Category: Random observations

Australia’s World Cup run has been halted by Italy, with the referee again a central figure to the drama. Totti scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot with the very last kick of the game, to send Italy through to the quarter finals. Kewell was absent from the biggest match in Australia’s history with a touch of gout. How we needed him. Italy had most chances to score in the first half, with Schwarzer pulling off some fine saves. At the beginning of the second half, the referee quite unbelievably sent off Materazzi for what was at worst a yellow card offence: he clumsily brought down Bresciano on the edge of the area. Italy were down to ten men. As was to be expected, Australia dominated the rest of the match. However, we were very unimaginative in attack. There were no incisive passes. Nobody was prepared to run at the Italian defence until Aloisi came on towards the end. He caused the Italians a few nervous moments, but we still had nothing to show for it. If it had gone to extra time, we might well have had something to show for it. Then, in the 94th minute, Grosso made his way into the Australian penalty area. Lucas Neill went to ground in an effort to dispell the danger. The challenge was mistimed, but Neill didn’t collect Grosso. Instead, Grosso made the most of the situation by stepping into the prone figure of Neill and went down. Penalty. Totti gave Schwarzer no chance with the kick. A truly awful way to be knocked out of the tournament, but Italy deserve credit for surviving so long with ten men.

The Australian team have done the nation proud. It was a wonderful ride while it lasted. Revenge in four years.

Australia came back twice from being a goal down to earn a draw with Croatia, which was enough to take us through to the round of sixteen. It was one of the hairiest ninety minutes of football I’ve ever sat through, and one of the weirdest as well. The referee again had an absolute shocker, failing to send one of the Croatians (Simunic) from the field after he’d received two yellow cards. The same player was later shown another yellow card and then a red card after the full-time whistle was blown. The ref also missed a clear handball and an obvious foul on Viduka, thereby denying Australia two cut-and-dry penalties. Finally, he appeared to blow the final whistle just as Tim Cahill stuck what would have been a winning goal in the back of the net! I won’t say anything about Zeljko Kalac except that he shouldn’t play another game for Australia at the World Cup. I shrieked with horror when I saw him in the starting lineup when the national anthem was played. My hotel room TV was lucky to survive after he made that absolute howler. Anyway, the 2-2 draw was enough to take us through, and that’s all that matters. Kewell’s goal was magic. He’s finally showing glimpses of the way he played for Leeds United when he was at the peak of his powers. He deserved a goal for the way he played, and I’m glad he got it. Lucas Neill has been absolutely top class for all three matches so far. He ought to be playing for a better team than Blackburn, and it wouldn’t surprise me if bigger clubs were interested in buying him. He’s composed under pressure and plays the ball intelligently out of defence instead of just whacking it upfield. For me he’s been the best performer for Australia at this World Cup.

On Wednesday I was told that I’d have to fly to Sydney on Friday to attend a couple of seminars on behalf of NICTA Queensland. If I’d flown down on Friday morning, I’d have missed the TV coverage of the game because I’d have been in a taxi at the time. So I decided, screw it, I’m going a day early so I could watch the coverage. There was no way in the wide world I was going to miss that match. It turns out that if I’d flown down on Friday morning my plane would have been diverted due to fog anyway, and I wouldn’t have been able to attend the seminars anyway. The second seminar was cancelled because the Boeing guy who was giving the seminar got diverted to Melbourne because of the fog. So all-in-all it worked out really well.

The way football has suddenly captured the imagination of this country is absolutely unbelievable. The flight attendants were saying they couldn’t wait for the match against Italy on Tuesday morning. The major free to air channels have had extended coverage of the Australian team. A Current Affair is doing interviews with footballers’ wives. Ken Sutcliffe has said that the Australia v Croatia game was the best moment of his career as a sports presenter. The country has gone football crazy. It feels kind of weird that everyone is suddenly embracing the sport, but I guess that’s what we always wanted. I also get the feeling that this support won’t be fickle. I think the A-League can expect a very good season in terms of attendances. Qualifying for the round of sixteen means that the FFA receives more money than they expected to get from this World Cup. So the game is finally on a strong financial footing in this country. What’s scary is that Australia hasn’t yet won the World Cup, but the celebrations sparked by qualifying for the next round are bigger than anything this country has seen in sport. It’s wonderful!

