Group F - Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Japan.

[Ejaj]

Originally Posted by Mr-Cricket
Mate, you just proved my point - that only an Aussie will appreciate the humor in the article, lol.

The writer isn't even remotely serious. He's actually taking the piss out of everyone, including our own team.

Anyways, I got a laugh out of it.

Glad that you could enjoy the article. Just wondering, why the hell Aussies are making such a big fuss about their world cup performance. So far, I wont say that they played bad, but they didnt play any sort of quality game too. I remember, back in 2002 world cup, Turkey was playing good football and reached semifinal, All the turks here in Germany were just too much in talk talk talk mode. They were making team Turkey like the best ever team played on earth and then, there were whining too about Ref's bad decision against Brazil. Even Germany who played in the fianl, didnt make such noises as these Turkey ppl did. I clearly see a similar resembles this time with Aussies. They are good team but, yet not that good enough to shout. And, Probably, will see same fate like what happend to Turkey for 2006 world cup qualifier... They failed.

Just as a note, Ausssies are master in Cricket world. They are liek Brazil in Football. Did you ever see they make any fuss about such incidents in cricket?,. India and England are the teams who do the whining and blaming thing.. b ut , never Aussies. So, its more logical that ppl can get irritated by this crap stuff.

[tiger_man]

So I guess here we say good-bye to a wonderful episode of socceroos and Hiddinks....i doubt socceroos will ever be in such peak.....


Good job refs, you just proved that your decisions arent worth 5 cents of what FIFA or whoever pays you your salaries.

[Ubiquitous]

That was sad, sad, sad. The Aussies deserved to win hands down, and the Italians should have gone home. That decision at the end was just appaling...

[allrounder]

Originally Posted by Ubiquitous
That was sad, sad, sad. The Aussies deserved to win hands down, and the Italians should have gone home. That decision at the end was just appaling...

from what angle did the aussies deserved to win ? Italians were attacking more than the Aussies with 1 less man and had more shots and chances of scoring than the aussies.

[Rabz]

Originally Posted by Ejaj
What a crap!.. Only an Aussie can enjoy such article. There is a limit of whining.. and the above article crosses that limit. Pathetic!!

mate.. dont get so an*l.. no one asked you to laugh with the joke..
take a chill pill...

to understand .. u also hv to understand the aussie culture..which i guess u dont hv clues worth two cents... and pls dont tell me u do..by braggin about ur brash with few drunken aussie tourist down in Hamburg...

so what ?? just becuase the up-tight Germans didnt make a fuss bout their team doesnt mean the whole world would hv to shut their mouth as well...

may be u can come here at down under and learn how to appreaciate and enjoy life... exchange some sunny beautiful weather instead of almost-yr-long-blistering-snowy-cold-winter of Bavaria.. no wonder u sound so constipated...

why so fuss bout the soccer? cuz..if u dont know..which i assume u dont...
soccer is not one of the top ranking sports in the australian sporting calendar..but still they made it to its greatest show and doing reasonably good to send the whole nation into soccer frenzy... that reason is worth celebrating for, and to be cherished... and to be made some noisy-fuss.. when they are robbed and made to loose the game delibarately...

[Rabz]

Originally Posted by allrounder
from what angle did the aussies deserved to win ? Italians were attacking more than the Aussies with 1 less man and had more shots and chances of scoring than the aussies.

they also didnt deserve to loose that way either...

[Mr-Cricket]

It's 8am.

I'm shattered.

Although I am bitterly dissapointed with the eventual result, ultimately, I am very proud of our boys for putting up such a gallant performance. The meteoric rise of the Socceroos has been a pleasure to witness over the last year or so, ever since Guus Hiddink took over the reins. God bless the man, and I wish him luck in his future endeavours with the Russian team. Ultimately, with a man up, we should have done better to first score, then close out the game. It's quite obvious that we lacked that killer instinct at times, but I guess this will come with experience. Quickly, clear bookable offence. Under the laws of the game, two footed studs up tackle is a straight red, although, on this occasion, most other referees may have just stuck with the yellow. And although at first I agreed with the foul against Neil in the 93rd minute, in retrospect, I'm not so sure.The Italian's are a class outfit, but I can't say outright that they deserved to win this game. Far from it. We had our chances, just as they had theirs. And this is what makes the result all the more difficult to swallow.

