World Cup

[Bucknaked]

I was on the edge of my seat. When Kalac made the mistake I turned off the TV and headed for work. When I got there, the game was just finsihed and everyone was cheering. I missed a great goal and plenty of controversy. Theres something to this game of football. Sensational. Can't wait till the Italian game.

[johnydep]

Don't forget the Aussie fans in Germany, they're doing us proud.

Cahill gives fans his shirt

Tim Cahill gave them the shirt off his back.

His teammates gave them the highest accolades they could possibly think of.

The Socceroos could not speak highly enough of the green and gold army amid the euphoria of Australia's unprecedented qualification for the World Cup's final 16.

But actions spoke louder than words when Cahill, who caused Croatia's defence all manner of headaches in the 2-2 'victory', swapped his shirt not with a Croatian player but with an Aussie fan.

Cahill, a midfield star with Everton in the English Premier League, noticed a supporter wearing the blue jersey of Everton after the final whistle and initiated a swap with his sweat-stained Aussie shirt.

The fan was ecstatic.

The gesture said everything that needed to be said of the Socceroos' feelings towards the 15,000 or so fans who actually get tickets to their games, the estimated 80,000 in Germany who try, and the 20 million back home who suddenly seem to be following their progress with considerable passion.

"I just wanted to pay my respects to the fans who have travelled a long way and spent a lot of money to support us," said Cahill as Men At Work's Down Under and AC-DC's All Night Long blared out over the Stuttgart stadium's sound system.

"I wanted to make it worthwhile for them."

"They are just magic," said midfielder Jason Culina after the green and gold army twice lifted Australia off the canvas to deliver a knock-out punch to Croatia.

"It was fantastic how long they stayed on after the game had finished. We went back out there just to thank them."

"I think we've got the best crowd here at the World Cup."

Defender Craig Moore said: "Our fans are getting better and better."

"It may be a cliche, but they are acting like a 12th man. They never went quiet on us; they were always behind us. We are very happy we managed to please them."

Fellow defender Lucas Neill said: "This is a feeling I will never forget."

"It probably won't ever be this way again, because it (Australia's emergence as a serious force) won't be a novelty."

[pennybrain]

And the German people who have backed australia too. Apparently lots of Germans are really getting behind the socceroos. They also say the Aussie fans are one of the best crowds and create such a great atmosphere.

[MAGPIE]

Great game to watch, and even as a kiwi I was backing Aussie :

WTF wasnt Schwarzer in goal :

Great penalty take by the Magpie Moore, but why did he take it over Viduka

[pennybrain]

Viduka has missed the last 3 penalty goals he has taken. Maybe he isn't too confident or something.

[FTE217]

You bet Duks is gun shy, even around the box he'd prefer to feed it than just let the trigger off,wish he would he had some good opportunities to let go !

[12]

GO SOCCEROOS!! What a crazy game. Not even the ref's could stop us. Hang your head in shame you useless pathetic Pom referee. Bring on the pizza boys on Tuesday morning!! Win or lose, you have done us proud!

Time for bed. 2.5 hours of sleep in the last 27 hours.. and it has finally cought up with me. Hope I don't wake up in the morning to discover it's all been a dream.

[DRU842]

Moore is the most experienced & level-headed guy on the park. His seasons captaining Rangers in Scotland, have seen him face plenty of pressure & that's what the situation called for; nothing flash, make the keeper save!

[ED Classic]

Dont want to get ahead of ourselves but if we beat Italy, the next game would not be impossible as it we would play the winner of Switz/Ukraine. Certainly worst teams to play IMO. I would call ourside Group 2.

Group 1 Germany vs Sweden then the winner plays the winner of Argentina vs Mexico.

Group 3 England vs Equador then the winner plays the winner of Portugal vs Holland.

Group 4 Brazil vs Ghana then the winner plays the winner of Spain vs France.

Then the 1 team left out of Group 1 meets the one team left of Group 2.

The 1 team left of Group 3 meets the one team of group 4.

The winners on to the final.

So if favourites are the go then in the next round we could have a knockout game of (1)Argentina vs Germany (3) England vs Holland /Portugal and (4) Brazil vs Spain/France

[DJR David]

Swiss and Ukraine winner definetly the best of the group to play for us.

[ED Classic]

Brazil dont have the easiest run IMHO and I would love to see them play Spain as both are high on attack. I think we would see a 4-3 scorline or something

[ED Classic]

Originally Posted by DJR David

Swiss and Ukraine winner definetly the best of the group to play for us.

Yes for sure

[pennybrain]

Our boys are heros now no matter how far they go. They have made history as it is.
I have heard that Guus is going to do a 'Thanks' tour of all the capital cities. I would definately be going out of my way to attend that. Hopefully he will come to Canberra and the nation's capital will not be overlooked like it usually is!
I love Guus he is such a legend!

[johnydep]

Germany 2 Swedan 0 in 15 minutes.

