Australia Prevail 2-0, One Foot In South Africa

Myself and Bobas were at this one, classic game for australia. Seemed like it could be a dud at half time but Jesus bailed us out as usual. You know who to have faith in..

Anyway If Qatar and Bahrain draw tonight, we are the first team qualified for South Africa 2010. I'm staying up, it will finish ~3am sydney time. Check this space... There will be a post if we're through.

Weekend Qualifier Results

So the first two results have occurred, Japan has beaten Bahrain 1-0 and the Uzbeks have thrashed Qatar 4-0.

So from here we simply need Bahrain and Qatar to draw next Wednesday, the same night tat we must beat the Uzbeks in Sydney.

Out of interest the Ubzeks started scoring when a Qatari defender was sent off in the 35th minute. Their striker, Farhod Tadjiyev, scored a hat trick while Anvar Soliev picked up one.

Nakamura scored in Japan's victory off a free kick cut back.

The Formula, How We Can Qualify Next Wednesday

This isn't a very likely scenario, but still possible. Any way you look at it we're in a great position with three wins and a draw from four matches, but we can be the first team to qualify for the 2010 world cup finals with a win against the Uzbeks next Wednesday.

Everyone else is playing this weekend so all we need is for the Uzbeks to beat Qatar at home and then for for Japan to beat Bahrain away. Then on Wednesday if we beat the Uzbeks in Sydney and then Bahrain draw with Qatar a few hours later we will secure our place in the South African based WC Finals.

Although we require a bit of luck it shows how close we are with so many games yet to play.

Breciano's Lucky goal Away to Bahrain

Last Time We Played the Uzbeks

Socceroos Team List For Uzbekistan WCQ (Kewell Included)

Michael Beauchamp (Aalborg) CB
Mark Bresciano (Palermo) CM/AMF/SMF
Jacob Burns (Unirea) CMF
Tim Cahill (Everton) CMF/AMF/CF
David Carney (Sheffield Utd, on loan at Norwich) SMF/SB
Scott Chipperfield (Basel) SB/CB/SMF
Chris Coyne (Colchester) CB
Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven) CMF/SMF
Adam Federici (Reading)GK
Richard Garcia (Hull) CB
Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar) AMF/CF
Mile Jedinak (Genclerbirligi) CMF
Josh Kennedy (Karlsruhe) CF
Harry Kewell (Galatasaray) AMF/SMF/CF/CB?
Scott McDonald (Celtic) CF
Lucas Neill (West Ham) CB/SB
Jade North (Incheon) CB/SB
Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor) GK
Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) GK
Mile Sterjovski (Derby) SMF
Carl Valeri (Grosseto) CMF
Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow) SB/SMF/CMF

Pretty strong squad, Kewell is red hot for Galatasaray, even excelling as a central defender in a recent UEFA Cup match. Apparently Verbeek wants to put Cahill back in the midfield for this one (thank God) speaking of which hopefully he puts his faith in Jesus as they're also saying McDOnald will start in centre forward.

We're only missing Moore, Emmerton and Grella. I'm just glad we're not relying on A-league players for this one. Especially as myself and Bobas will be at this game.

Uzbek Training Methods Revealed

24 A-League Players

Danny Allsopp (Melbourne), Fabian Barbiero (Adelaide United), Billy Celeski (Melbourne), Shannon Cole (Sydney FC), Robert Cornthwaite (Adelaide United), Tarek Elrich (Newcastle), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United), Dean Heffernan (Central Coast), Scott Jamieson (Adelaide United), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle), Matthew McKay (Queensland), Craig Moore (Queensland), Daniel Mullen (Adelaide United), Mitch Nichols (Queensland), Tom Pondeljak (Melbourne), Paul Reid (Adelaide United), Matt Simon (Central Coast), Michael Theoklitos (Melbourne), Archie Thompson (Melbourne), Matthew Thompson (Newcastle), Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Newcastle), Rodrigo Vargas (Melbourne), Danny Vukovic (Central Coast), Michael Zullo (Queensland)

The above list are the players who have been chosen to come up against Kuwait in Canberra on Thursday the 5th of March. The Match is an Asian Cup Qualifier (2011) not a World Cup Qualifier.

