OT: Socceroos

[Stiffy_18]

Holly crap. If it wasn't for Mark Schwarzer this could have been a one ugly outcome for the Aussies.

Bloody hell that defence is dead set crap. They leak everywhere.

 

[DaveW]

Uruguay were more threatening the second half. The more the match went on, the more I was happy to get out of the match with a 1-0 loss.

On to Sydney!

 

[cro_Magnum]

1-0 down. Could be better, could be worse. If Uruguay score in Australia its all over yet again.

Might be time for Tony Vidmar to start playing for Adelaide United I think.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Uruguay were more threatening the second half. The more the match went on, the more I was happy to get out of the match with a 1-0 loss.

On to Sydney!

They just dominated in the second half. Too much pace for our defenders. As I said if it wasn't for our goal keeper it could have been VERY VERY ugly.

To go through to the World Cup, Socceroos need to win by 2 goals in Sydney (or 1-0 and win the penalty shootout)

 

[Ford Fairlane]

As Craig Foster said, Schwarzer wasn't forced to produce a world class save. We gave them some space out wide but blocked up the central corridor and they never had a clear shot on goal. Defence looked pretty solid to me. But for all the play we had, we never looked like scoring.

So to you guys who say Australia has produced world class strikers, I'd ask who? We've never had someone like a Recoba, a quick clever elusive forward with a great shot to harry defences. Kewell looked like he might've been that player 2 World Cup campaigns ago against Iran, but not since. Viduka hardly ever scores in international big games - all those inflated goal tallies against Solomon Islands and Fiji don't count at this level. Kosmina? Goal a game Arnie? Give me a name.

 

[snakebite01]

Holly crap. If it wasn't for Mark Schwarzer this could have been a one ugly outcome for the Aussies.

Bloody hell that defence is dead set crap. They leak everywhere.

Don't know about that Stiffy. Schwarzer didn't really do anything. Didn't have to make any top class saves at all. The back 3 weren't too bad, there was a helluva a lot of pressure in the final 15 minutes and aside from a couple of nervy moments they kept their cool alright.

Back to Sydney we go, luckily Grella didn't get a yellow card which would have suspended him, Cahill should return to the starting line-up as well. We just have to be so careful not to concede or its pretty much all over.

 

[snakebite01]

So to you guys who say Australia has produced world class strikers, I'd ask who? We've never had someone like a Recoba, a quick clever elusive forward with a great shot to harry defences. Kewell looked like he might've been that player 2 World Cup campaigns ago against Iran, but not since. Viduka hardly ever scores in international big games - all those inflated goal tallies against Solomon Islands and Fiji don't count at this level. Kosmina? Goal a game Arnie? Give me a name.

Kewell IS world class, it's just injuries have ruined him in the past 2 years. He was phenomenal at Leeds and was our best player in the '97 qualifiers against Iran and easily our best against Uruguay last time. His performances for the national team have actually generally been very very good, it's just that the question over his commitment has seemed to overshadow this.

Viduka was good today as well. Had 3 pretty good chances, which I suppose you could say he should have finished off but there was alot of pressure on him as Archie didn't really give much support today. Hopefully when we are more attacking in Sydney (with the likes of Cahill and Bresciano starting), he will have more support and we'll see him have greater effect.

 

[Stiffy_18]

1-0 down. Could be better, could be worse. If Uruguay score in Australia its all over yet again.

Might be time for Tony Vidmar to start playing for Adelaide United I think.

The only way they don't score is of Schwarzer turns into Oliver Kahn

With that defence, Uruguay will score on counter attack. I expect Uruguay to play very defensive in Sydney. Their goal is not to concede a goal and everything else is a bonus. They are quick all over the field and especially on the wings. They will trouble the Aussies once again.

1-0 loss is a solid result but it still puts us on the back foot.

 

[outback jack]

the free for the goal was the softest bit of work you'll see. Considering we will be going for it difficult to see us not leaking a goal come Sydney.

 

[Stiffy_18]

As Craig Foster said, Schwarzer wasn't forced to produce a world class save. We gave them some space out wide but blocked up the central corridor and they never had a clear shot on goal. Defence looked pretty solid to me. But for all the play we had, we never looked like scoring.

Could have ********ing fooled me. His save of Recoba's shot with his left mit was a bloody good one. That ******** was going right into the top right hand corner. That was a certain goal gone begging.

