Australia 0 - Iraq 1
We were beaten last night 1-0 and all credit to the Iraqi team for the win.
A gallant Socceroos fought hard in difficult conditions but were beaten by a fantastic goal. I hind sight I am sure Shwartz would agree he was out of position, but he was beaten by an alert Emad Mohammed and all credit to him.
I thought our defence and midfield played well, with Jade North in good form. Chris Coyne had a good debut for the Aussies as did Carl Valeri. My only criticism is that we lacked penetration up front. Harry was very quite because he simply did not receive the ball. The second half was much better for attacking although I thought Harry was getting better when he was replaced.
I personally think a draw would have been the fair result, but that is Football and fairness does not always come in to it.
Ticket Scandal
About 300 Aussies paid the extortionate price of US$100 for a ticket to the match last night. This is something that FIFA and The AFC need to look at and soon. It was obvious to the Aussie fans last night that they were not wanted at the ground, and a deliberate price hike for the fans was how the Iraqi FA wanted to tackle it.
This is the same Iraqi FA that myself and many other Aussies either blogged or posted about how unfair it was that they were banned by FIFA for something their government did. They then repaid our support by RIPPING OUR SUPPORTERS OFF when they had their turn. Don’t expect a fair go when you return to Australia one day IFA, because you DO NOT deserve it.
June 08 2008 07:05 pm | Socceroos and World Cup