Nil All, Good For Qualifying, Bad for Spectators.

Pretty scrappy effort from the Socceroos, Japan out played us, had all the possession and scoring efforts. Cahill played alone up front which surprised me, he was starved of ball and we only looked a chance to score when the perennial mismatch of Kennedy came on all too late.

Puts us in a good position to qualify but made for dour viewing. The main positive to come out of it is that we're yet to concede a goal in this phase of qualifying.

Japan vs Australia WCQ

So Australia are to play Japan on the 11th of February in Tokyo. The socceroos will miss the services of Harry Kewell (still recovering from hernia surgery) and Brett Emerton (Archilles' injury). We do get Vincenzo Grella back though, the classy, hard nosed central midfielder will be crucial if we are to nullify Nakamura's influence on proceedings.

Other good news is that red hot midfielder come striker Tim Cahill will be fighting fit for it, shrewdly being rested after 77mins in Everton's 3-0 victory over Bolton. Ace striker Scott McDonald has also scored over the weekend in Celtic's 2-1 victory over Queen's Park. I noticed that the young Turkish based striker, Djite didn't make the squad, but it's only a matter of time given his recent efforts with the boot.

Viduka has just come off the bench for Newcastle, although for only 10minutes, he nearly layed one on for a team mate. It's the first time he's played since reinjuring his archilles 6 weeks ago.

The two coaches have been talking this game up, Verbeek saying that Japan's coach is scared for having closed training sessions. Japan's coach has countered this by saying that in fact, he's not. What we know for sure is that if Australia can win this one, we will have one foot in the world cup village. With such a good start to the campaign, I think Verbeek will attack, we still scare Japan after the last world cup and we can afford to lose quite frankly.

Even without Emerton and Kewell it is easy to select a midfeild from the squad list. Japan will struggle to contain our height and strength, they may have slightly better technique in the form of Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura, as long as he has a quiet game we should be dominant. As for strikers, Kennedy is a head ache for any team tall and agile, McDonald should start alongside him an old fashioned poacher in form but still with something to prove, Cahill has played a lot of striker for Everton too. We're a bit skinny on defenders but Coyne and North have stepped into the breach next to Neill and done admirably.

I guess Japan still deserves favouritism after there recent 5-1 thumping of Finland (understrength), but that was an understrength Japan team too. I Just feel (hope!) that Australia's largely European based side will come out hard and attempt to break Japan's spirit with the knowledge that a win may just about qualify them for the WC and a loss does no great harm.





Squad List:

Mark Bresciano (Palermo, ITA)
Tim Cahill (Everton, ENG)
David Carney (Norwich City, ENG)
Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, SWI)
Chris Coyne (Colchester United, ENG)
Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, HOL)
Adam Federici (Reading, ENG)
Richard Garcia (Hull City, ENG)
Vince Grella (Blackburn Rovers, ENG)
Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar, HOL)
Mile Jedinak (Genclerbirligi SK, TUR)
Josh Kennedy (Karlsruhe, GER)
Scott McDonald (Celtic, SCO)
Craig Moore (Queensland Roar, AUS)
Lucas Neill (West Ham United, ENG)
Jade North (Incheon United, KOR)
Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor, TUR)
Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, ENG)
Shane Stefanutto (FC Lyn Oslo, NOR)
Mile Sterjovski (Derby County, ENG)
Carl Valeri (Grosseto, ITA)
Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow, RUS)

Sorry couldn't findy Japan's squad list but I know it includes most of their top class European players, I'll post it when it pops up.

0-0 Socceroos Scrape Away Draw to Indonesia.

Nil all, didn't see it but the highlights are quie entertaining, especially Moore's tackle.

Away draws are always welcome in qualifiers and Indonesia proved no push over at home.

