The Official 2006 FIFA World Cup thread. (1 Viewer)

[Collin]

Well if it did'nt go in it would of being aggravating for Brazil, it did hit the post.

Yeah, but I don't give a shit about Brazil. I'm sure most of the match itself was a somewhat frustrating experience for the Brazilian team.. but the focus here is on the Aussies. That late goal from Fred was simply aggravating and bloody annoying. Where was the defence? With the Brazilians doing a few late substitutions to boost their forwards, I would of been happy if the Socceroos bolstered their defence just to keep the score at a tolerable 1-0.

Now I hope we go well against Croatia.

PS Ronaldo.. enough pies man.

 

[_dhj_]

I don't feel that conceeding the second goal was some sort of stab in the heart. In a situation where we're 1-0 down it was understandable for Hiddink to throw men forward in search of an equaliser (and inevitably leave gaps at the back). Apart from the Adriano goal, the most disappointing bit of the game was when Bresciano missed his shot at the end of the first half (much to the frustration of Hiddink). I started to worry that perhaps these are the chances that we will rue, if Brazil does punish us with incisive finishing in the second half.

Of course the good news is that a draw against Croatia will most likely get us through, and we have a full squad to pick from for that match.

 

[otay]

Yeah, but I don't give a shit about Brazil. I'm sure most of the match itself was a somewhat frustrating experience for the Brazilian team.. but the focus here is on the Aussies. That late goal from Fred was simply aggravating and bloody annoying. Where was the defence? With the Brazilians doing a few late substitutions to boost their forwards, I would of been happy if the Socceroos bolstered their defence just to keep the score at a tolerable 1-0.

Now I hope we go well against Croatia.

PS Ronaldo.. enough pies man.

Hmmm That last goal was meh, whatever. We went for broke trying to score a goal, had Popovic injured and Moore taken off for some attacking firepower, and were always gonna have gaps in our defence. Shwarzer maybe coulda done better but it was somewhat expected and unfortunate for us who didnt deserve to lose 2-0. ANd yeah I agree I couldnt give a fuck about how Brazilians felt if it missed. He hit the post, it didnt go in so y should I feel sorry for em? A miss is a miss whether it was like one of the 3 or 4 of ours shots that JUST crept over the bar, or hitting the post. Same shit different smell. Besides Robinho is gay.

 

[*Minka*]

Well, I have got exactly what I didn't want - Australia and Croatia fighting each other for that last spot. This is so weird fot me because it is literally half of my heart vs the other half of my heart - my homeland against my new homeland. I am still awake, sitting here in the wee hours of the morning on my bed in a Munich hotel just thinking. When I got home, I laid out some of my stuff - my Croatian jersey and supporter stuff and my Australian support stuff and Jersey. I literally have two sets of supporter stuff - jerseys, hair ribbons, you know. I jsut looked at the two jerseys for a while, one in each hand mulling. I know to a lot of people it is jsut football, but for me, this is the first time in nine years I have literally had to really think about who I am about the other - sure, I am Australian/Croatian, but at the end of the day, what wins out? Where are my true loyalites - the place I came from, or the place I choose to call home. It was weird, that first defining immigrant moment of 'so what are you Minka - an Aussie or a Croat?'.

Well, I thought about it, and you know what? I will be going for Australia. Yesterday, I chose to go to Australia's match instead of Croatia's and I know I made thr right decision. I am Australian now - I will always have my background and my roots and be proud of Croatia and all it has done and cheer for them when there is no Aussie team, but at the end of the day? I am an Australian now - that is who I am, not who I was and I will always be an Australian and I am proud of that, proud to be one of you guys and happy for all this country has given me. Croatia is a part of me - a part of me that is Australian and really, has known that for a while now but ssut needed something to make her say it.

So, I packed away my Croatian things into my suitcase and folded on my table, folded on my table, to be put in my backpack as we head for Stuttgart are an Australian jersey, Green and Gold hair ribbons and hair strakers, my skirt with green and gold stars and my Socceroos scarf. I am Australian, and as a proud Australian? I say Come on Socceroos.


Been an eventful day.