[Mr-Cricket]

Originally Posted by Ejaj
Glad that you could enjoy the article. Just wondering, why the hell Aussies are making such a big fuss about their world cup performance. So far, I wont say that they played bad, but they didnt play any sort of quality game too. I remember, back in 2002 world cup, Turkey was playing good football and reached semifinal, All the turks here in Germany were just too much in talk talk talk mode. They were making team Turkey like the best ever team played on earth and then, there were whining too about Ref's bad decision against Brazil. Even Germany who played in the fianl, didnt make such noises as these Turkey ppl did. I clearly see a similar resembles this time with Aussies. They are good team but, yet not that good enough to shout. And, Probably, will see same fate like what happend to Turkey for 2006 world cup qualifier... They failed.

Just as a note, Ausssies are master in Cricket world. They are liek Brazil in Football. Did you ever see they make any fuss about such incidents in cricket?,. India and England are the teams who do the whining and blaming thing.. b ut , never Aussies. So, its more logical that ppl can get irritated by this crap stuff.

Look, there are plenty of flaws in your post, and even though the Aussie's lost, I'm still not really in the mood to start a verbal war. The defeat has also taken its toll I must admit. For my views on the 'winging' situation, refer to posts 170 and 171 in this thread. And for a greater understanding of Australia's history, refer to post 650 in the Tournament Thread. And just quickly, the Australian Cricket team and the Australian Soccer team is not one and the same. Far from it. If you want to draw parallels, do so between the Australian Soccer and Bangladeshi Cricket teams.

Cheers.

[tiger_man]

Originally Posted by Mr-Cricket
Look, there are plenty of flaws in your post, and even though the Aussie's lost, I'm still not really in the mood to start a verbal war. The defeat has also taken its toll I must admit. For my views on the 'winging' situation, refer to posts 170 and 171 in this thread. And for a greater understanding of Australia's history, refer to post 650 in the Tournament Thread. And just quickly, the Australian Cricket team and the Australian Soccer team is not one and the same. Far from it. If you want to draw parallels, do so between the Australian Soccer and Bangladeshi Cricket teams.

Cheers.

this ejaj reminds me of History character in NIke's Joga Bonito ad they show in SBS here.

[Ejaj]

Sorry for being bit harsh on u guys. I have my utter most sympathy for ur Aussies. I just wanted u guys not to whine so much abt refs and the outcome of matches. Sincerely I wouldnt even do so if same things happen against BD In cricket. I never do that and U can look for all my posts to justify this, if u have time for that. Wrong decisions are part of the game and it should be taken as such. Against Italy, there was a very harsh decision to sent off one italian defender and u guys dont even talk about that. Whatever happend to that last minute situation, if earlier one was a foul , serious enough to give a red card to the italian, then, i dont see any reason why it shouldnt be a foul , serious enough to give a penalty. Anyway.. never mind. I am really sorry for past behaviour and I hope , this stupid verbal argument is over. I do assure u my sincere appology.

I am not an Aussie nor a German. I am a plain Bangladeshi and I made my points because of what I am. Sorry, if that hurts u. I am a supporter of Brazil and trust me, I will not even make any big fuss if any wrong decision such as one against Aussies at the last minute happens against Brazil. I just alaways take it as a part of the game. If I do make posts, I normally tend to criticise the tactics of my own team. So, no hard feeling and again sorry for whatever I wrote before. If possible, I request the Mod's action to delete my post. That was really a very stupid thing I wrote ( what the hell i was doing while writing that one!!!!!.. I dont rem-)

Chao

[Rabz]

Ejaj, its all good mate...
this arguments are also part of the game..cuz we all have our different point of view...
take it easy

Cheers

[Mr-Cricket]

Ejaj, I agree with Sydney's sentiments. No sports fan will ever see eye to eye on every issue. So in that sense, I don't expect everyone to agree with everything a blind Aussie supporter says. What you, and some others said, in itself, wasn't actually all that bad, and personally, I didn't take huge offence to it. But it was more the timing, in the hours immediately following such a heartbreaking (and I thought at least in some part undeserved) exit from the World Cup. And to a penalty in the 93rd minute too. That said, we're all mature adults here, and should be able to cop decisions/results on the chin and live with it. As I have here. But unfortunately, too, this doesn't always happen, either. And so in that sense, I also apologise for our past grieveances with the referees and the such. But I am in no way accepting their decisions, either.

[sadi]

And they post happily ever after!!!

[Ejaj]

It was a much better performance from brazil today, though, not the best. I still expect much more from them. The score really doesnt show how much blind goals had been missed. The score line could easily be 6-0. Ronaldo had been surprising me for last two matches and Adriano.. is really dissappointing. He should have passed that ball to ronaldo. It was a pathetic selfish act. I really hope, Robinho replaces Adriano from next match. Also, I want Gilberto silva in place of Roberto carlos and Juninho in place of slow pathetic Emerson. Emerson is now the worst player in the team (Ronaldo luckly escaped). The game improved so much after Emerson got changed by Gilberto silva. I will be really mad if I see emerson in the starting eleven in the next match too. Its just soo annoying.

