Archive for the 'Socceroos' Category
Australia and Asian Football.
Since our acceptance as a Member of the Asian Football Conference and of course our successful sojourn to Germany in 2006, Australian Football both Internationally and Nationally has grown.
We now find ourselves in the 4th and final round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. From a fans point of view I find this very exciting. I find myself planning my life around when and sometimes where the Socceroos are playing. I have just taken on a new position in a new company, which will take a lot of work and hours to get going. In my interview I pointed out that I would require 2-3 weeks off next June as I wanted to go to Qatar and back to Sydney and Melbourne to watch the final stages of our campaign. It was met with a wry smile, but he understood and I will be going.Maybe not the whole family, but definitely with my lovely wife
But between now and then there are 4 other opportunities for Aussies to follow our team. Starting with Tashkent this Wednesday where there is a good crew of Aussies going. Following Football is not only an opportunity to support a team, but to see some fantastic parts of the World. Since the draw was announced I have told many people (non football) about the Aussies playing in Tashkent, and they have no idea what I am talking about. This is one of the oldest cities in the World and is part of the Old Silk Road trading route between Asia and Europe. It also part of the old Soviet Union and is now an Independent country in Central Asia.
I am really looking forward to hearing the stories from these Asian trekkers when they return. Part of the crew is the biggest Australian Fan of them all. A 70 year old lady who has been travelling to follow the Socceroos since the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.
Our Football future is now in Asia and the trips to come for the fans will be fantastic. Like many fans, I will be planning my next 20 years worth of holidays around Socceroos matches, and there will be many of them.
Remember, for those of us not lucky enough to be in Tashkent.
- Aus East Coast - 1am Thursday Sept 11
- Aus Central - 12:30am Wednesday Sept 10
- Aus West Coast - 11pm Wednesday Sept 10
- London - 4pm Wednesday Sept 10
Cheers
Tezza
September 07 2008 | Socceroos and World Cup | No Comments »
Happy Fathers Day
What a present. Up at 4:45am to watch the Socceroos and they WIN. 2-1 to the boys in Green and Gold.
I thought it was a good all round performance by the starting 11 and will go a long way to boost their confidence on Wednesday in Tashkent.
As usual the GGA was there and with good numbers. Being so close to England the London Crew was there in force. I am sure that Lindsay, Longy and the crew are partying hard in Eindhoven right now. I believe there is a recovery session in Amsterdam tomorrow.
Perhaps they will all be looking up the “Liver Cleansing Diet” on Monday.
The next phase of World Cup Qualifying has now started and our first match is Wednesday in Tashkent. There are 50 GGA members heading to the old Silk Road city in Uzbekistan. I am sure it will be a trip that will be talked about for many years to come. Wish I was there.
And to all you Fathers out there, Happy Fathers Day
Tezza
September 07 2008 | Socceroos | No Comments »
Last week the draw for the 2011 Asian Cup Final Qualifiers was announced. Australia is in a group with Indonesia, Oman and Kuwait. The upshot of this is 14 matches between September this year and March 2010. There is talk of there being 2 squads of players to “cope” with this schedule.
What a load of crap. The FFA campaigned to join the AFC so we had more regular and higher competitive matches. I understand that the AFC does tend to have matches on NON FIFA dates which can be a problem, but surely we MUST pick our best team when available. I understood Pim letting the top players off last month against China and would be happy for that to happen again in the same situation. However, we MUST choose our best side for matches that we need the points
In any case it is an exciting time for us fans with a minimum of 7 away matches to plan for and whatever “Friendlies” that come along. The Aussie boys and Gals in England and Europe get to watch the Socceroos live in London and Eindhoven in August/September.
Here is the schedule for the next 18 months of Qualifiers. Bring it on.
- September 10, 2008: Away to Uzbekistan (World Cup qualifier)
- October 15, 2008: At home to Qatar (World Cup qualifier)
- November 19, 2008: Away to Bahrain (World Cup qualifier)
- January 14, 2009: At home to Kuwait (Asian Cup qualifier)
- January 28, 2009: Away to Indonesia (Asian Cup qualifier)
- February 11, 2009: Away to Japan (World Cup qualifier)
- April 1, 2009: At home to Uzbekistan (World Cup qualifier)
- June 6, 2009: Away to Qatar (World Cup qualifier)
- June 10, 2009: At home to Bahrain (World Cup qualifier)
- June 17, 2009: At home to Japan (World Cup qualifier)
- November 14, 2009: At home to Oman (Asian Cup qualifier)
- November 18, 2009: Away to Oman (Asian Cup qualifier)
- January 6, 2010: Away to Kuwait (Asian Cup qualifier)
- March 3, 2010: At home to Indonesia (Asian Cup qualifier)
July 09 2008 | Socceroos | No Comments »
Australia 0 - China 1
Last night in Sydney the Socceroos lost 1-0 to China in the final match of round 3. Although we lost it had no bearing on our progress to round 4 of WC qualifying.