 

[sunjet]

you are so lucky, hf

 

[Collin]

Well, I have got exactly what I didn't want - Australia and Croatia fighting each other for that last spot. This is so weird fot me because it is literally half of my heart vs the other half of my heart - my homeland against my new homeland. I am still awake, sitting here in the wee hours of the morning on my bed in a Munich hotel just thinking. When I got home, I laid out some of my stuff - my Croatian jersey and supporter stuff and my Australian support stuff and Jersey. I literally have two sets of supporter stuff - jerseys, hair ribbons, you know. I jsut looked at the two jerseys for a while, one in each hand mulling. I know to a lot of people it is jsut football, but for me, this is the first time in nine years I have literally had to really think about who I am about the other - sure, I am Australian/Croatian, but at the end of the day, what wins out? Where are my true loyalites - the place I came from, or the place I choose to call home. It was weird, that first defining immigrant moment of 'so what are you Minka - an Aussie or a Croat?'.

Well, I thought about it, and you know what? I will be going for Australia. Yesterday, I chose to go to Australia's match instead of Croatia's and I know I made thr right decision. I am Australian now - I will always have my background and my roots and be proud of Croatia and all it has done and cheer for them when there is no Aussie team, but at the end of the day? I am an Australian now - that is who I am, not who I was and I will always be an Australian and I am proud of that, proud to be one of you guys and happy for all this country has given me. Croatia is a part of me - a part of me that is Australian and really, has known that for a while now but ssut needed something to make her say it.

So, I packed away my Croatian things into my suitcase and folded on my table, folded on my table, to be put in my backpack as we head for Stuttgart are an Australian jersey, Green and Gold hair ribbons and hair strakers, my skirt with green and gold stars and my Socceroos scarf. I am Australian, and as a proud Australian? I say Come on Socceroos.


Been an eventful day.

*wipes away tears*

 

[HotShot]

What, 2-0 win over the 2nd "best" team in the world (I use that term veeeeeeery loosely, just FIFA rankings) isn't "that great"?

lol, yeah i didnt realise that ghana beat them when i wrote the thread. anyway,

australia need to improve on their finishing, they had so many chances and against the team's brazil you absolutely have to find the net. you cant let them get away with it.

but we saw that australia defensively have improved vastly, cahill etc didnt get ay yellow cards only i think emerton and bresciano? on tht front they have improved a lot. when they do get through i reckon the match against brazil would have helped a lot against the italians or whoever the play in 1E.

but i do question hiddink - did he need to be that offensive? surely if he was bitmore defensive the second goal wouldnt have come. of course searching for the equaliser but we saw in the first half, we dont numbers on there side to get some chances. kewell for cahill was gud, but popovic for bresciano? and then pushiong everyone front, i think that wasnt the rite idea..

 

[*Minka*]

I really should go to bed it is so late, but today was just too good to sleep, even if we didn't pull off the win. Seriously, it is so much fun here - I love how the Australians just get along so well - it is like, oh you are Aussie too, come be my friend missy!

That said, I reserve the right to keep one part of my Croatianness - I hate vegemite. The people staying next to us just made us all eat an entire cracker smothered in the stuff claiming it is good luck - god that stuff is DISGUSTING AND VILE.

 

[sunjet]

hf = have fun.

togo to upset switzerland.

 

[*Minka*]

Vegemite > Croatia

Niko Kranjčar's hotness > Vegemite.

(http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4214/galzgodni031zi.jpg)

I am going for Austalia, but he can leave his footy boots under my bed for some comfort after the Aussies beat Croatia
Not a case of Više nisam tvoja when Niko is concerned

 

[*Minka*]

PS: Mika, that Aussie vs Croatia identity thing speech was quite moving.

Aw thanks! I feel glad I got that out of me - I am not really a diary keeper lol.

 

[Komit]

wikiwiki, Niko Krajncar is an excellent player and he is unfairly copping shit. And Greeks are not Slavs - wtf are you on about?

The Socceroos showed that they can mix it against the world's best and the only thing that stopped from beating Brazil was the absence of any luck and dodgy, dodgy referee. Foul count 25-9 in Brazil's favour is ridiculous. The use of the media by other coaches (particularly Parreira) in saying that Australia is overly physical has definitely played on the minds of the referees so far. Hopefully Croatia continues to be as ineffective as against Japan and we take advantage of it.