Australia vs Indonesia, Squad list.

So we're attempting to qualify for the Asian Cup again. Predictably, Verbeek has opted for an all A-league squad, giving the European Stars a rest ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Danny Allsopp, Melbourne Victory
Billy Celeski, Melbourne Victory
Shannon Cole, Sydney FC
Robert Cornthwaite, Adelaide United
Tarek Elrich, Newcastle Jets
Eugene Galekovic, Adelaide United
Dean Heffernan, Central Coast Mariners
Scott Jamieson, Adelaide United
Dylan Macallister, Central Coast Mariners
Matthew Mckay, Queensland Roar
Craig Moore, Queensland Roar
Tom Pondeljak, Melbourne Victory
Paul Reid, Adelaide United
Matt Simon, Central Coast Mariners
Michael Theoklitos, Melbourne Victory
Archie Thompson, Melbourne Victory
Matthew Thompson, Newcastle Jets
Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Perth Glory
Rodrigo Vargas, Melbourne Victory
Danny Vukovic, Central Coast Mariners
Michael Zullo, Queensland Roar



Indonesia shouldn't really worry us, even with a B-team, we still have one ball Moore and destroy inferior oppositions Archie. But they are at home in front of some massive vocal crowd so who knows?

Culina Come's Home, Earlier Than Expected.

So I was reading an interview shere Pim Verbeek was talking about Jason Culina taking a position with next season's A league debutant franchise Gold Coast FC. He said that at first he was against Culina moving to the a-league, because it's a step down in class, but now he thinks it will be good for his family and therefore his football or some such malarkey. In the same breath he began to say how players such as Jade North and Sasa Ogenovska we're making a mistake for playing for K-league sides because, although the money may be better, the standard is below that of the A-league.

Two thing's struck me form this assessment, the first is that Verbeek must think Australia produces better players than any other AFC country. Korea is, in terms of international tournament success, equal with Japan or any other AFC team. To say that the K-league isn't up to A-league standard intimates that when you compare our B-teams, Australia is superior. Your B-team is important for dead rubbers but also indicates the national threshold of mediocrity, which raises the bar for the European superstars who need to live up to their bank balances when they share locker rooms. But what is surprising is that with for Verbeek's K-League experience he considers it inferior to the Australian equivalent in the infancy of it's third season(the K league some 22 seasons it's senior).

The other ties into this, if players of Culina's quality can come back with some zip still in their stride than that raises the level of the A-league. This raises the standard our European stars need to be to make the team, plus helps us win dead rubbers. As long as diamonds in the rough such as Scott McDonald and Josh Kennedy keep turning up then we can afford players of Culina's quality to reduce their workload and perhaps increase their longevity. Maybe, definitely, I'm biased, but if we can have a strong home team of yesterdays superstars and up and comers, only to be added to with European class where possible, it bodes well for the future and present squad depth.

I was hoping to put the actual interview in, but unfortunately it it isn't on the SMH website, but it's probably only a matter of time.

Finally Something to Read on the Internet.

Sorry to all the many (maybe double figures?) people waiting so long for a post on this thing. But not a lot has been happening for the Socceroos, well nothing that might have put my lazy arse into gear to post something. Here's a rundown of what has been happening in vague terms.

Harry Kewell, has continued to score, got one last week end then took the next flight to Sydney to see his surgeon, nothing new there.

Bruce Djite has scored again for his Turkish club.

Tim Cahill has been playing but has missed a couple of sitters recently, still to regain his true form after the early season foot fracture.

Carney still not getting a game for Sheffield in the English Championship looks to move in the January transfer window.

Also in the English championship, perhaps unsurprisingly Crystal Palace's Nicky Carle feels he's playing well enough to be in the Socceroos, who would you leave out though for this show pony.

At long last Mark Viduka has returned after an Archilles' injury for Newcastle and played pretty well off the bench, hopefully still an option for the roos come WC 2010.

