Football Thread!

[Bill77]

NZ beat Serbia 1-0

a good measuring stick on how Australia will do against the serbs. I think that game will be in the bag for Australia.

[Prolet]

Yeah, the Serbs missed many sitters it was funny. Their fans stormed the ground the game was almost going to be called off, they played with their second string side but never the less well done to New Zealand. Most media outlets called the match a circus its a good win, the match was played in Austria not Serbia.

Bill, Dzaro is saying that Harilampije is fucked thats the latest coming out of Stari Kraj, lets hope they put him away and start building FFM from scratch.

[Phoenix]

Yeah, the Serbs missed many sitters it was funny. Their fans stormed the ground the game was almost going to be called off, they played with their second string side but never the less well done to New Zealand. Most media outlets called the match a circus its a good win, the match was played in Austria not Serbia.

Prolet, I see you cant grasp the concept of the 'friendly' when we're still several weeks away from the first ball being kicked in anger at the WC...the serbs playing many second string players is not much different to what Australia did in their 'friendly' against NZ...

It worries me that you're full of excuses for the serbs, you idolize the croats and you bag the Aussies...

[Prolet]

Phoenix, I can say this because i watched the game, im not making any excuses New Zealand won fair and square good on them i said that in the previous post. It was one of those games where the weaker side scored and won while the stronger side missed alot of chances it happens a win is a win, even if you are weaker and play poor you can win with a bit of luck on your side. This is football and this is why its the best game in the world because anything is possible.

Phoenix, This world cup is going to be a beauty mate, i can see it.

I never bagged the Aussies i simply bagged their preparation to the world cup i think Pim Verbeek is a hack, i blame the coach nobody else because he has the final say and desides whats going to happen.

Phoenix, Why do you hate the Croats so much? You know we are good mates with them and we have very good relations. My whole point was that Croatia is ranked in the top 10 and plays a similar game to Serbia which is in the same Group as Australia, it would have been a good hit out just like Greece in 2006 we had over 90,000 people it was a perfect send off and Josip Skoko scored that brilliant goal.

[Phoenix]

Phoenix, I can say this because i watched the game, im not making any excuses New Zealand won fair and square good on them i said that in the previous post. It was one of those games where the weaker side scored and won while the stronger side missed alot of chances it happens a win is a win, even if you are weaker and play poor you can win with a bit of luck on your side. This is football and this is why its the best game in the world because anything is possible.

Phoenix, This world cup is going to be a beauty mate, i can see it.

I never bagged the Aussies i simply bagged their preparation to the world cup i think Pim Verbeek is a hack, i blame the coach nobody else because he has the final say and desides whats going to happen.

Phoenix, Why do you hate the Croats so much? You know we are good mates with them and we have very good relations. My whole point was that Croatia is ranked in the top 10 and plays a similar game to Serbia which is in the same Group as Australia, it would have been a good hit out just like Greece in 2006 we had over 90,000 people it was a perfect send off and Josip Skoko scored that brilliant goal.

Prolet...

When you pick the eyes out of the national coach and criticize their preparation I would say that equates to bagging the national team...sure I'm not entirely happy with Verbeek's selections, I believe Ognenovski should be in the team before Craig Moore and both Scotty McDonald and Joel Griffiths should be in the side...I personally find Verbeeks system too negative and without a plan B...I reckon defensively the Australian side is pretty good and I'd rather have seen Verbeek tweak the offensive set up by building a structure that works around McDonald...unfortunately Dutch coaches have a reputation for stubborness...BUT using his system we're in another WC, so who am I to argue about systems and personnel...?

Prolet, I seriously don't see the Croats as our best friends...wait until they get into the EU and we'll have their representatives coming to Macedonia telling us to change our name like the procession of Slovenian motherfuckers that have been wearing in a goat-track to Skopje in recent times...

[Prolet]

Phoenix, Croatia wont be joining the EU before 2012 by then alot of things will change. The Slovenians are our mates however Zoran Taler doesnt represent them, he is an EU delegate koj go eba nego. Zrinski already gave him an earful on facebook.

I agree with you totally mate, but i cant blame Verbeek for not picking Scotty McDonald he hasnt scored in 20 games for Australia and yes Verbeek qualified Australia to the World Cup and Asian Cup but we are talking about playing games with crap oposition like Thailand and Kuwait etc its hardly quality opposition.

Saso Ognenovski should play for Stari Kraj, i think he is good enough especially now that Goce Sedloski retired. It will buy us a few more years before we breed another quality defender.

[Phoenix]

Phoenix, Croatia wont be joining the EU before 2012 by then alot of things will change. The Slovenians are our mates however Zoran Taler doesnt represent them, he is an EU delegate koj go eba nego. Zrinski already gave him an earful on facebook.

Prolet, how many things will change in the next two years regarding the name...things haven't changed in almost 2 decades, I doubt anything will change in another two years...

I agree with you totally mate, but i cant blame Verbeek for not picking Scotty McDonald he hasnt scored in 20 games for Australia and yes Verbeek qualified Australia to the World Cup and Asian Cup but we are talking about playing games with crap oposition like Thailand and Kuwait etc its hardly quality opposition.

