches like this is very, very important for me, especially to grow as a player."
In the midfield, Aiden O'Neill being selected to start with a returning Jackson Irvine spoke volumes and, further back, the importance of Burgess and Miloš Degenek as unsung defensive pillars continues to grow. In goal, Patrick Beach now has to be considered to be mounting a serious challenge to Joe Gauci as the third keeper and, in getting the nod to start against Colombia, the prospect of Paul Izzo supplanting Maty Ryan in Popovic's plans can't be discounted, either.
"I think the boss has shown from the start of his run that he's not afraid at all to change a squad and give people opportunities, whether young or older," Izzo told ESPN after the Colombia game. "For me, every opportunity, I want to try to take with both hands."
And off pitch, with the draw for the World Cup taking place on Dec. 5, to be followed by a scramble to lock in travel arrangements, base camps, and everything else involved in the mammoth task of staging a World Cup campaign, the November window might also end up being quite valuable.
For months leading into the window, the Socceroos had been mooted to serve as the opposition that Argentina would face in an Indian-based friendly, with reports from the subcontinent indicating that Iran was also being lined up for what would have been the first meeting between the two nations since that fateful playoff at the MCG. However, the reigning World Champions were ultimately forced to pull out of the planned fixture at late notice, which left Football Australia scrambling for back-up plans.
Finding opposition in Australia was explored, but the logistics and practicalities of sourcing suitable opposition, as well as then convincing them to trek all the way Down Under, rendered this a tough ask. Instead, Nigeria's failure to punch their tickets during African qualifying opened up a vacant slot to face Venezuela and Colombia in the United States. Undoubtedly, the game's promoters would have preferred the Super Eagles: the Nigerian diaspora is present in big numbers in both Texas and New York, and would have turned out in big numbers. But with scant few nations ready, willing and able to fill the void, the Socceroos were able to slide in.
This also meant Socceroo staff got another opportunity to familiarise themselves with the realities of organisation in the United States ahead of next year's World Cup, this time in two cities that will be hosting games during that tournament. They also had to deal with the challenges of fixtures they'd had very little to do with organising the logistics of, a United States government shutdown that played havoc with air travel and saw a few missed connections, and the other realities that come with competing in as crowded a market as this one.
After a bit of miscommunication the day before the Venezuela clash, for instance, the Socceroos arrived at the training base of the Houston Dynamo, where both sides were training, while La Vinotinto were still finishing up. Quickly, staff sprang into action, producing messages to assure their opponents that no, they weren't there to spy on them, they'd been told to be here at this time.
While organisers had sourced accommodation, this was booked before the Socceroos' involvement and didn't quite meet the exacting needs of the side, some of which are enforced by their collective bargaining agreement. And while they were able to source some last-minute digs in Houston, a similar arrangement in New York, busy at the best of times, let alone when there are NHL and NFL games on, as well as a UFC event and John Cena's final appearance at Madison Square Garden and on Monday Night Raw, proved difficult. Thus, the Socceroos stayed in Houston for an extra two days, meaning that they were hit with the virus in Texas, rather than the Big Apple.
Ultimately, on and off the field, the November window could have gone smoother for the Socceroos. But if it serves as a learning experience that makes next June less painful, they probably won't mind.