Friday, May 26, 2006
Australia: Lucky strike beats woeful Greece
Josip Skoko's volley from 25 yards gave the Socceroos a 1-0 win against a lacklastre Greece side last night, in front of a massive 95,103 crowd.
The lads played all right, and were tactically better than I've seen them for a while, but I just couldn't share Fozzie's enthusiasm. Greece were awful, a pale imitation of the European champions we saw two years ago, and Australia could put no more than one spectacular (and, I believe, slightly mis-hit) volley into their net despite a wealth of opportunities. The buildup play was there but the killer blow was not.
In addition, a tougher side would punish us for the mistakes we made, and would not gift us possession so easily. Our upcoming match against Holland should be a more reliable yardstick.
Having said that, there were some positives to take out, namely, the excellent buildup play and the emergence of Sterjovski as a real contender for a starting place in the big matches. Culina and Neill also both played very well, and Skoko showed that he is still in form.
Player ratings:
Kalac 5 - A clean sheet but not a save to make and did not look convincing or decisive. Capable of better, but on the strength of this performance I'd be sticking with Schwartzer.
Chipperfield 6 - Adequate
Neill 7 - Strong and reliable, good forward support as well. My MoM.
Moore 6 - Good to see him back.
Grella 6 - Cleaned up well but passing was below par.
Culina 7 - Excellent vision and worked hard.
Skoko 7 - Heavily involved and was the starting point for many attacks. Got the official MoM.
Emerton 6 - I really don't know why he plays. Really looks average. Indecisive and slow.
Sterjovski 7 - A great outlet. Pushing hard for a start in Germany.
Bresciano 7 - Buzzed about energetically.
Viduka 6 - Held up the ball well and kept the Greek defence on their toes. As usual did a lot of off-the-ball work.
Popovic 6 - Did well when he came on to allow Neill to push up.
Thompson 6 - Poor decision making spoiled a hardworking performance. Has the skill to do well.
Wilkshire 6 - Had a decent pop from a long way out.
Lazaridis 6 - The ex-Hammer can still get forward and cross the ball, and will be good for the bench to solidify the field late on.
*******
In other news, reports say Alan Pardew is looking at Deportivo La Coruna hardman Aldo Duscher. The 27-year-old Argentinian midfielder is priced at around £4 million and has previously been linked with Manchester United.
beggers said...Rumour has it Pards is also after Lee Bowyer? Not that fussed on him really, think he's had his day. And I'm not sure he'll fit in with the squad. I think a lot of success this year was down to the team spirit, hate to see that eroded.
Dave said...Yes Greece were shocking but what a great goal. Also I've heard a lot of praise for sterjovski, I honestly thought he looked very average. Viduka was screaming at him a couple of times for playing a couple of crap balls and I thought when he had one good chance to go forward with the ball he made a mess of it and got the ball tangled in his feet.
said...E-Petitions Petition - Bring Aus football team to QLD
TO: The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House that the reluctance of the Queensland Events Corporation to
help bring the Australian Football (Soccer) team to Queensland is a major disappointment to a significant number of
residents. Football (Soccer) has the highest participation and support base rates of any sport in the world and this is
reflected by the facts.
• Bureau of Statistics figures show that more children aged 5-14 are playing Football (Soccer) than Australian Rules and
Rugby League combined.
• 98,000 people are expected to pack the MCG for Australia’s next international friendly.
• In the 1997 NSL Grand Final, over 40,000 attended Suncorp Stadium to watch the Brisbane Strikers defeat Sydney United.
• The Queensland Roar boasts the second best attendance figures in the Hyundai A-League national competition.
Those attendance figures are equal to any sport in Australia or anywhere in the world, and would give great exposure to our
state both nationally and internationally without even factoring in the associated economic benefits.
Your petitioners therefore request the House to (through Queensland Events corporation) reassess its current position on
attracting International Football (Soccer) matches to Queensland. This change will in effect see this Government Portfolio
incorporate a pro-active stance on obtaining competitive international matches as per its long-term strategy of bringing
major sporting events to the state of Queensland.
whubris said...Don't want Bowyer as I've said here before, and for the same reasons.
Dave, interesting that you didn't think Sterjovski was that good. I'll look more closely against the Netherlands. I didn't notice Dukes yelling at him although I did see him play a couple of crap balls.
Anon, I'm gonna post that..
