The love and warmth and understanding extended to me in spades by family, friends, colleagues, employers and the wider football community has been humbling and overwhelmingly generous, and will never be forgotten.

Unlike (he said, scrambling to get on topic), the Socceroos' clash with Japan on Thursday night. Have I missed something? Have we written this one off already?

I thought I might time my return around what I perceived to be the most important fixture in four years for the code in this country, and I've got to say the build-up in the media has been almost non-existent.

It may well be different tomorrow, match day and all, but so far the big news has been coach Graham Arnold taking his dog for a walk and/or swimming whilst in Covid isolation, and copping a $25,000 fine.

Really, is that the best we can do?

Most are aware of the battle for media exposure that faces the code at the best of times, and certainly it's ultra important that we find out who is the best fighter between two excellent but ageing ex-footballers before they get too old, or the recess bell rings. But to get next to no analysis of the most important football game in four years sticks in the craw a tad.

That said, we don't do a lot to help ourselves, do we?

James Johnson, chief executive of Football Australia, admitted during the week that the development of players over the past 17, say that again, 17 years has been subpar. Hand up if you have been pointing that out ad nauseum for almost that long, and been labelled a dinosaur, a whinger or a jealous outsider.

What has been gleaned in newspaper reports has been the absence of a number of key players through Covid, others through injury and one will miss the final qualifier against Saudi Arabia to get married.

It's hard to criticise players catching Covid, particularly when the coach has had it twice in eight weeks. But geez, you'd be prepared to stay as protected as possible a week or two out from a vital World Cup qualifier, wouldn't you? Masks anyone? I guess we may never know, but how many of the Japanese players are missing due to Covid?

Perhaps I'm just being hypersensitive on the Covid front, but what I can't cop is the refusal of Melbourne City to release Curtis Good to play, and the FFA's failure to force their hand because it may have allowed the league leaders to postpone their A-League clash with Brisbane last night.

Who cares about the midweek game? City have played more games than most, and I'm sure more than one club has stretched the parameters of the Covid postponement contingencies this season.

Do we want to win tonight? How badly? I hope nobody is thinking a regroup, and a prospective clash with Uruguay (or a similarly strong South American opponent) is a brighter option.

Can Australia win tomorrow night? They can, but they must be patient and disciplined, and hold their nerve. An open-flowing game could very much suit a Japanese side with superior talent and technique, and no need to risk too much for victory.

They will be very comfortable taking one point from this contest, regardless of Australia being without some key players.

On the Jets' front, Sydney FC will provide a far sterner test than an under-strength Wellington did last weekend.

Who can dictate the tempo of the game will decide the outcome of this one, with Sydney's artistic midfield up against the mobility and pressure the Newcastle Jets always bring.

Exciting week in prospect, huge game on Thursday night. I guess, respectfully, I'm hoping the better team doesn't win.

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