Football Thread!

[Spartan]

hahaha
Now thats not an easy thing to do
Still, when germany play like this, outside of 8 or 9 teams, anyone else stands very little chance.
That was a straight footballing clinic

[Phoenix]

hahaha
Now thats not an easy thing to do
Still, when germany play like this, outside of 8 or 9 teams, anyone else stands very little chance.

Australia was very poor, very unorganized and lacking ideas...the second goal was a poor keeping error...and Cahills red card was clumsy, undisciplined and has essentially derailed our campaign...Australia made the Germans look good.

Some of Verbeeks selections were very questionable...garcia was a nightmare, Culina started out of position, Cahill as a lone striker was a disaster, Kennedys ommission was puzzling and the back four were too flat...

[Spartan]

Dont know the Australlian team like you do, but i dont believe there was anything the Ozzies could have changed that would have reversed the result. Maybe some changes could have made to make the game look less lop-sided, but the Germans came withn their A game today man, and unless you are Italy, Brazil or Argentina....not much hope.

The battle for second will be interesting, as I see the germans going through weith 9 points if they continue to play the way they did today.

Also, after watching the replay of the red card, I think it may have been harsh.
There was also a handball the ref missed....Australlians should have been awarded a PK....not that these things would have made a difference, but still.....

[Risto the Great]

Well thankfully I did not wake up for the Aust/Germany match.
But that red card for Cahill looked a little harsh, he pulled his feet right back and could not ease up on his sliding momentum.

Either way, hopefully Australia learned something.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Love your optimism Spartan, are you using Greece as the benchmark here? I guess that's the sort of attitude and hope that saw Greece muff its way through to the finals of the EC. Australia could have held Germany to a draw or at least limited their game if they were in better form and if better selections were made by their coach, that's a fact. On most days Germany is better than Australia, but not by a 4-0 difference.

Greece, by the way, did great. Don't you think?

[Spartan]

Love your optimism Spartan, are you using Greece as the benchmark here?

No

I guess that's the sort of attitude and hope that saw Greece muff its way through to the finals of the EC.

I would say it was a sound defensive/counter attack gameplan, element of surprise (underestimated by our opponents), and good old lady luck. Not conceding a goal in the knock-out rounds also makes a team pretty hard to beat....just my opinion.

Australia could have held Germany to a draw or at least limited their game if they were in better form and if better selections were made by their coach, that's a fact.

Ok ....The way the germans played, Australlia (or 95% of the worlds National teams to varying degrees), dont stand much of a chance....on their best day.
Australlia is not even in the same league as the germans, as was proven today.
Score could have been 6 or 7 nil had the Germans been a little more accurate, they were creating high percentage chances at will, and with ease.
Of course its still football, and anything can happen on any given day, but I feel you are mistaken with your 'fact', but again, just my humble opinion.

Greece, by the way, did great. Don't you think?

Why? did you think so?
I thought they were horrible!
But I knew this was coming a long time ago, so i was ready for this disappointment... I didnt have 'great expectations' going in to the tourney.
Im just happy we made the tourney...anything above that is a bonus.
Its nice to have ones nation qualify for the World Cup... dont you think?

[Soldier of Macedon]

Score could have been 6 or 7 nil had the Germans been a little more accurate

Or 0-0 if the Australians had been more 'accurate'. I believe I already implied that Germany is better on most days, so your perception on what I perceive as probable or factual is of little concern. So have another yawn mr emoticon. Nobody outside of Australia gave the Australians a chance 4 years ago either.

Its nice to have ones nation qualify for the World Cup... dont you think?

Ouch, I guess that's a stab at the Macedonians. Not to worry, I am sure we will manage to get into the world cup sometime too, probably not after 180 years of independence like some other nation......not sure if we will get pumped in every game of the world cup like some other nation either, but we'll see.

[Spartan]

probably not after 180 years of independence like some other nation......

The tournament was started in 1930.

not sure if we will get pumped in every game of the world cup like some other nation either, but we'll see.

You have to qualify to the tourney to get 'pumped' and know for sure.
We used to never make these tourneys.
We have made 3 of the last 4, and won one.
I believe our last decade has been very good(by our standards), and especially when considering we are not a traditionally strong footballing nation (rather weak actually).

[Soldier of Macedon]

The tournament was started in 1930.