…the FIFA charge against him, that is. Apparently there were inconsistent reports from the German referee and his assistants. In short, Harry’s a very lucky boy.

I’ve created a monster. My lovely wife, who got up to watch the Australia v Brazil match with me at 2am this morning, informed me I was unable to go to bed tonight until I’d blogged something nice about Harry Kewell. Let’s see: apart from blasting the ball over the top of the goal when it seemed easier to score and then getting himself reported for remonstrating with the German referee after the match, Harry didn’t play too badly when he came on in the second half. He could easily have ended up with two goals rather than none.

Brazil were an improved side from the one that played Croatia just under a week ago, but they were still far from their entertaining best. In truth they were more than lucky to walk away with all three points (apparently this bit needs explaining: you get three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss) after scoring two goals and somehow managing to keep Australia scoreless. Though Australia lost the game, I think they played very well and deserved a point from the match. As it is, Australia now needs a result against Croatia to progress to the round of sixteen. Australia should be confident of beating Croatia, although a draw is all that’s needed. Croatia are having a harder time scoring than Australia is, and I think Australia looks stronger and fitter than the Croatian team. Hiddink has got the Australians well organised, so Croatia should find it very difficult to break down the Aussie defence. Still, anything can happen. Let’s hope the Australian’s have a good win.

Australia downed Japan 3-1 in their opening match of the World Cup. Tim Cahill scored the first two goals ever by an Australian in the World Cup finals, and it’s the first match Australia has ever won at a World Cup. John Aloisi scored a brilliant solo goal in the dying minutes to cap off a highly entertaining match. Hard to believe Australia was losing 1-0 until the 85th minute, after a controversial goal put the Japanese ahead in the 26th minute.

Just fantastic. Won’t say any more.

A 1-1 draw with Holland is a fantastic result for Australia. However, the truth be told, we were very lucky not to be hammered by three or more goals. But then, it was also one of the poorer attacking performances by Australia since Hiddink took over. Australia was unable to string many passes together. They looked very tired at times. Schwarzer was absolutely brilliant and has surely cemented his place in the starting lineup. He pulled off several unbelievable saves. What pleases me is that even when Australia went down to 10 men, we didn’t crumble under the pressure that Holland applied. Our defence looked much better in the second half. This result will give the team a lot of confidence going into the World Cup, especially after our group opponents Japan could only manage a 1-0 win over lowly Malta on the same day.

Despite appearances, I am actually barracking for Australia in the football match tonight. My rather unpatriotic wife, however, who seems to have found the keys to my blog, is a completely different story. This morning I wake up, and she’s wearing orange. We go to her parents house for morning tea, and what does she take? She takes Dutch eclair biscuits (Bokkenpootjes). Not to mention there’s been a little Dutch doll sitting next to the TV taunting me ever since Australia qualified for the World Cup.

I hope Australia wins tonight. I’m predicting a 2-2 draw, though I’m not sure why. However, there’s a niggling thought that keeps popping into my head telling me the score will be 3-2, and I just hope it’s in Australia’s favour.

Amazing what World Cup qualification can do for a fledgling football nation, isn’t it? More than 95,000 spectators filled the MCG on Thursday night – a record for the revamped stadium and for a game of football in this country. They all came to watch Australia beat the reigning European champions. On paper, the team that Greece fielded on the night looked stronger than the team that won the European Cup final a year and half ago. But their performance at the MCG was very ordinary. The game wasn’t all that exciting, save for Skoko’s spectacular goal. I think the playing surface was sub-standard, which contributed to a number of passes and shots at goal going astray. That was unfortunate because under Hiddink Australia has begun to cultivate a neat passing game which is great to watch when it comes off. There were glimpses of it on Thursday night around the Greek’s penalty area, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it during the World Cup. The "friendly" match against Hiddink’s native Holland in a week or so will be a much better barometer of how the Australians are progressing.