Football Thread!

[Prolet]

Warrior, If you recall Korea Republic was the last country to beat Australia 3-1

These games are only preparations, the key here is match fitness and getting into shape. I've heard reports from the Australian camp that the ball is really unpredictable, the keepers are going to struggle with it.

[Prolet]

Buktop,

Australia vs USA

If you cant watch this game here is the link

http://www.sports2live.webs.com/

Kick off is in 15 minutes

[makalek]

1:1 in the 28th minute. USA got an early goal and one player also missed an open goal after getting around the Australian keeper and then Australia equalized through Cahill.

[makalek]

USA just scored and it's now 2:1.

[makalek]

What a miss by Josh Kennedy? An open header from close range but somehow he sends it wide.

[Prolet]

Makalek, Whats your opinion on Bresciano's chance??

3-1 USA

What a horrible game by Australia, absolutely disgusting.

[makalek]

Makalek, Whats your opinion on Bresciano's chance??

3-1 USA

What a horrible game by Australia, absolutely disgusting.

Bresciano fired a powerful, low footed shot that the U.S. keeper saved. He also took some shots from bad angles but to me the guy from Australia who disappointed was #9 Kennedy. I don't know a lot about the Australian team but #9 missed some good chances today.

[makalek]

France just won the U19 Women's championship being held in Macedonia by beating England 2:1 in the final.

[Prolet]

Harry Kewell hasnt played for months, he is not match fit. Brett Emerton is still injured, its going to be very tough against Germany.

Harry Kewell is the key to this game.

Makalek, I thought Vince Grella had a very poor game so did Craig Moore, lets hope Australia can regroup and get back into form.

[Phoenix]

Makalek, Whats your opinion on Bresciano's chance??

3-1 USA

What a horrible game by Australia, absolutely disgusting.

Prolet, I think you're reading far too much into this result.

The squad are still in a very heavy training schedule, they were still doing 2 sessions a day until yesterday...you need to remember that their training base and their 2 practice games have been at altitude and the squad is apparently still a couple of days away from tapering their training in final preperation for the game against Germany next week.

Lets judge Australia's performance once they start their Group stage matches, not on their performances in practice games, being flogged at training for close to a month now and the usual experimentations that occur...

The USA are an ok side and the score was no indication of the superiority of one over the other...Australia were playing out of character, especially defensively they looked slow, tired and unorganized...none of the Australian players looked 'sharp'...and yet they still managed to create a few chances in an otherwise pretty ordinary performance...

[Prolet]

Well Said Phoenix

I know this is a friendly, but far too many were made and performances must improve otherwise it could prove costly.

[Warrior]

The game was played on US terms, where they broke very quickly as soon as the Aussies lost the ball. The first two goals scored by the US were from a mistake by the Australians and then a quick ball movement. Craig Moore seems to be getting exposed with this kind of play.
I dont think there are anymore expiremnts left, Verbeek played the same line up in the last two games and id say that will be the line up against Germany, unless there are injuries.
Kewell is a worry and i am not sure if he made the right decision to keep him on, considering he hasnt played at all. It seems he wont play due to his injury. If there were any doubts he should have played him agaisnt USA and see how he goes. But maybe he is fit and raring to go and will unleash him against Germany. That might be one of the biggest suprises for the WC.
I dont buy the excuse the Aussies were sluggish becasue of heavy prereparation as the other teams are doing the same. Grella, Bresciano and Culina are a worry and the biggest concern is that there are no replacements for them. The quality is too thin...Not long to go....

[Warrior]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/world-cup-2010/socceroos-goalie-brad-jones-hit-by-family-tragedy-young-son-has-leukemia/story-fn4k63e5-1225876283414

Shocking news!!!

[Spartan]

^^Horrible, football will mean little to him now.... absolutely horrible.

On another note, can anyone confirm that Drogba, Essien and Mikel will miss this WC?

[Prolet]

On another note, can anyone confirm that Drogba, Essien and Mikel will miss this WC?

I think they are, Drogba just had surgery on his arm he injured it in a friendly match i believe it was against Korea.

Essien was ruled out a long time ago, he hasnt played for chelsea for a good 6 months and Obi Mikel was ruled out not so long ago. Michael Ballack is also out, i dont see how Drogba can come back in a week from having a broken arm, they havnt officially ruled out Drogba but i cant see how he'll play with a broken hand.

Warrior, I was telling you this a while back and now you can finally see it, Craig Moore had a shocker of a game and Vince Grella is just a mistake waiting to happen we saw how he looses the ball and how he constantly gets booked. I've never liked Culina, even in his prime when he was at PSV and Bresciano was my favorite player but i dont think he's half as good as he was 4 years ago this is what worries me.

I dont want to sound too negative so we'll see what happens, i can only hope for the best. I hope everything goes well for Brad Jones, its really such a shame for him to miss out on the tournament its very sad for his son.