Fox Sports soccer commentator Simon Hill has delivered an emphatic response to recent criticism of Australia’s nil-all draw with Honduras in the first leg of their World Cup qualifier.
On SEN Breakfast yesterday, veteran journalist Mike Sheahan called the game “rubbish,” believing the spectacle was underwhelming. Hill is of the notion Sheahan’s comments came from an old-school approach to the sport, one that’s outdated and unnecessary.
“If he doesn’t like the game, why is he watching it?” he said.
“I don’t watch AFL, so I don’t comment on it and I’m rarely asked for my opinion on it. I’m a bit surprised why his comments should make so many headlines. Unfortunately that’s the environment we live in, with a lot of code wars, and I’ve done my bit to fuel it in the past but only in defence of my game.
“If there is an AFL Grand Final, I don’t normally get asked for my opinion on it. Mike is entitled to his opinion in private, but I don’t think he should be passing an opinion on a game that’s neither his first love, nor his profession.
“It’s self-protection. Everyone knows football is the world game, everyone knows it has massive potential and everyone knows in Australia it has only scratched the surface of its scope. It has to be kept down. There are some cultural aspects involved in it.
“I think there are a lot of identity politics at play with all this. If you go back in history and see Australia as a developing country, it looked to try and be different from Britain, it developed its own code of football. It is almost as though soccer needs to be kept at arms length, like it is seen as a foreign invader, which is absolutely ridiculous. It’s a sport.
“A lot of people love it, play it, watch it, and want to be involved in it. It is what it is, there are lots of sports I don’t like, so quite simply, I don’t watch them, but more importantly, I don’t comment on them.
“The reason why these comments get traction is because the code wars are always good for copy and they fire people up. They get people talking about it, but ultimately, it’s a fruitless exercise because all of the football codes and sports happily co-exist at the top level in Australia.”
Sheahan’s opinion ignited rage from numerous soccer fans on social media, and Hill thinks the anger has been built-up from years of mainstream belittlement.
“The reason why football fans get worked up by this is it’s very rare that people like me for example, who sit on very mainstream radio stations on a daily basis, offers all sorts of opinions on all sorts of different sports,” he said.
“We are pigeonholed or stereotyped into our little corner. I don’t want to have an opinion on other sports because I don’t think I speak from a position of authority or knowledge from other sports. AFL journalists, which Mike is a high profile one, they get asked their opinions on all sorts of topics.
“Our opinion in soccer is, why is this guy talking about our sport and offer an opinion we have heard a million times, it’s boring and there are no goals? We are back in the days of Johnny Warren again. That’s what riles up football fans.
“We are in the middle of this massive World Cup qualifier against Honduras, which does capture the attention of the nation, and a lot of the analysis in the mainstream media has been done by people with no background in football and therefor they resort to humour and very basic analysis, instead of trying to learn the game or offer opinions based on common knowledge. That’s what irritates football fans.”
The Socceroos will aim to reach the World Cup when they battle Honduras tomorrow night in Sydney. They need to win to advance, as a scored draw will see the Hondurans qualify due to the away goals rule.