Meeting up with the AOT and GGA boys and girls was the highlight for me. We met at the Homebush Bay Brewery adjacent to ANZ Stadium where many beers were consumed. A new song was created in honor of “Pim Verbeek” by some of the AOT boys on Saturday Night. Needless to say that “And we’ll all go marching on with Pim Verbeek” is still ringing in my head.
Thanks to all our friends for making it such a great night. We celebrated our passage to the 4th round with more beer after the match. It is obvious to me that we all missed the new binge drinking campaign. Sally Shippard showed up again after the match and she actually remembered me. Mat and Sally were again shooting stuff for their Final Whistle program.
Following the Socceroos around has been a great experience for me and Veronica over the past 2 years, and the friends we have met along the way have made it that much more special.
Well it has been a big weekend and I am tired, so good night boys and girls.
Terry
June 23 2008 | Socceroos and World Cup | 3 Comments »
I Love being an Australian Football Fan
It has been a big few weeks for Australian National Football Teams. I have focussed on the Socceroos and their route to round 4 of Asian Qualifying. There is a game this weekend against China in Sydney, and I will be there. Some of you may remember this as being my romantic weekend away for my wifes birthday. What a top bloke I am.
So we fly off Saturday and return on Monday. Can’t wait to catch up with my friends who have traveled to the middle east to support our team, top effort by the Aussies who went there.
We have also seen the Matildas, our National Womens team in action in the Womans Asian Cup finals where we finished a credible 4th place. The girls are now in South Korea at the Peace Queen Cup. They were narrowly defeated by the USA, 2-1 and last night beat Italy 3-0 with a brace to Heather Garriock. We now play Brazil on Thursday. Good Luck girls.
We also have our U23 team in Darwin for a camp and games against Chilie in preperation for the Olympic Games in August. Then our Joeys (U17) and Young Socceroos (U20) teams are in action. So much football.
Life is Good
June 18 2008 | Socceroos | No Comments »
Australia 3 - Qatar 1
Well, the Socceroos are through to the 4th round of Asian World Cup qualifying. A brace from Brett Emerton and a sealer form Harry has put us through to the next round. A changed formation from Pim certainly paid dividends. However I was still a little worried with our defense at times. Sebastian Quintana was able to penetrate too many times for my liking. He is a quality player and we will come up against more players like him in the next round.
After the ticket dramas of Dubai, the Qatari’s decided to give 800 free tickets away to the Aussies. A great gesture by the Qatari FA, even though tickets would have only been $3 to buy. I know it was much appreciated by the traveling fans. All reports have the locals being very friendly as they were in Dubai.
Next weeks match in Sydney against the Chinese is not important points wise for the Aussies but I would think that losing is not an option for the Aussies who will pull on the Green and Gold that night. A win would cement our position as No 1 in the group and give us confidence going into the next round.
The draw for the next round will take place on June 27 in Kuala Lumpur. We have to play another 4 home and 4 away matches between September 2008 and June 2009.
June 16 2008 | Socceroos and World Cup | No Comments »
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 | Socceroos and World Cup | No Comments »
SHAME IRAQ FA, SHAME
A mate of mine who is in Dubai for the second leg of the Iraq fixture posted this morning about the exorbitant prices being charged to the away fans, that’s us Australians. A ticket that would cost the Iraqi fans about $7 is “Officially” $100 to the Australian fans.
This cynic would say this is Corrupt. Here are some excerpts from Chris’s post this morning.
The Iraqi official who was selling tickets to iraqi fans said the Australian tickets were about to arrive. He was selling tickets to the Iraqi’s for 20 dirham ($7 ish) and 50 dirham ($18ish). Finally when the Australian tickets arrived he said, “$100 US”… they were official away supporter’s tickets with $100 (360 dirham) printed on the ticket!
