The World Cup Thread

[astrogirl]

*** Thread for socceroos and general world cup discussion ***

I'm getting excited about the World Cup! I am a total gumby when it comes to football/soccer so I thought I'd do some research. Hopefully other forummers are interested in football chat

Australian squad, named yesterday

John Aloisi, Michael Beauchamp, Marco Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Ante Covic, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Zeljko Kalac, Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell, Stan Lazaridis, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic, Mark Schwarzer, Josip Skoko, Mile Sterjovski, Archie Thompson, Mark Viduka, Luke Wilkshire.

Interestingly,

• Cahill in.
• Josh Kennedy and Mark Milligan in, despite not playing in qualifying.
• Mile Sterjovski has not played for Australia under Hiddink.
• This is old news by now, but Tony Vidmar out due to a heart problem. Poor bloke He misses out on his dream...
• Players who missed out - Ljubo Milicevic, Ahmad Elrich, Michael Thwaite and Joel Griffiths.

Games before the world cup

• Greece in Melbourne on May 25
• Holland in Rotterdam on June 4
• Liechtenstein in Germany on June 7.

My source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world-cup-2006/world-cup-squad-surprises/2006/05/10/1146940588375.html

 

[pennywisealfie]

yep, cant wait for the world cup, i asked for the month off from work but they wouldnt give it to me, so im gonna quit lol, thats how much im excited about it.

Im surprised Elrich wasnt selected but overall im happy with the team.

Cant believe that young arsenal kid got picked for england. who do you think will come into the side if they give up on rooney at the last second? im hoping they pick Craig Bellamy from Blackburn (he might not be english, not sure).

 

[B-dos]

Cahill was always going to be picked. Fingers crossed he will be fit because he is a great player and we really need him. I heard a rumour that his coach at Everton has hinted he may try and exclude him from the WC so he is fit for the club for the start of the season. i highly doubt it but there will be trouble if he does.

 

[B-dos]

Im also very very excited about the WC. A few interesting selections but i have total faith in Guus.

I was very surprised Eng picked Walcott from Arsenal too, he hasnt even played a Premier League game. Its a big call but sometimes these are the ones you have to make.

 

[Samwise]

Yeah!!!! I have the whole month off from work and will be watching it at a reasonable hour all over Europe. No waking up to watch a game at 4am for me!!

I love football, but I'm a tragic at keeping up with it. I really only ever get to see some of the big games in the premier league and the occasional European game. I'm going to make more of an effort to follow the a-league come August though.

In regards to Cahill, yeah Everton management have been right bastards towards Australia. They won't stop him playing but their not happy about it. Thats for sure. If they booted him we could always recruit from Nerds FC lol.

As for how the Socceroos will go? I honestly think we can make the round of 16 with wins over Japan and Croatia. Does anyone know what kind of team Greece plan on fielding for this friendly? If its a full strength squad it will be a good tell for our form leading into the World Cup.

Great Astro, just as I was settling down and getting some work done, you've gone and got me all excited again. I hope you're happy!

 

[Stuzmeister]

Yeah I can't wait either. Don't really know much about the players. I mean I follow a team in both the premier league and a league but haven't really kept up to date with everything over the past few years. But I hope Cahill is fit come kick off.

 

[The Devil]

Bellamy is Irish or Welsh, so he won't be part of the England WC Squad.

In regards to the 'young arsenal kid', Theo Walcott has an extremely bright future ahead of him. He has great backers in Wenger, Eriksson including him into the England squad and lets hope he lives up to the hype. Let's not forget the legendary Pele debuted internationally at 17 himself.

In regards to the Australia WC Squad, unlucky to miss out are Elrich and Thwaite. I thought both had solid games in their limited Socceroos experience, especially Thwaite who is a taller defender who can defuse out the high ball on clearances and through balls better than Neill and the like.

 

[Alex28]

Japan and Croatia are definately beatable. A draw with Brazil would be an amazing result.

The Holland match will be a good indicator as to how we will go - they are top 10 in the world and if we can match it with them, then Japan and Croatia should be doable.

 

[The_Joey_Show]

A few surprises in the Socceroos squad, but nothing should be a total surprise when it comes to Hiddink. He is obviously a fan of versatile, athletic players who can fill a number of roles within a team structure, hence his selection of 'bolters' Milligan and Kennedy.

Good to see a couple of A-League boys get a run... although neither will probably get much game time, the experience will be fantastic for them and they will come back vastly superior players for having spent time on the training paddocks with guys the calibre of Kewell, Viduka, Bresciano, etc.

I'll be very interested to see big Josh Kennedy's debut... if I was Hiddink I;d be giving him the first 60-70 minutes in one of the three warm up games. For those that don't know of him, he is a 6 foot 5 inch striker from German club Dresden. Apparently he is a big strong lad who utilises his height well to be a top notch aerial threat... something like Liverpools' Peter Crouch. In other words, he is exactly the sort of striker that Australia hasn't had for a long, long time.

It would be remiss of me not to mention big Tony Vidmar too... I nearly shed a tear for him when I heard the news last week. As long as I live I will remember the footage of him walking off the Estadio Centenario in tears in 2001, his World Cup dream a fading memory. The fact that he will never fulfil that dream is a shocking loss for him, but at least in the future he can take comfort in the fact that he was part of the biggest day in Australian football history.

 

[The Devil]

I support the Dutch, so Go Holland! lol

France have been under-performing ever since their WC win in 98 and their Euro 2000 victory. If the team fires, they'll go close to winning it again. Brazil is always in there somewhere, as is Italy, Spain and Argentina.

England boasts some good talent, but always seem to get knocked out in the early stages.

Socceroos will scrape through the group stages and lose in ET in the second round.

 

[B-dos]

The Holland match will be a good indicator as to how we will go - they are top 10 in the world and if we can match it with them, then Japan and Croatia should be doable.

Holland are actually 3rd ranked in the world at the moment so playing them will be a great indication of how we will go. Hopefully both sides will field their best teams (or close to it).

 

[gumbi]

*** Thread for socceroos and general world cup discussion ***

I'm getting excited about the World Cup! I am a total gumby when it comes to football/soccer so I thought I'd do some research.

C'mon, i know a bit about soccer!

 

[astrogirl]

C'mon, i know a bit about soccer!

Ooops that was unfortunate and not intended!!!

Great Astro, just as I was settling down and getting some work done, you've gone and got me all excited again. I hope you're happy!

Ooops, sorry Samwise :lol:

 

[RABK]

Ok, if you're not a swans bandwagoner then your definetly a Socceroos one. But so is 95% of the country atm. Most still wouldn't be able to name three players though.

 

[Jobdog]

Schwarzer,Neill,Kewell,Viduka,Bresciano ;-)

 

[RABK]

Your point?

 

[B-dos]

Ok, if you're not a swans bandwagoner then your definetly a Socceroos one. But so is 95% of the country atm. Most still wouldn't be able to name three players though.

Your point?

 

[RABK]

I was teasing Astro about been a swans bandwagoner the other night and had a stab at her been a Socceroos one. Then i commented that so is the majority of the country atm.

Now seriously, your point for questioning me? :-s

 

[B-dos]

Fair enough. I don’t see how supporting our national team in the WC makes anyone a “bandwagoner” that’s all. Whether they can name the whole team or don’t even know who Harry Kewell is.

 

[RABK]

Fair enough. I don’t see how supporting our national team in the WC makes anyone a “bandwagoner” that’s all. Whether they can name the whole team or don’t even know who Harry Kewell is.

It's a bandwagon and you know it. But it's a great bandwagon which i fully support as it's a great chapter in our sporting history.