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Originally Posted by Sam
I think, none of you have any hard feelings now.
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I think I've recovered sufficiently to provide an Australian's view on the match in question.
Sam, thanks for that article, it gave an interesting insight into a neutrals views on the game.
Unfortunately, the writer failed to cover a few points.
Firstly, no one disputes that Italy had the lions share of chances, particularly in the first half. And the fact is, no one expected any different. But what no one expected was that Australia would dominate possesion for the entire match (I'm talking 60-40 for the entire game, including the first half), and would finish the game, in the 93rd minute, having made only the one subsitution. Think about that. Italy had used all of its subsitutions by the 75th minute, however, Australia, in the 81st minute, made it's first and only substitution - that of John Aloisi for Mile Sterjovski.
So on that, had the match reached extra time, as it should have (looking back, it was clearly
not a penalty), and mind you, there was only 10 seconds remaining in the game, the Australian's still had two substututions up its sleeves.
The least Australia deserved was to take the game into extra time, and from there, anything could have happened. Notice no one actually said - 'Australia deserved to win the game'. That would have been silly. But make no mistake, if the match
was taken into extra time, inexperience aside, Australia
should have won the game -
with a man up, and with two subsitutions in hand.
For those disputing the red card, while I won't say it was deserved, I will say that under the laws of the game, any player that goes in with a two footed, studs up tackle, may be awarded a red card. Just think back to Theirry Henry's tackle in France's opening game of the last World Cup. So while another referee may have chosen to award a yellow card for this challenge, on this occaion, there was still no injustice in the ultimate decision. However, there was an injustice in the awarding of a penalty, just 10 seconds from time, for a 'clumsy challenge', at best (there was no contact between players and the tackle in itself should not have consituted a foul).
All in all, I am very proud of the boys, for all the hard work they've put in, and all the results they've achieved, over the past 8-10 months. To hold Italy to 0-0, until the last 10 seconds of a competitive match, without Harry Kewell and without Brett Emerton (keeping in mind weaker teams don't have much depth) is a phenomenal achievement in itself. But to think that Australia, having never scored in a World Cup prior to this one, scored 3 times in the last 10 minutes to defeat Japan 3-1, held off the Brazilians 1-0 until the 90th minute, having had 3-4 golden opportunities to equalise in the 2nd half, and came from behind, twice, against the Croatians, to book a place in the 2nd Round against the Italians - it blows the mind.
Thanks for the ride Australia.
I enjoyed every second of it.