Saturday, November 19, 2005
Australia discovers the round-ball game
Australia last made the finals in 1974. Four years ago, they fell at the last hurdle, losing against Iran in the play-offs. This time round they went one better and won on penalties in a thrilling finish.
With defeat at the hands of the Poms in the cricket and with the rugby union team loosing 7 straight, Aussie sports fans were looking for a team to get behind. (The Kangaroos will of course win this year’s Tri-Nations Rugby League, again.) They have found it in the Footballer-roos (or the Socceroos, as they are sometimes called).
So Germany beckons. Unfortunately, Wednesday night’s performance, though good enough to beat the Uruguayans, was still a long way of the mark. To make the trip worthwhile, there is a lot of work to do in the next 6 months and I hope the game’s administrators will line-up a robust set of friendlies to gain that match experience.
A major achievement will be qualification to the last 16, but a ‘success’ would be a win or two draws. Guus Hiddink was the man who took South Korea to the semi-finals in 2002; it will be miraculous if he could achieve half as much with the Socceroos.
Australia discovers the round-ball game
Posted by Living with Matilda at 7:04 PM
Australia last made the finals in 1974. Four years ago, they fell at the last hurdle, losing against Iran in the play-offs. This time round they went one better and won on penalties in a thrilling finish.
With defeat at the hands of the Poms in the cricket and with the rugby union team loosing 7 straight, Aussie sports fans were looking for a team to get behind. (The Kangaroos will of course win this year’s Tri-Nations Rugby League, again.) They have found it in the Footballer-roos (or the Socceroos, as they are sometimes called).
So Germany beckons. Unfortunately, Wednesday night’s performance, though good enough to beat the Uruguayans, was still a long way of the mark. To make the trip worthwhile, there is a lot of work to do in the next 6 months and I hope the game’s administrators will line-up a robust set of friendlies to gain that match experience.
A major achievement will be qualification to the last 16, but a ‘success’ would be a win or two draws. Guus Hiddink was the man who took South Korea to the semi-finals in 2002; it will be miraculous if he could achieve half as much with the Socceroos.
Posted by Living with Matilda at 7:04 PM
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