Btw, the ever unreliable defence played excellent today. Specially Lucio. Both the center backs didnt do much fancy stupid things today. I was really relieved.

[Sam]

Hi guys, I was reading all the post of this thread and could visualize the attack and counter attack, similar to that in the football match. Off course, I can understand the heartbreaking event for the Aussie fans at the 93rd minute. However, I am quoting here a neutral analysis of that match by one of the esteemed member of the FIFA Technical Study Group:

TSG analysis by Alvin CORNEAL (TRI)
Football was the big winner in a game that had all that is best about the world’s favourite sport. It was a match of contrasting footballing philosophies that pitted the hard-running and hard-tackling Australians against the sophisticated and experienced Italians.

The Socceroos impressed with their collective play and enjoyed the advantage in several areas of the field, although they were never able to convert this into clear-cut scoring opportunities. They also had the lion’s share of possession, especially after the sending-off of Marco Materazzi. For their part, the Azzurri demonstrated their traditional strengths. In addition to a highly organised defence, their individual technical skill again shone out.
The match began cautiously but soon burst into life. The ‘Aussies’ were visibly superior, although the better scoring opportunities went to Marcello Lippi’s side, with five clear-cut chances in the first half alone. Though Australia gave their all, it quickly became apparent that they lacked the individual technical proficiency of the Italians.
Following the red card, coach Lippi demonstrated that he is a master of his trade. He made decisive substitutions, changed his team’s tactics and posed the Australians problems that they were unable to solve. His faultless strategy formed the basis for Italy’s eventual victory.
A further crucial factor was the form of Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The 28-year-old exuded remarkable composure, made no mistakes and nipped a number of potential Australian chances in the bud. That the Italian goal remained impregnable throughout was down in no small measure to the Juventus shot-stopper, and it was a logical decision to choose the 1.90m-keeper as the Budweiser Man of the Match.
Overall the Azzurri were deserved winners. Although at a numerical disadvantage they followed their tactical game to perfection and created the crucial breakthrough with the penalty award. In this nerve-wracking situation Francesco Totti kept his head and scored the winning goal. Italy thus won through to the quarter-finals thanks to a masterful tactical performance by coach Lippi. But Australia can go home with their heads high. They had a great tournament and can be proud of both their performances in Germany and their terrific fans.

'Tactical masterstroke by Marcello Lippi'

I think, none of you have any hard feelings now.

[Mr-Cricket]

Lucas heights have no limits
From Guy Hand in Oehringen, Germany
June 28, 2006

AUSTRALIA defender Lucas Neill and midfield player Brett Emerton have earned themselves prime spots in world football's biggest shop window after impressing at the World Cup.

Rock ... Neill was superb in Germany. Pic: Agence France-Presse

Neill, Australia's best player at the tournament despite conceding the dubious penalty against Italy that ended it all, is being chased by several clubs, including European champion Barcelona.

Italian press reports have linked Emerton with Serie A giant AC Milan, though the club is facing an uncertain future after being implicated in that country's match-fixing scandal.

Several other Socceroos - including Parma midfielders Vince Grella and Marco Bresciano and Bristol City's Luke Wilkshire - could also find themselves on bigger clubs' shopping lists.

Wilkshire, the 24-year-old midfield player who plays several rungs below most players at the World Cup in England's third-tier League One, impressed against Italy's Serie A stars in the 1-0 loss yesterday.

He didn't look overawed, and with Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink and assistant Graham Arnold's glowing endorsement of his talents during the tournament must surely loom as a bargain buy for someone looking for a hard-working versatile player.

But 28-year-old Neill is the most sought-after Socceroos star after shining in all four Australia matches.

He has been offered a new four-year deal by his current English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers when he returns home.

With one year remaining on his current contract, Neill would appear more likely to move elsewhere, particularly if the Spanish giant comes calling.

"It has been said he could be good enough for Barcelona," his agent Peter Harrison said.

"There is an offer on the table from Blackburn, but we haven't discussed it yet.

"We will look at it when he gets back from Germany."

Also looking for a new home is Socceroos veteran Stan Lazaridis, who has been released by Birmingham City and is looking to return to Australia's A-League.

Perth Glory and Adelaide United are the two clubs chasing his signature.


AAP

[Mr-Cricket]

Originally Posted by Sam
I think, none of you have any hard feelings now.

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.

[Sovik]

Poor australia, got poor decisions from the referees.