The backline was slow, reactive rather than proactive and was leaking when ever Uruguay went forward. Uruguay had 7 shots on goal of which 6 were on target. There was 1 goal and no matter how you look at it that was a pretty big defensive blunder. You just don't leave near and far posts open when the opposistion is having a free kick or a corner. That was a very amateurish mistake from the backline. A classic case of falling asleep.

IMHO, the defence was exposed pretty badly. There is just no one there than is anything resembling a world class central defender.

So to you guys who say Australia has produced world class strikers, I'd ask who? We've never had someone like a Recoba, a quick clever elusive forward with a great shot to harry defences. Kewell looked like he might've been that player 2 World Cup campaigns ago against Iran, but not since. Viduka hardly ever scores in international big games - all those inflated goal tallies against Solomon Islands and Fiji don't count at this level. Kosmina? Goal a game Arnie? Give me a name.

OK Viduka is a good striker but he is not anywhere near Recoba standards. Players of Recoba's class are reasonable rare. He is a gem.

Having said that, Viduka troubled their backline with his arial strength but we just didn't use him much what so ever. We got absolutely nothing from the wings. Kewel was off. Emerton is 2nd rate at best. His crosses are ********house. Get someone half decent on the wings and send long balls to Viduka in the penalty area and he will score. He is a big lad and strong in the air. Why not play to his strengths??????

How many quality crosses were there into the penalty area. I didn't count one. The biggest offender in this is Emerton. Average at best he was in this area.

 

[snakebite01]

Could have ********ing fooled me. His save of Recoba's shot with his left mit was a bloody good one. That ******** was going right into the top right hand corner. That was a certain goal gone begging.

That was travelling pretty slowly as emphasized by the amount of purchase Schwarzer was able to get onto it. I think it was travelling wide, and even if it wasn't, there was a defender at the far post who had it covered.

How many quality crosses were there into the penalty area. I didn't count one. The biggest offender in this is Emerton. Average at best he was in this area.

Yep. I thought Emerton tried hard, he made a few good runs and is OK with his feet. His crossing is poo though, and I think that is mainly because he is too indecisive and holds on to the ball for too long. If he played more balls first time he'd be a bit more dangerous but by the time he crossed it in there were 5 blue shirts outnumbering us in the penatly area. His crossing from set pieces wasn't dangerous enough either, too loopy, not enough pace. Recoba just whips it in, which gives the defence no time to think about positioning if they are caught out.

BY the way, how amatuerish was the playing of our anthem as we were ********ing walking out. Viduka had the most perplexed look on his face. Bloody joke of a country. Then the stupid ferals just whistled the way through it. Have some ********ing respect for crying out load.

 

[outback jack]

As Craig Foster said, Schwarzer wasn't forced to produce a world class save. We gave them some space out wide but blocked up the central corridor and they never had a clear shot on goal. Defence looked pretty solid to me. But for all the play we had, we never looked like scoring.

So to you guys who say Australia has produced world class strikers, I'd ask who? We've never had someone like a Recoba, a quick clever elusive forward with a great shot to harry defences. Kewell looked like he might've been that player 2 World Cup campaigns ago against Iran, but not since. Viduka hardly ever scores in international big games - all those inflated goal tallies against Solomon Islands and Fiji don't count at this level. Kosmina? Goal a game Arnie? Give me a name.

Thats a good point but its always the defence that looks shakey, everytime the ball goes in you're holding your breath. While we dont have a gun striker we have enough to get a couple of goals. Tactically we didnt look that flash going foward today, and some players like emerton just dont have that bit of polish that makes them top class.

 

[cro_Magnum]

the free for the goal was the softest bit of work you'll see. Considering we will be going for it difficult to see us not leaking a goal come Sydney.

After the Battle of the Charter Flights it will be a different ball game in Sydney. Home teams grow another leg in soccer and Uruguay will be caught between attacking and defending too.

Its only half time, with the second half on home soil. Can't wait.

 

[MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl]

They lost *again*. Damn those Socceroos!!

k
xx

 

[RoosterLad]

I'm reasonably happy with that outcome, it will be totally different in Sydney and i think a different formation will be used. Hiddink might try what he used against Jamaica if we need to be that attacking.
Not sure why so many of you are bagging the defence, they were constantly under the pump this morning and did pretty well. Yeah the goal we conceded was from poor marking but that kind of thing happens. We could have conceded more, but we were also unlucky not to get an away goal, Viduka's free kick was a beauty.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Thats a good point but its always the defence that looks shakey, everytime the ball goes in you're holding your breath. While we dont have a gun striker we have enough to get a couple of goals. Tactically we didnt look that flash going foward today, and some players like emerton just dont have that bit of polish that makes them top class.

