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The World Cup Thread

RABK

RABK

Referee
Messages
20,694
Luke Wilkshire looked way out of his depth out there, our defense is a real concern but we expected that.

Our bench is obviously going to be our strength.
 
RABK

RABK

Referee
Messages
20,694
Gene Krupa said:
Great win but we still played crap for 85 mins. Need to do alot of improving.
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I don't think that's fair at all. We were dominating possesion and stuck to our guns, it payed off in the end.
 
Misanthrope

Misanthrope

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
47,624
Great win but we still played crap for 85 mins. Need to do alot of improving.
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You watched!?

I actually agree in a large part. Our defence on their counters was awful, but that's to be expected from our weak defensive line. Our midfield dominated and if it weren't for Wilshere's God awful long passes - I think we'd have done much better.
 
aqua_duck

aqua_duck

Coach
Messages
18,494
I don't know what Wilkshire is doing there period, he got his pants pulled down by Alessandro Santos a few times aswell. The bloke plays in the british 3rd tier league. There's a bloke by the name of Neil Kilkenny who's an ex england youth international who played regularly in the premier league for Birmingham last season who can't be any worse
 
pennywisealfie

pennywisealfie

Coach
Messages
13,806
f**kin awesome. i ended up going to the beer garden in surfers. the line was out the door, then i realized when i got in that it was a night for all the japanese to watch the game LOL! so i was pretty much in a place with 90% japs 10% aussies and they were having a super mega happy time for ages chanting "nippon...nippon" but in the end i was the one jumping up and down going crazy, but they were good sports, came and shook my hand and all. How fired up did Guus get, what a champ.
 
Misanthrope

Misanthrope

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
47,624
I was stunned that Nick Carle didn't get a look despite a tremendous season down here. He'd have been leagues ahead of Wilkshere.
 
A

Alex28

Coach
Messages
11,877
Thats not fair Gene. We should never have been down during the game AT ALL. It was an appalling decision that gave Japan the goal. We were all over them in the first half, and while we looked flat in the second half we stuck at it, tired Japan out and stuck it to them when we needed to.

Wilkshire should never have been there, but bringing Cahill on in the second half was a fantastic move. The defence was ordinary at times but was good enough to keep Japan out.

The midfield needs to improve and Cahill needs to stay in the middle of the field.

What they got out of this morning will be invaluable though - bring them on :)
 
astrogirl

astrogirl

First Grade
Messages
7,320
I love Timmy!!!!!!!!!

How good was that! Well the last 10 minutes anyway :D I am so excited, my first thought when I woke up this morning was "Australia won 3-1!!!" :D
 
antonius

antonius

Coach
Messages
10,104
Australia dominated Japan for 80% of the game. It would have been a travesty if that goal had have gotten Japan the win. The ref even admited his mistake after the game. Niel is a class defender, he cleaned a heap up at the back for us. I thought Kewell looked really flat. When you look at the game a second time you realise how many really good chances we had in the first half. Viduka looked certain to score early on and the Japan Goalkeeper made two great saves to deny him. Bresciano had two very good attempts, and Harry scraped the bar just after Japan scored. Our defence looked dodgy in the second half because we went to playing three at the back when we brought Cahill and then Aloisi on. Seriously I've been around soccer for a long time and I thought it was the best display by an Australian soccer team I've ever seen. A result against Croatia is a good posibility after that display. Can't see Japan beating either Brazil or Croatia, so a draw for us against either (Croatia more likely) will see us through to the last sixteen.
 
Jobdog

Jobdog

Live Update Team
Messages
25,696
CWBush said:
What day do we play Brazil?
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Bushy, its on the 18th but I'm pretty sure thats the 18th in Germany which would make it around 2am next Monday morning I think.
 
B-dos

B-dos

Referee
Messages
28,165
antonius said:
Australia dominated Japan for 80% of the game. It would have been a travesty if that goal had have gotten Japan the win. The ref even admited his mistake after the game. Niel is a class defender, he cleaned a heap up at the back for us. I thought Kewell looked really flat. When you look at the game a second time you realise how many really good chances we had in the first half. Viduka looked certain to score early on and the Japan Goalkeeper made two great saves to deny him. Bresciano had two very good attempts, and Harry scraped the bar just after Japan scored. Our defence looked dodgy in the second half because we went to playing three at the back when we brought Cahill and then Aloisi on. Seriously I've been around soccer for a long time and I thought it was the best display by an Australian soccer team I've ever seen. A result against Croatia is a good posibility after that display. Can't see Japan beating either Brazil or Croatia, so a draw for us against either (Croatia more likely) will see us through to the last sixteen.
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Well said Tony. I 100% agree. I'd like to put down my opinions on the game but i honestly can hardly keep my eyes open this morning or think straight after only 3 hours sleep.
 
Jobdog

Jobdog

Live Update Team
Messages
25,696
I personally thought that 3-1 was a fair reflection on the game to be totally honest. We had all the ball, kept on creating chances and it was only a matter of time before possession was turned into goals. At halftime, after that ridiculous Japanese first goal, I thought to myself, if there are any Gods in this World Cup campaign, we will get at least one goal and get away with a draw minimum. That seemed a remote possibility 84 minutes in and it was still 1-0.

Enter Timmy Cahill, Josh Kennedy and Johnny Aloisi. Absolute coaching masterstroke from Guus. Kennedy was in almost everything when he came on and the first goal you could attribute to him seeing as it was his presence in the penalty area which brought several Japan players to him. The keeper in hindsight would have been better off staying on his line, but the presence of Kennedy put that doubt into his mind. How Timmy threaded the ball through the sea of legs is remarkable. His second goal, one word sums it up really .............. CORKER.

All in all, great win by the boys, thoroughly deserved, the defence remains a bit of a worry, but I'm sure Guus will sort that out. Can't wait for 2am next Monday :D
 
pennywisealfie

pennywisealfie

Coach
Messages
13,806
The Egyptian ref has publicly apologized to australia for letting the japan goal stand lol. we all know what happens when a ref admits his mistakes....dumped.
 
Misanthrope

Misanthrope

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
47,624
The Egyptian ref has publicly apologized to australia for letting the japan goal stand lol. we all know what happens when a ref admits his mistakes....dumped.
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I had a thousand arguments with English and American football fans over it - some were claiming it was a perfectly legitimate goal. Looks like they can all line up, pucker up, and put up. :lol:
 
Parki

Parki

Bench
Messages
3,400
on another note, the commentators remarked last night that japan were the asian champions or something? if thats the best asia has to offer, we should romp home with the asian nations cup (held next year) as they have nothing

maybe they can play a lot better than that, who knows
 
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