Moore has played for the Queensland Roar since surgery for testicular cancer, hopefully the door remains open for him at the socceroos.

Jade North is going to play in Korea next season instead of being a marquee player for the next new franchise in the A-league.

Lucas Neil continues the charm offensive by asking for more cash from West Ham despite being one of their highest paid players.

At the moment there is the FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo, don't know much about the relevance of the knockout competition, but the Adelaide Reds are in it. Last night they defeated Waitakere United 2-1 in a come from behind victory, this sets up a rematch with Gamba Osaka who beat them in the two leg final of the AFC 5-0. They will need to play a lot better to be competitive against the Japanese, Waitakere United are only a semi-pro team and they pushed Adelaide until Dodd's 82nd minute set piece header.

Australia's qualification for the next Asian cup begins next month against Indonesia in Jakarta. Pim wants his Euro stars but one would imagine the A (league) team can take care of these guys, I love it when a plan comes together.

Feel free to add comments, I'm sure there's plenty of stuff left out of this.

Schwarzter, Bresciano & Kennedy steal win

The Socceroos came into the match against Bahrain full of confidence. This vanished however after kick off and the Socceroos were completely out played. Bahrain had plenty of chances all game, some of them the were very unlucky to score from. Jaycee John their 23 year old Nigerian born striker was causing havoc for Schwartzer all game. The Socceroos for much of the game didn't give themselves any chances, Harry Kewell sprayed a header wide shortly after half time from a David Carney cross. Everyone thought by the 90min mark this game was going to be a lucky nil all draw for the Socceroos. But two and a half minutes into the three minutes of stoppage time a long ball was played by Schwartzer and headed on from Kennedy manage to catch the defense of guard and put Bresciano through the offside trap. Bresciano seemed to dribble slowly and hesitate as the defense and keeper was catching up on him. He calmly placed the over the keeper into the top of the net from just inside the box and celebrated the goal with his patented Spartacus celebration.

Australia was lucky this game, but they did keep Bahrain scoreless and when you do that you can win a lot more easily. What are your thoughts?

Group A		P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Australia	3	3	0	0	6	0	6	9
2	Japan	3	2	1	0	7	3	4	7
3	Qatar	4	1	1	2	4	8	-4	4
4	Bahrain	3	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1
5	Uzbekistan	3	0	1	2	1	5	-4	1

What will Become of Bahrain?

A win in this match will maintain our number one status in the qualifying group. We will be at least 2 points clear possibly 4 points, with 5 games to go, 3 at home.

A draw means we're equal leader on points, or possibly 2 points clear.

A loss means we're 1 point up or down.

A good start can be made a great start with a win or at least a draw in this crucial qualifier. I think we can do this, the time difference to Europe is only 3 hours or so. Australia's class should undo what will be a fierce opponent with it's last chance to make it in this group.

Group A		P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Australia	2	2	0	0	5	0	5	6
2	Japan	2	1	1	0	4	3	1	4
3	Qatar	3	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
4	Bahrain	2	0	1	1	3	4	-1	1
5	Uzbekistan	3	0	1	2	1	5	-4	1

Nov 19 2008
Qatar	vs	Japan
Bahrain	vs	Australia
UAE	vs	Iran
Saudi Arabia	vs	South Korea

The Bahrain Tactics

What strategy do you think PIM VERBEEK will employ?

Everyone knows Bahrain is playing for 3 points, they are sitting equal last on 1 point on the bottom of group A and is going to throw everything at us.

Pim really has three choices in terms of tactics: defend, attack or counter attack (defend then hit them on the break).

A bad coach would say, "they are going to attack, we will 'Defend', they will become angry and score an own goal or we will get the draw, if we defend well enough that is", Pim will not do this (i hope). Its really a dumb negative move.

The coach of the Gamba Osaka against Adelaide United in the final of the ACL went into the game with a 3-0 home leg victory, played 'Attack' and got the away goals needed to make victory certain. Pim could do this, however this is not a two legged knock out or final. This is a round robin pool match.