Glad I am not the only one that feels this way. We aren't too bad in the air but their pace and ball skills give us trouble. The defence is a weakness especially when to comes to long balls into space.

 

[Markthirtytwo]

Another good half a game but faded out in the last half again.
Now all we have to do is reverse what they did to us 4 years ago.
AS FF said where are the world class strikers.

Its good to get the big dance but if you fail miserably, then what...........at least we got there. No thanks we must dominate the whole game and force these higher ranked teams to respect us. They dont at the moment cause they know we will crack under pressure, like the last quarter of the last half of this game.

 

[cro_Magnum]

The team tactics are certainly better under Hiddink. He wants players to hang back a bit from the opposition ball carrier so they don't get through too easily and this worked well today.

The defence generally worked well in close but you have to be worried about their lack of pace when caught one on one on the rebound.

We had more possession but Uruguay looked more dangerous, but so they should. It was a home match remember.

 

[RoosterLad]

Yeah their pace did kill us a bit, but we dont really have any other options. It was nerve wracking but you get used to that when you follow Australia.
I think we are good enough to beat them by playing wide balls and then cutting back in, get Kewell out on the left so he can swing in damaging crosses, that was a weakness today, when they put the ball in the box it looked dangerous, but we went into our box just as many times but didnt really look like converting.

We need a Bresciano or Kewell, or somebody, to cross the ball straight onto Big Viduka's head, then we are a real threat. His height worried them today, but they will be getting their big centre back back for the Sydney leg. At least we tried shots from distance and had a go instead of trying to walk the ball in everytime.

 

[RoosterLad]

I wouldnt say we 'cracked' under pressure at the end today, the boys stood up and made me proud. Cracking would be conceding a late goal or two, we kept them out even though they should have scored. We were under the pump because Uruguay were desperate for another goal so they went all out attack and we had to soak it up. In the past we may have let an injury time goal in.

As cro magnum said, the tactics under Hiddink have improved a lot, tis a pity he didnt have more time to work with his players. Hopefully we will be putting them under this type of pressure Wednesday night, they will be the ones cracking.

 

[noddy]

Not too disappointed with the end result of 1-0 as it could have been worse & at least we have a chance to hand out a pay-back in Sydney.

As someone said on SBS this morning even Brazil & Argentina have never won at the mad house.

 

[*PAF]

I'm with Stiffy regarding Schwarzer, he was as good as he had to be and saved our arse. If we go through he will certainly be a majour reason.

Dunno about our defence being sus, IMO it's more our attacking structure as it always is, ... we just have no structure, never have had.
It's always been go forward and hopefully a goal will eventuate.

Uruguay on the other hand went forward with a purpose. Go forward, try and get a free near the box somewhere and then obviously has a large repertoire of free they practice. That goal was no fluke.

Anyway here's hoping.

Question__ Anyone else on here get to see us play in Germany live (on TV) way back then?

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

I was initially disappointed that we didn't get an away goal, considering our domination in the first half. But 1-0 heading into the Aussie leg isn't a bad result. Although I have a bad feeling they will score in Sydney.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

I'm with Stiffy regarding Schwarzer, he was as good as he had to be and saved our arse. If we go through he will certainly be a majour reason.

Dunno about our defence being sus, IMO it's more our attacking structure as it always is, ... we just have no structure, never have had.
It's always been go forward and hopefully a goal will eventuate.

Uruguay on the other hand went forward with a purpose. Go forward, try and get a free near the box somewhere and then obviously has a large repertoire of free they practice. That goal was no fluke.

Anyway here's hoping.

Question__ Anyone else on here get to see us play in Germany live way back then?

Agree with this. I thought our back line was solid, especially in the second half. When we go forward we seem to do so without any plan. Apart from a couple of close ones from Viduka, no other forward/middle fielder looked like even going close to scoring.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Question__ Anyone else on here get to see us play in Germany live (on TV) way back then?

Yep (see post #19). But don't ask me what I remember apart from losing 2 and drawing 1 ...