http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=445559&root=global&cc=5901
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Jason Dasey
All the complacent talk of going through undefeated to win the tournament is long gone. Australia's Asian Cup dream is now hanging by a thread. After a draw and a defeat, the Socceroos go into Monday's final group match needing a big victory over in-form, host nation, Thailand in Bangkok to advance to the quarter-finals. 'One, Two, Three& We're Down For the Count,' rang out the headline in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper after a stunning 3-1 loss to Iraq on Friday night. Incredibly, an Australian team containing six English Premier League and two Serie A stars including Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill was played off the park by a bunch of part-timers from a divided, war-torn nation. A lucky 1-1 draw against Oman in the opener seemed bad enough. But the subsequent two-goal defeat to the Iraqis proved that Australia's World Cup honeymoon is well and truly over. Without super-coach Guus Hiddink - who stepped down after the defeat to ultimate champions Italy in the second round of Germany 2006 - the Socceroos have alarmingly regressed with, more or less, the same core group of players. And the man who took over from Hiddink - his former assistant Graham Arnold - is coming under fire, with renewed predictions that he'll be replaced by a foreign-born manager after the Asian Cup. Former national coach Rale Rasic says that Australian-born Arnie is 'too close' to the players. Ex-Socceroo and football analyst Craig Foster accuses the 2007 squad of 'tactical indiscipline' and of abandoning the Dutch-style system Hiddink so successfully introduced two years ago. Arnold, himself, has described some of his senior players of giving the impression that they 'didn't want to be here'. Captain Viduka, Australia's lone goal-scorer against Iraq, responded by saying that the squad's commitment could not be questioned because the players had cut short their holidays in the name of national duty. But Liverpool's Kewell, who has started both Australia's matches to date, said: 'We, as a team, need to pull our fingers out.' Before the tournament, Australia had looked ahead to the Thailand game as a possible chance to rest players with a quarter-final spot already secured after two victories. Instead, the Socceroos will start underdogs against the unbeaten Thais who need just a draw to be sure of advancing in front a predicted sell-out crowd at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium. Australia's chances became even fainter when their most experienced defender, Lucas Neill of West Ham United, picked up a late red card against Iraq, to rule himself out of the final group match. The Socceroos, without the retired Tony Popovic and the unavailable Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield, have been appalling at the back. Already the inquests have begun into Australia's non-performance. 'What cannot be disputed,' wrote Michael Lynch in the Sydney Morning Herald, 'is that playing against the best Asian sides, in Asian conditions, is a far more formidable task than almost everyone associated with the Australian game ever realised.' Those Asian conditions - the toughest the Socceroos have ever experienced - have seen game-time temperatures of 35 degrees C with 80% humidity. A large contingent of travelling fans - believed to be as many as 5,000 - are disappointed but haven't given up hope. Many attended an opening training session two days before the crucial match against Thailand. 'Some of us are booked all the way to the Jakarta final so we better make it through,' said 35-year-old Shane Porter, a Sydney FC supporter. 'If not, then I guess we'll just have to use it as a holiday.' About a third of the fans in Thailand also followed the Socceroos to last year's World Cup, including 27-year-old Leigh Iffland, also of Sydney. 'This experience has been a lot more relaxed and a lot less regimented,' he said. 'In Germany, it was all about the football. In Thailand, it's a lot more touristy and we see plenty of visitors who aren't here for the games.' Supporters of rival A-League clubs, Sydney FC and Queensland Roar, have been combining Asian Cup matches with side trips to destinations like Phuket. For 33-year-old John McCormack, a Melbourne-born but Brisbane-based Queensland Roar fan, it was an experience he didn't want to miss. 'It's awesome even though we haven't been winning,' he said. 'My family are Aussie Rules supporters and if you're into AFL you never get a chance to experience this. 'But the Socceroos have to improve and I'm confident we're going to do that.' In Monday's crucial game, the Socceroos will be greeted by a patriotic sea of gold - the colour the Thais wear to show respect to their beloved King. Not for the first time in their inaugural Asian Cup, the green-and-gold Aussies will need every bit of inspiration - intended or otherwise - to preserve an already tattered reputation. * Sydney-born Jason Dasey ( www.jasondasey.com ) is a host for Soccernet SportsCenter and Sportscenter on ESPN.