From the players available and according to the media Pim is far more likely to 'Counter Attack' & play like he did against the Uzbeks last time around. Harry Kewell up front, with Bresciano, Cahill (according to him he's fit to play) and Holman just behind. Culina and Valerie in defensive midfield and Carny (left fullback), Coyne (left centreback), Neill (right centreback) and Wilkshire (right fullback) making up the back 4.

My main problem with this is apart from Harry Kewell, we are missing geniune counter attacking footballers, without Chipperfeild and Emerton (we had them last time) we lack pace and width to run around them. Unless Sterjovski starts this tactic seems like it wont work as effectively as last time.

I would prefer we play with the same tactics as our demolition of Qatar, get some away goals and prove we can do it away from home as well as at home. Like i previously posted start with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Kennedy up front, Kewell (left), Cahill (centre) and Sterjovski (right) behind, Culina (right of middle) and Bresciano (left of middle) in defensive midfielder roles and the same back 4 as above.

We've proven we have a team that can play beautifully, so why not play beautifully. I don't want to stay up at 2am and watch us wait for the other team to miss a shot to try and score. I want to see the Socceroos showing that beating Holland wasn't a fluke and that we can and will do it again.

What are your thoughts?

Kewell Heads In, Emerton Hamstrings Out, Cahill In Doubt, McDonald Virused Out

Emerton will miss the Socceroos class with Bahrain this Thursday with a soft hamstring injury. Obviously Blackburn Rovers cannot afford him getting another brace for the Socceroos.

Tim Cahill, is also in doubt with a heel injury. After Cahill's recent foot injuries I'm pretty sure Everton will not let him play despite him coming to Bahrain with the squad. Emerton in the past have not release Cahill for international matches, although this one fell on a international date.

Scott McDonald has a virus, probably influenza and cant fly to the squad, let alone play. He didn't play in Celtic's last match, so a plausible excuse.

Harry Kewell scored for Galatasary again, that's his 7th in 13 appearances. Last night he scored off a corner, seemed to miss time his arrival, but jumped backwards and headed forwards to score(watch the video).

World Cup Qualifier Bahrain v Australia
Thursday 20th November kickoff 02:00 am (on Foxsports 1).

OzzyFootball tip Sterjovski, to take Emertons spot on the right wing. And HOLMAN to take Cahill's Shadow striking attacking midfielder role.

Previously would have tipped Wilkshire to move forward and have another right fullback, but with the defense being so solid last game and having it already disrupted with Chipperfield and Moore being swapped for Carney and Coyne respectively you can see why some stability in this area would be important.

Craig Moore has testicular cancer

No Joke.
The 32-year-old was diagnosed last Thursday and underwent the procedure on the on Tuesday.
This means he will not play for the Socceroos against Bahrain. Ozzyfootball hopes Moore will have more luck with his balls and Coyne will take his place in the starting team.
A picture of the areas testicular cancer can effect is below.
Hopefully Moore returns lighter and therefore better, like Lance Armstrong.

Retirement Stoppervics Tony Popovic

I thought he'd either make himself available for the Socceroos again, or retire.

He's retired for Sydney FC as of now but will stay on as Kosmina's assistant coach.

Popovic is truly a great socceroo and these are my three most memorable moments of Popovic brilliance:

1. Scored the winner goal against England from a Lazaridis cross when we historically beat them away from home in 2003.

2. Scored what looked to be the winner in the last minutes of his own retirement match, he went off with lots of cheers, then his replacement scored an own goal and tied the game. (see photo).

3. He elbowed Recoba in the face from behind when he was the last defender and only copped yellow card... Australia went on to tie the series, win on penalties and go to Germany, where Popovic got a tournament ending injury...

He will be sorely missed.

In remembrance of him check out this hilarious youtube of his Crystal Palace days, this is Nicky Carle skill.

Comment on what you remember most about the Unstoppovic Tony Popovic.