We finally got a hold of one of the heads of the Iraqi FA and he first promised us 50 free tickets, but reneged after we asked for them. He then went on to say that Australian Iraqi’s had to pay $45 in Brisbane which we informed him was the price everyone paid, and his final comment was, “You are from Australia so you are rich”. Another Iraqi official told us that they were pricing the tickets for Australia so high, so the stadium can be full of Iraq supporters only.
Imagine this… Tickets in Brisbane for the World Cup Qualifier between Australia and Iraq… Australians pay $45, Iraqis pay $350!!! What would be the fall out of that??!!
Just as a footnote, the officials in the UAE and the Al Ahli club have been fantastic, and most of the Iraqi fans were sympathetic to our cause, it is only the Iraqi FA that we have a problem with.
Imagine if the FFA here in Australia tried this crap. The Australian supporters would be up in arms. It is hard enough getting around Australia to watch home matches. But when the travelling fans take off overseas to foreign counties they expect it to be a little hard but you eventually break down the language barriers etc and get around. This is a brick wall thrown up in front of them like in one of those obstacle courses.
I wrote about the FFA and their lack of enthusiasm in ticket information for the travelling fan. This is the result of such inaction. I say Shame FFA, Shame, also.
Cheers
Terry
June 07 2008 | Socceroos | No Comments »
Australia v Iraq Wrapup
The match is over and the experts have cast their opinions, the coach and players have had their say. Now its my turn.
The Socceroos walked off Suncorp with 3 points. They achieved their objective. I do agree with the commentators and coach, in that the overall performance was below par. It was mostly in the back line with the Internationally inexperienced pairing of Beauchamp and North in the centre of defence. This is not their fault, Pim had to use the best players at his disposal and in my opinion he made the right choice. There is no doubt in my mind that the experience of Lucas Neil would have vastly improved the defence. But unless his wife has her child early we will be without him next week as well. I think that Emerton had a slow start to the match but eventually got into it. And Carney was solid without being outstanding.
The midfield also were good without being outstanding, I think Bresc was a little hard on himself in the media though. And Vinnie was rock solid as usual.
Scott MacDonald found it hard to get into the match as a lone striker, but i believe there are great things to come form him in the future. And Harry had a solid game to show us and prospective employers he still has much to give. The goal was from a magnificent cross by Emo and Harry’s head on the end of it was quality.
Man of the Match in my opinion had to be Schwartzer. He kept us in the game and made the crucial saves after a leaky defence.
Credit to the Iraqis who never gave up and had the better of the chances.
Our eyes turn to Dubai next Sunday for the return bout. Iraq are on the canvas but not knocked out just yet. They are very capable of beating us next week, so watch out boys.
Cheers
Terry
Let me know what you think, and leave a comment.
June 03 2008 | Socceroos and World Cup | No Comments »
Australia V Iraq
Well if you have been under a rock tonight, Australia beat Iraq 1 - 0. In my expert opinion we were friggin awesome. The only sad point to the day was the abandoned Supporters match. The Toowong FC committee deemed that the ground was too wet to play yesterday and we were scuttled. Anyway, life goes on.
The up side was more drinking time at The Pig N Whistle in Brisbane with the Green and Gold Army. As usual we had a great time. Singing out of key and destroying many Aussie classic songs was just part of the afternoon. Catching up with friends was the highlight.
One mate i caught up with was Mat. I met Mat in Melbourne in February when we played against Qatar. Mat is a Queenslander and very passionate football supporter. I saw Mat running around the pub with a film crew in tow getting us supporters to sing and carry on as we do. Not a big ask. I saw Mat at the bar and asked what he was doing. Turns out he is doing a pilot for Fox Sports on Passionate Socceroos Supporters and asked if he could interview me. Being the bashful guy I am, I immediately said YES.
The other thing I noticed was he seemed to be hanging around Sally Shipard. Now Sally is a Matilda for those of you who do not know. She is one of the best up and coming talents Australian women’s Football has in this country, and one of the youngest to ever represent us at Senior Level.
I head out to the interview and end up being Interviewed by Mat and Sally. How cool is that. I was asked questions relating to Football in general in Australia. Second time this week I have been on TV. Does that make me a media tart? Anyway when I find out more about this show I will let you all know.
More on the game tomorrow.
Cheers
Terry
June 01 2008 | Socceroos and World Cup | 6 Comments »
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