If the A-League struggles the game is in trouble whereas if the competition is flying the knock-on effect is felt across the board.
The Socceroos might be doing a pretty good job in promoting the game abroad but it's the A-League and the 10 clubs that need to be strong and appealing in order for football in this country to continue to prosper.
The bean counters at Football Federation Australia would argue that the bottom line for the game's survival is a healthy and sustainable competition that satisfies the needs of the fans, sponsors and television week in week out.
The Socceroos, after all, only play roughly once a month so why put all the eggs in one such limited basket?
That is fair enough. Money matters are what drive the game and any sport for that matter.
Yet an aspect of football that is sometimes overlooked is the morale and spirit of the sport's main stakeholders: the fans.
Football supporters in Australia can be as fickle as can be but there is no doubt that they need to feel good about their sport in order to be ready to support it wholeheartedly.
Give them a reason to be happy and proud of their sport and they'll get behind it in numbers.
And there is nothing that gets the pulses racing more than a successful national team that plays the game the way it should be played.
This is a most important metric by which the game's progress should be judge.
The problem is the A-League is not going great guns at the moment.
Which is why it is up to Ange Postecoglou's Socceroos to restore the feel-good atmosphere surrounding the game.
Fans at large, with the exception of Melbourne Victory's, are not getting their fix from the A-League.
Australia faces Kyrgyzstan in Canberra on Thursday night and Bangladesh in Dhaka (subject to FIFA approval) five days later in must-win 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
The Socceroos gave the Australian game a massive fillip by winning their first major honour (no, I have not forgotten the Oceania Nations Cup) when they beat Korea Republic 2-1 in Sydney last January to snare the AFC Asian Cup.
After falling 2-0 to Jordan in their last World Cup qualifier, the Socceroos cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to win through to the final stages of qualification as group winners.
A solid and winning performance in the capital would compensate for the poor fare generally being dished out in the A-League this season, which is reflected in television ratings.
The entertaining games are getting fewer and the sub-standard ones are becoming more common.
None more so than the turgid fare provided by Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar last Friday night.
Goalless draws can be spectacular if the football is of a high quality but this top-of-table game was not one of them.
How the league can expect fans to pay to watch such rubbish is beyond me. I got paid to watch it and I felt ripped off.
Thankfully, Melbourne Victory continue to carry the league with their positively wonderful football.
If the A-League had a few more Victory-style teams we would have absolutely no cause for complaints.
Which is why the Socceroos have a double responsibility to leave their mark on the global stage.
Firstly, to show the rest of the world that Australians are no push-overs anymore and mean business as a football country.
Secondly, a strong and successful national team would boost interest in the game and hopefully provide the impetus for clubs to lift their game and draw more fans.
Over to you, Socceroos.