And Greece was an independent state for 100 years prior. Keep qualifying and getting pumped. Macedonia has much to catch up on, but perhaps Greece can only compare itself to those that are not on equal footing.

[Spartan]

And Greece was an independent state for 100 years prior.

This is true.
I was just responding to your stament that it took us 180 years to make th WC.
It was 64.

Keep qualifying and getting pumped.

I hope we can continue to keep qualifying.

[Prolet]

Well Said Phoenix, i knew this would happen i just want to sound too negative either way when you have poor peparations you have poor results its always been that way and the Serbs copped it aswell but this is pathetic to loose like this its not so much the mistakes its the embarrassing defeat and Mark Bosnich was spot on with his criticisms i think Verbeek should pack his bags right now he is not worthy enough to coach this Great Socceroos he plays Garcia and Cahill upfront where they have never played in that position before how on earth could he leave out Kewell,Kennedy and Bresciano? Unbelievable and the worst thing is that the writting was on the wall, Cahill will be lucky to not be ruled out for any further games it was a late challenge from behind i've seen red cards given for less then that.

The best thing for me was the Slovenia win over Algeria, they scored with a blunder from the keeper but good on them a small country smaller then Macedonia to show that much respect for the shirt they deserved to win, it gives us hope that one day we will play in such a great event.

Here is an a clip that just about sums up the Socceroos, this was straight after the 0-0 draw vs Holland and nothing changed after that.

YouTube - Bosnich blasts Socceroos performance against the Netherlands

[Phoenix]

Australia had a nightmare game against Germany no matter how you look at it...whether it was Verbeeks positional selections, the tactics, the missed opportunities or the referees decisions...nothing went right against a methodical opponent that rarely misfires.

Like SoM has previously stated, Germany is a better side than Australia any day of the week but it could never beat Australia 4 zip consistently in this modern period.

Football is an unforgiving animal, it throws you very few chances and it can turn on you very quickly.

In Australia's case, if it could go wrong, it did...

The what ifs include...

would the game have taken a different course if Australia had scored first in the opening minutes of the game...

...what if Australia was awarded the penalty appeal

...what if Cahill got a yellow instead of a red.

I never thought a win over Germany was on the cards, I thought a draw was a very strong possibility but never imagined a 4 zip flogging...thats what this game throws up on a regular basis, that's what makes it so frustrating and so emotional, it can be a brutal roller coaster ride and today the Australian team and its supporters are at rock bottom.

I can deal with the 4 zip scoreline and I can easily forget about it because this group stage provides us with two more opportunities to change our course but the Cahill red card is a tragedy and it may have just about buried our dream of getting into the last 16.

The big loss against Germany may have worked in Australia's favour...perhaps Ghana will totally disrespect a wounded Australia at their own peril...

In a perfect world if Australia can beat Ghana and Germany beats Serbia in the next round of matches (saturday), Australia could go into the final group match against Serbia still with a chance of progressing to the final 16, with Serbia having nothing to play for in the last game...(????)

[Mikail]

The Ozzies were bad, really bad! What was Pim thinking coming into the World Cup, with a list of defenders and midfielders. Cahill is a midfielder who has an attacking run. He's not a striker. Australia lacked form and structure. Pim is the man who chose the team and Pim is the man who fucked up.

Australia has a big task ahead to progress through to the next round especially with the goal deficit they now have

[Phoenix]

I wasn't happy with Schwarzer's goalkeeping, he looked a bit uneasy from the beginning...throughout the game he failed to cleanly catch the ball but often prefered to palm the ball, usually forward back into dangerous areas...I think the first two goals were gifted to Germany by poor goalkeeping...unfortuantely this is the bad side of Schwarzers game and often his very good performances are tinged with less than impressive moments such as these.

Up to the 68th minute Australia, although making mistakes weren't too bad considering they were playing with 10 men...but from the 3rd goal onwards they lost the plot.

Perhaps Josh Kennedy could have been a better forward option considering Australia crossed the ball reasonably well on several occassions but had no big target to aim at.

For me the biggest disappointment wasn't the scoreline, the red card to Cahill was the absolute disaster. It was a very stupid and senseless challenge...

[Mikail]

You're right Phoenix. Cahills red card was senseless. I hope Pim comes up with a back up plan & Kewell, Bresh & Kennedy are all fit and ready to play.