Prolet, why has McDonald consistently scored in Scotland, in European fixtures and now in the EPL, obviously the guy has a nose for goal and is arguably our most consistent striker at the moment, perhaps Verbeek could have done more to utilize his skill set...

The best thing that has happened to Australian football is our move into the Asian Confederation, i'd much rather be playing Thailand than the Soloman Islands...never underestimate the benefits of regular competition games in building the experience of our national teams...our players have a unique base of experience, most ply their trade in Europe, week in week out and then play in Asia on representative duty, this gives our players excellent insight into European and Asian game styles and to adapt to different climatic environments, hopefully producing very capable players in years to come and for future World Cups where you can end up playing the tournament in any continent and against any competition in your group

[Prolet]

A good analysis Phoenix, Ofcourse your right when you compare the Asian Federation to the Oceania one. But keep in mind that its much tougher qualifying via Africa or Europe as the oposition is much toughter there.

As for Scotty McDonald he is a hack, you gotta be kidding me if you expect him to play in a world cup yet he cant score in a brothel. He left Celtic midway through the season to join Middlesborogh for hope of them being promoted in the premier league which it didnt happen. Its one thing for a young and upcomming player coming from the ranks of a lower league but when a well established player leaves arguibly the best Scottish Club to join a lower division club its a massive handicap for him to represent his country. Pim Verbeek openly stated that those who stayed in the A-League have very little hope in playing in the world cup, why do you think Mile Sterjovski missed out? He's even announced his international retirement now thanks to that hack.

[Warrior]

http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/scoreboard?league=all&date=20100529&cc=3436

Above is the link of the weekend friendlies.

Macedonia as expected did it fairly easy against the Azeri. If you look at the preperations of our national team for WC qualifiers or Euro's for the past few tournaments it has been fairly good, until the qulifiers start. That is purely due to our mental weakness and we wilt under pressure and that has also to do with our players besides Pandev and another 1 or 2, are playing is very weak leagues, such as Cyprus, Poland, Bulgaria etc. We need players that perform well in the top 4 leagues in Europe to be a chance to make the Euro or WC. Maybe another 2-3 and then we can plan our work holidays around Maco's participation in a major tournament.

Prolet looking at the Sebia's line up, besides Stankovic and Ivanovic, i cant see any notable absentees. Have I missed something or you like to take the credit away from NZ for their superb win.

Serbia has never been a good performer in football when it comes to the WC or Euros. They got smacked 6:0 against Netherlands in 2000, and 6:1 against Argentina in 2006. Leading up to those tournaments they had also very strong qualification results. If i could recall right they knocked out Croatia for Euro 2000, which was a massive result considering Croatia in 1998 finished 3rd in the WC.

Their players care about their careers and their next possible transfer. Very talented team with a lot of selfish players, therefore i am tipping for them to not get out of the group stages. You need a committed team to be a success at the WC.

The loss against NZ will ebb their confidence to a all time low and i dont see them doing much, they will self destruct. Although if they happen to perform, they will exhibit a great brand of football as all Eastern European countries do.

The clock is ticking down and i cant wait for the kick off of the WC...

Oz next friendly is against Denmark on 1st of June. I do believe Fox will be showing it live at 9.00pm. (I am not 100% about the time, could someone please verify it)

[Phoenix]

http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/...100529&cc=3436

Above is the link of the weekend friendlies.

Macedonia as expected did it fairly easy against the Azeri. If you look at the preperations of our national team for WC qualifiers or Euro's for the past few tournaments it has been fairly good, until the qulifiers start. That is purely due to our mental weakness and we wilt under pressure and that has also to do with our players besides Pandev and another 1 or 2, are playing is very weak leagues, such as Cyprus, Poland, Bulgaria etc. We need players that perform well in the top 4 leagues in Europe to be a chance to make the Euro or WC. Maybe another 2-3 and then we can plan our work holidays around Maco's participation in a major tournament.

Prolet looking at the Sebia's line up, besides Stankovic and Ivanovic, i cant see any notable absentees. Have I missed something or you like to take the credit away from NZ for their superb win.

Serbia has never been a good performer in football when it comes to the WC or Euros. They got smacked 6:0 against Netherlands in 2000, and 6:1 against Argentina in 2006. Leading up to those tournaments they had also very strong qualification results. If i could recall right they knocked out Croatia for Euro 2000, which was a massive result considering Croatia in 1998 finished 3rd in the WC.

Their players care about their careers and their next possible transfer. Very talented team with a lot of selfish players, therefore i am tipping for them to not get out of the group stages. You need a committed team to be a success at the WC.

The loss against NZ will ebb their confidence to a all time low and i dont see them doing much, they will self destruct. Although if they happen to perform, they will exhibit a great brand of football as all Eastern European countries do.

The clock is ticking down and i cant wait for the kick off of the WC...

Oz next friendly is against Denmark on 1st of June. I do believe Fox will be showing it live at 9.00pm. (I am not 100% about the time, could someone please verify it)

Good summary Warrior...