 

[otay]

What are your guys opinions on people saying that we are too rough and physical?? Personally I think our guys were very good in this department. We were physical enough without being dirty, except for the Grella tackle on Ronaldo. Yet somehow the penalty count in both our matche have been more than 20 for the opposition, and significantly less for us. Now is this due to us being more physical? or not goin down at the slightest touches which I think anyone without bias or Brazilian dick-riding can see that quite a few of their players a guilty of. Not saying some of our guys arent as bad (Kewell for example) but it seems like in general we stay on our feet more. You could see Viduka getting pissed when Lucio was hacking him from behind yet since he's not a little bitch he can stay on his feet and coz Lucio went down, he got the decision. So basically this little rant was about saying that we aren't too rough, we are just tough and many of the fouls that could be given to us aren't since we don't fall like babies. This is why the unusual penalty count. I know no1 on this board has said anything but on the SMH site the amount of WUMS there its ridiculous and they never post my shit, I think I've been banned from their site lol, Fucking Nazis.

So anyway do you guys have an opinion on this? Are we just tougher or are teams like Brazil a little softer, or am I not seeing things correctly? This has nothing to do with result btw, as people have said this about us since the Uruguay matches.

Oh and I just heard that Kewell may face discplinary reaction for his outburst at the end of the game. Although i woulda preferred him to slot that goal, I say good hussle. I used to feel like he was kinda blaise faire when it came to playing for Australia. No more. Get in there harry

 

[Komit]

I think that the Socceroos just do not know how to dive. 25 fouls in a game is not abnormally high but 9 against you in the same game is conspicuous. Drawing fouls is a tactical move in the game and hence the timing of a dive is very crucial. The Socceroos (except maybe Kewell) are not good and doing this and it is definitely hurting us (depends how you look at it).

While the Socceroos do establish their physical presence in every game, they are not "dirty" like some other European teams like Croatia, Serbia and Germany. It is only coming to the fore in this tournament because opposing coaches are using the media to play mind games with the players and officials.

 

[*Minka*]

wikiwiki, Niko Krajncar is an excellent player and he is unfairly copping shit. And Greeks are not Slavs - wtf are you on about?

The Socceroos showed that they can mix it against the world's best and the only thing that stopped from beating Brazil was the absence of any luck and dodgy, dodgy referee. Foul count 25-9 in Brazil's favour is ridiculous. The use of the media by other coaches (particularly Parreira) in saying that Australia is overly physical has definitely played on the minds of the referees so far. Hopefully Croatia continues to be as ineffective as against Japan and we take advantage of it.

Seriously - Niko Kranjčar is a fabulous player with excellent vision for the game, clever passing and excellent close ball control. He hasn't seemed to quite develop as much as some people in Croatia have predicted, but he is still quite young (21) and devloping into a fine talent.

 

[otay]

Agreed yeah Komit. It'd ridiculous how we are penalised in a sense for not diving (or drawing the foul if you prefer the euphamism). To me it's just not cricket. Maybe that's why I prefer cricket.

Minka go to bed already or at least a Beer Hall .

 

[Komit]

I disagree, I think he is developing quite nicely but the media and uneducated public opinion is dragging him down as a result the Balkan mentality to immediately create scapegoats for any problems they have. I.e. Croatia playing badly = in-fighting and arguments = Krajncar nepotism = Niko Krajncar is shit = Niko Krajncar is fat. And obviously, the rest of the world will feed on this

 

[Komit]

otay, it's a very important part of the game as we saw last night. But this aspect of the game has been a key deterrence for the sport in Australia and in this sense it's good that the Australia national team can live up to the expectations of their nation. However, it can cost you potential wins against major teams in major tournaments. It's just a matter of what's more important - personal integrity or competitive glory?

 

[otay]

That is exactly right, and part of the reason fans of other codes have grown to love the socceroos is in general they aren't like this. It's such a shame though that it happens. It really shouldnt be a choice, we should be able to play with competitive glory without sacrificing our integrity. Maybe refs need to be more privy to it (Ala Sydney Olympics final ahaa). Although again that can have repurcussions (Itally 2002 vs South Korea with Totti being sent off)

 

[Riviet]

I think the Socceroos defended quite solidly in the first half, however in the second, the team changed their formation and had their strikers in the midfield for oppurtunities to attack, leaving the defense much more vulernable to the Brazilian attack. I was very disappointed with the second goal, which was right before the end of the match. I thought the Socceroos would come back to draw 1 all with the help of the substitutes Kewell and Aloisi. We had many decent shots at the goal, the Brazilian goalkeeper appeared faultless with his goalkeeping. Overall, I guess the Socceroos played pretty good against the world champs.