WHAT A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What an unbelievable match! Words cannot describe the courage, fearlessness and tenacity displayed by the history-creating Socceroos in the 2-2 draw against a physical, combative and skillful Croatian team. The game see-sawed from end to end with no clear domination for either team. But ultimately, the greater desire and self-belief of the Australians got them over the line.
There were some heartbreaking moments in this emotional encounter for both teams. The anguish on Emerton's face when he picked up his second yellow card of the tournament was one of those pictures that will be stuck in my mind forever. Then, he got his second yellow card and nearly broke down in tears. Croatia also lost two men to red cards- star defender Dario Simic and turncoat Josip Simunic (who must be the first player ever to pick up THREE yellows, after a woeful performance from toprated referee Graeme Poll). But the single most heartwrenching moment came when Zeljko Kalac failed to parry a limp long shot from captain Niko Kovac and conceded the softest goal of the tournament. He had lost a lot of confidence when Dario Srna slotted home a perfect free kick in the 2nd minute of the game. The second goal was the nadir of Kalac's day. Fortunately, things got better for him as he held on to a few balls after this.
The first goal came as a huge relief to the Aussies going into the break and it assured that the ssecond half would be a spectacle as both teams pushed for a victory. Kovac's goal sent a shock through our fans but the team never lost self-belief. The next 25 minutes was a siege on the Croatian as wave after wave was repulsed by the Croatian defence and impressive goalkeeper Pletikosa. Kewell's goal in the 78th minute had a sense of history about it. If Australia was to score, it had to be Kewell. The wonderboy of Australian soccer for so long, despite his young age, he has seen more than his share of failure for the national team. I have had my doubts about his commitment to the Australian cause and have called for his axing in the past, but there is no question about his precocious talent. There was a feeling in the air that he would be the man when Australia needed him most. After crippling defeats to Iran and Uruguay, this was the moment when all that anguish was finally to be wiped out. Well done Harry!!!
There were plenty of technical aspects of this game that merit discussion, but I think it would spoil the joy of the qualification to get started on dissecting this spectacle into little bits. Suffice to say, Hiddink has done another Houdini!! The selection of Kalac, the substitution of Grella and certain strategic ploys I didnt initially agree with......But thats why Hiddink gets paid millions to coach the best teams in the world and I pretend to be an expert and dispute tactics in 3-on-3 games with my friends in the local park.
I dont want to invite disaster, but I am now predicting a clear run to the semi-finals!!! Italy will sit back and hand the game to Australia. Next will be either France, Switzerland, Korea or Ukraine. All weak teams that Australia can take on. Then will be the big one against Germany or Argentina. I dont think Hiddink will be denied a third semi-final in a row, all with different nations.
GO AUSSIE GO!!!!!!!!!!
A final word- the Samba kings are back. Brazil put on an exhibition of pure exhiliration and showed the world exactly what they're capable of. Despite being a little loose at the back and conceding a goal to Japan, they were superb in all aspects of attack. Yup!! The champions are here to play..........
4 comments:
What a Match!!! Nail-biting, heart-stopping, all the usual cliche-match, but WHAT A MATCH! My heart is still pumping!
And i stayed to watch those Brazilians, those wizards of football...welcome back Ronaldo! all is forgiven!
we're thru to the semi-finals in my reckoning.......
italy will cut their own wrists with their antiquated tactics and korea/switzerland/ukraine will be a pushover. if france qualify then it may become a bit more ambiguous, but for now, we have a date with argentina/germany in the semis
and yes, ronnie is back....he's on the verge of breaking gerhard muller's record, which at the time was thought to be impossible
if we can keep the pressure the way we did with Brazil - consistently and aggressively - and follow through with shots, we coukd do it! i thought relative to that performance we were less consistent in this one..but did very well nonetheless, which means that was an exceptional performance against Brazil.
thats the beauty of soccer. every match has its own unique feel and flow to it. australia approached the brazil match knowing that a win was almost out of the question. so they just played brilliantly at a breakneck pace throwing caution to the wind. the croatia encounter was an imminently winnable one and so the approach demanded more caution and necessarily, given what was at stake, more nervousness. the brazilians played at sub-maximal intensity with their main aim being conditioning. the croatians turned up ready for a pitched battle. so different circumstances, different quality and consistency of performance.
incidentally, i'm writing an article on ghana where i discuss their incredible consistency and how that has been a major factor in their success...
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