Yep, the match against Demark is on Fox at 9:30

[Phoenix]

Pre-match starts at 9:30 and kick off is 10pm...Aus V Den on Fox Tue night

[Prolet]

Warrior, That was Serbia and MonteNegro it wasnt Serbia. Its no different then calling us Yugoslavia for gods sake. Cant you tell the difference between two countries??

In the Euro2000 Qualifiers Croatia was in the group stages with us and Yugoslavia, we got the 1-1 draw in Skopje and Dejan Stankovic personally thanked us for our efforts aswell as our other 1-1 draw in Skopje against Ireland which all but sealed qualification for the then Yugoslav Country. Who could forget that Stavreski header from the courner in the dying seconds, the Irish were heart broken and Yugoslavia played a 2-2 draw in Zagreb against Croatia.

[Warrior]

Pre-match starts at 9:30 and kick off is 10pm...Aus V Den on Fox Tue night

Thanks mate!

[Warrior]

Warrior, That was Serbia and MonteNegro it wasnt Serbia. Its no different then calling us Yugoslavia for gods sake. Cant you tell the difference between two countries??

In the Euro2000 Qualifiers Croatia was in the group stages with us and Yugoslavia, we got the 1-1 draw in Skopje and Dejan Stankovic personally thanked us for our efforts aswell as our other 1-1 draw in Skopje against Ireland which all but sealed qualification for the then Yugoslav Country. Who could forget that Stavreski header from the courner in the dying seconds, the Irish were heart broken and Yugoslavia played a 2-2 draw in Zagreb against Croatia.

Please name me the contribution of Montenegro in that so called Yugoslavia? It was Serbian NT under the diguise of Yugo, because Serbia was hated at that time all over the world and most possible they would have been banned with such name in any comp. Therefore they got their brothers Crnogorci to help them out, but i am not sure which players in 2000 were from Montenegro in the first 11 besides Mijatovic. Looking at the below, they were all Serbs bar 1 or 2.

1 GK Milorad Korać 10 March 1969 (aged 31) 0 Obilić
2 DF Ivan Dudić 13 February 1977 (aged 23) 3 Crvena Zvezda
3 DF Goran Đorović 11 November 1971 (aged 28) 42 Celta Vigo
4 MF Slaviša Jokanović 16 August 1968 (aged 31) 52 Deportivo La Coruńa
5 DF Miroslav Đukić 19 February 1966 (aged 34) 37 Valencia
6 MF Dejan Stanković 11 September 1978 (aged 21) 20 Lazio
7 MF Vladimir Jugović 30 August 1969 (aged 30) 34 Internazionale
8 FW Predrag Mijatović 19 January 1969 (aged 31) 49 Fiorentina
9 FW Savo Milošević 2 September 1973 (aged 26) 44 Real Zaragoza
10 MF Dragan Stojković (c) 3 March 1965 (aged 35) 78 Nagoya Grampus Eight
11 DF Siniša Mihajlović 20 February 1969 (aged 31) 44 Lazio
12 GK Željko Cicović 8 September 1971 (aged 28) 3 Las Palmas
13 DF Slobodan Komljenović 2 January 1971 (aged 29) 18 Kaiserslautern
14 DF Niša Saveljić 27 March 1970 (aged 30) 28 Bordeaux
15 MF Goran Bunjevčević 17 February 1973 (aged 27) 5 Crvena Zvezda
16 MF Dejan Govedarica 2 October 1969 (aged 30) 26 RKC Waalwijk
17 FW Ljubinko Drulović 11 September 1968 (aged 31) 27 Porto
18 FW Darko Kovačević 18 November 1973 (aged 26) 35 Juventus
19 MF Jovan Stanković 4 March 1971 (aged 29) 7 Mallorca
20 FW Mateja Kežman 12 April 1979 (aged 21) 3 Partizan
21 MF Albert Nađ 29 October 1974 (aged 25) 33 Real Oviedo
22 GK Ivica Kralj 26 March 1973 (aged 27) 33 PSV


Are you a Serb defendent? From now on, i will only say positive things about the Serbs, just to please you Prolet. I wont tell the truth anymore, it might not sit right with you. You need to relax a bit....

[Prolet]

Warrior, Im actually attacking them not defending them.

For years the Serbs have been taking away the Glory and giving it to themselves, they can only do that now as an Independent Serbian country not 4 years ago or 20-30 years ago. In that Yugoslavia team there were Macedonian players there like Darko Panchev playing, dont you remember Italia 90??

Dejan Savicevic is also a Crno Gorec and he was a regular player in the new Yugoslav team, he even scored against us in Belgrade in 1999 remember? So thats like saying if Australia wins the world cup now only NSW can claim the credit just because no players or 1 or 2 originate from Northern Territory and Tasmania it doesnt work that way.

Warrior, Why hold back on the Serbs, fire away as much as you want by you giving them credit for everyones achievments you are actually doing them a favor. When you are a federation of 6 republics, 1 cant claim all the glory. Or even if its 2 republics like it was from 1991 to 2006 when Serbia was with Monte Negro which means two republics.

Im tipping the Socceroos to beat Denmark tomorrow, should be a good game.