LOL After all that talk.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Jason Dasey
All the complacent talk of going through undefeated to win the tournament is long gone. Australia's Asian Cup dream is now hanging by a thread. After a draw and a defeat, the Socceroos go into Monday's final group match needing a big victory over in-form, host nation, Thailand in Bangkok to advance to the quarter-finals. 'One, Two, Three& We're Down For the Count,' rang out the headline in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper after a stunning 3-1 loss to Iraq on Friday night. Incredibly, an Australian team containing six English Premier League and two Serie A stars including Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill was played off the park by a bunch of part-timers from a divided, war-torn nation. A lucky 1-1 draw against Oman in the opener seemed bad enough. But the subsequent two-goal defeat to the Iraqis proved that Australia's World Cup honeymoon is well and truly over. Without super-coach Guus Hiddink - who stepped down after the defeat to ultimate champions Italy in the second round of Germany 2006 - the Socceroos have alarmingly regressed with, more or less, the same core group of players. And the man who took over from Hiddink - his former assistant Graham Arnold - is coming under fire, with renewed predictions that he'll be replaced by a foreign-born manager after the Asian Cup. Former national coach Rale Rasic says that Australian-born Arnie is 'too close' to the players. Ex-Socceroo and football analyst Craig Foster accuses the 2007 squad of 'tactical indiscipline' and of abandoning the Dutch-style system Hiddink so successfully introduced two years ago. Arnold, himself, has described some of his senior players of giving the impression that they 'didn't want to be here'. Captain Viduka, Australia's lone goal-scorer against Iraq, responded by saying that the squad's commitment could not be questioned because the players had cut short their holidays in the name of national duty. But Liverpool's Kewell, who has started both Australia's matches to date, said: 'We, as a team, need to pull our fingers out.' Before the tournament, Australia had looked ahead to the Thailand game as a possible chance to rest players with a quarter-final spot already secured after two victories. Instead, the Socceroos will start underdogs against the unbeaten Thais who need just a draw to be sure of advancing in front a predicted sell-out crowd at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium. Australia's chances became even fainter when their most experienced defender, Lucas Neill of West Ham United, picked up a late red card against Iraq, to rule himself out of the final group match. The Socceroos, without the retired Tony Popovic and the unavailable Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield, have been appalling at the back. Already the inquests have begun into Australia's non-performance. 'What cannot be disputed,' wrote Michael Lynch in the Sydney Morning Herald, 'is that playing against the best Asian sides, in Asian conditions, is a far more formidable task than almost everyone associated with the Australian game ever realised.' Those Asian conditions - the toughest the Socceroos have ever experienced - have seen game-time temperatures of 35 degrees C with 80% humidity. A large contingent of travelling fans - believed to be as many as 5,000 - are disappointed but haven't given up hope. Many attended an opening training session two days before the crucial match against Thailand. 'Some of us are booked all the way to the Jakarta final so we better make it through,' said 35-year-old Shane Porter, a Sydney FC supporter. 'If not, then I guess we'll just have to use it as a holiday.' About a third of the fans in Thailand also followed the Socceroos to last year's World Cup, including 27-year-old Leigh Iffland, also of Sydney. 'This experience has been a lot more relaxed and a lot less regimented,' he said. 'In Germany, it was all about the football. In Thailand, it's a lot more touristy and we see plenty of visitors who aren't here for the games.' Supporters of rival A-League clubs, Sydney FC and Queensland Roar, have been combining Asian Cup matches with side trips to destinations like Phuket. For 33-year-old John McCormack, a Melbourne-born but Brisbane-based Queensland Roar fan, it was an experience he didn't want to miss. 'It's awesome even though we haven't been winning,' he said. 'My family are Aussie Rules supporters and if you're into AFL you never get a chance to experience this. 'But the Socceroos have to improve and I'm confident we're going to do that.' In Monday's crucial game, the Socceroos will be greeted by a patriotic sea of gold - the colour the Thais wear to show respect to their beloved King. Not for the first time in their inaugural Asian Cup, the green-and-gold Aussies will need every bit of inspiration - intended or otherwise - to preserve an already tattered reputation. * Sydney-born Jason Dasey ( www.jasondasey.com ) is a host for Soccernet SportsCenter and Sportscenter on ESPN.
LOL After all that talk.