Looks like Germany is a finals team, they are playing beautifully.

[Olympus]

Schwarzer's a lifesaver. Australia held it's own quite well in the first half. They just need more effective offence tactics.

[Rmyers]

Damn what a bull***** decision in the end. 93rd minute and a bull***** penalty was awarded to italy over nothing, the damn guy obviously tripped over rather than being tackled. Every game for the Aussies the ref's have obviously favoured the other team. Bet their's a fair few bummed out people in federation square ATM....

[blutura]

what a joke.

[pennybrain]

Damn Italians are good actors. That was such a dive. I can't beleive the ref fell for it.

[MethodX]

Aussies dived a few times too

They had a man advantage and couldnt capitalize, its tough but thats the way it goes.
They did the country proud

[pennybrain]

Aussies do lack the ability to be able to put the ball in the back of the net and they were punished in the worst way possible for it.

[Racecraft]

we unfortunately played our worst football tonight. The midfield was stronger but our shots were poor, no flair..The Kewell factor was missing tonight.. It is a shame we nearly scrapped thru though.. Such a soft way to go out and all but if we had alittle more attacking presence tonight it wouldn't of come down to the dive I guess...

Well Done SoccerRoos...

Great tournament by Neil, hold you head high mate you put another 5 million pound on yourself

[pennybrain]

I reckon Neill was awesome the whole tournament. He was my favourtie player and he was so upset with himself after giving away the penalty.

[Van D]

I'm sorry.. I know Aus didn't make anything out of the red card (which WAS a bad ref decision in the first place) but that last call was absolute CRAP! And I don't usually get worked up by soccer..
Really poor form I say, and a shocking way to leave the world cup..

[ED Classic]

Good open game and not a clog up like Italy Vs USA or Australia vs Croatia. Very nice to watch IMO and you never knew who could win. Did Australia really expect to beat a real big gun without their No 1 player in Kewell? I doubt it but boy did we play well. A great effort and start of good things to come provided we get the right coach now that Guus is moving on.. Congratulations Italy

[Abacus]

Bad luck for Oz with the last ref decision but, on balance:

- Italy were stiffed with their red card - they didn't deserve that either

- Oz didn't make the most of their 1 man advantage. Italy held even with 91% of our manpower. We just didn't have the strike capability to capitalise on this advantage.

- Even if Oz had held the score at 0-0 through extra time, its hard to see us winning the penalty shootout. Italy scratched the surface of their striker pool. Could we have matched them in a shoot-out today? I doubt it.

- Italy's defence was first rate

- Italy used their substitutes more effectively than we did. I appreciate that we had to hold some fresh blood in reserve for the expected extra time, but in hindsight was this the best decision?

We went further than anyone expected, and without the 93rd minute farce who knows what might have happened. But I don't think we can say "we wuz robbed". 0-2 against Brazil, 0-1 against Italy, sounds about right...

[qwigybo]

Robbed Fn Ref You Sucked We Were Robbed

[blueoval]

The referee's at this international level were a complete discrace to the sport!

Australia were robbed on just about every game they played in the world cup.

I say, lynch mob to all FIFA referee's!!! :(

[Racecraft]

Originally Posted by blueoval

The referee's at this international level were a complete discrace to the sport!

Australia were robbed on just about every game they played in the world cup.

I say, lynch mob to all FIFA referee's!!! :(

I'm not usually one to bag the referees but I will have to agree to an extent with you.. And it isn't sour grapes on my part as I have had a bigger and bigger case after every match :P

The game @ that level is so tight that abit of luck can make or break you

Look at our 4 matches.. We couldn't buy an ounce of luck with the referess descisions

A dud goal vs Japan
1/3 of the free kicks vs Brazil
Croatia, well that was painful
Last night the last 5 seconds of the game another 50-50 call that went against us..

I hope Jonnie Warren is up in heaven kicking the crap out of the soccer gods, because we couldn't buy a break..

[Polyal]

The world game huh, more like the world joke!

What crap, it was even, and if anything we were slightly ontop for the WHOLE FRIGGEN GAME. And then, just because a BS penalty in the LAST 10 SECONDS we LOSE!

Thats soccer for you I guess, I am officially off the band wagon and wont go near it until Australia's next qualifier in Gods knows what time.

I am one pi$$ed off little casual soccer supporter! ing_sm

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by Polyal

The world game huh, more like the world joke!

What crap, it was even, and if anything we were slightly ontop for the WHOLE FRIGGEN GAME. And then, just because a BS penalty in the LAST 10 SECONDS we LOSE!

Thats soccer for you I guess, I am officially off the band wagon and wont go near it until Australia's next qualifier in Gods knows what time.

I am one pi$$ed off little casual soccer supporter! ing_sm

here here. World Cup is over for me now. Not interested any more. It's not like Australia had much of a chance, but it was exciting to watch and see how far they were going to go. Now thats over, I can get some sleep and go back to my boring life.