The World Cup Thread.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Looks like Spain will be going home early. Casillus has cost them the game again.

Absolute shock obvious problems some big names either past it or out of form. 2-0 down and you take it that easy you hit it with your shin. Shit even Tommy Oar would've got it in. Chile flying our formline is red hot. Such a shame we beat the Dutch and the way Chile and Spain are playing it would be every chance Spain and the Netherlands couldve gone home......right your own ticket on them odds!

[chef]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

We would probably be still alive if Schwarzer was keeping.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

End of an era for Spain.

Nothing against Matty Ryan it was good experience, he's only 22 and was in good form but gee wiz Chef we could've used Schwarzer. He has been in top form for you lot and we missed his experience.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

We would probably be still alive if Schwarzer was keeping.

Haha beat me to it! No Doubt in my mind.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Just yelled at him for being on an ad.

[chef]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

I'm sure if Ange had his time again Mark would be in the team.

[whythelongface]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Thoughts on the match? Thought we were very good. Had our chances and could've won amazingly. The Dutch class was the difference in the end (Robben, Van Persie and co.) We so far certainly haven't disgraced ourselves. Now for another big performance against Spain.

Good summation. Australia were excellent. Holland were tactically poor for most of the match but that was due to the pressure applied by Australia. The Dutch don't have the midfield to be able to pass through zones when challenged like that, but they are very good when the game opens up and more direct counter attacking football is played.

Australia can certainly hold their heads high as they have performed beyond expectations. They realistically could have won both games. Russia 2018 should be very interesting for the team - just need someone to replace Timmy.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Good summation. Australia were excellent. Holland were tactically poor for most of the match but that was due to the pressure applied by Australia. The Dutch don't have the midfield to be able to pass through zones when challenged like that, but they are very good when the game opens up and more direct counter attacking football is played.

Australia can certainly hold their heads high as they have performed beyond expectations. They realistically could have won both games. Russia 2018 should be very interesting for the team - just need someone to replace Timmy.

That's the hard part. It's not as if we can draft one. We had a fair bit of talent at home injured Kruse and Rogic were big outs. On top of that some of the side were coming of injuries, massive effort in the end, just some polish was needed.

[soupman]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Just yelled at him for being on an ad.

It's actually quite tragic seeing the greatest Aussie keeper ever acting so cringeworthy in crap gambling ads.

That was one of the most enjoyable and exciting losses I have experienced and was certainly worth getting up at 2am for.

I admit I was one of the many saying we would struggle to score this world cup and so far we have exceeded my expectations with 3 goals including Cahill's incredible strike. I've watched over 10 matches this world cup and last nights was one of the very best. Despite our severe squad limitations we have performed awesomely and I am incredibly excited for our next match against Spain and the immediate future. Full credit to Ange he has made us not only competitive but has a side made up mostly of the future. I'm tipping the agents of Jason Davidson and Matthew Leckie right now are exhausted from picking up the phone.

Hopefully this sees a resurgence in interest in the A-League which is constantly improving.

[Bornadog]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

It's actually quite tragic seeing the greatest Aussie keeper ever acting so cringeworthy in crap gambling ads.

That was one of the most enjoyable and exciting losses I have experienced and was certainly worth getting up at 2am for.

I admit I was one of the many saying we would struggle to score this world cup and so far we have exceeded my expectations with 3 goals including Cahill's incredible strike. I've watched over 10 matches this world cup and last nights was one of the very best. Despite our severe squad limitations we have performed awesomely and I am incredibly excited for our next match against Spain and the immediate future. Full credit to Ange he has made us not only competitive but has a side made up mostly of the future. I'm tipping the agents of Jason Davidson and Matthew Leckie right now are exhausted from picking up the phone.

Hopefully this sees a resurgence in interest in the A-League which is constantly improving.

Cahill of course is a star and I don't know how we will replace him eventually but how good has Leckie been with those brilliant crosses.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

It's actually quite tragic seeing the greatest Aussie keeper ever acting so cringeworthy in crap gambling ads.

That was one of the most enjoyable and exciting losses I have experienced and was certainly worth getting up at 2am for.

I admit I was one of the many saying we would struggle to score this world cup and so far we have exceeded my expectations with 3 goals including Cahill's incredible strike. I've watched over 10 matches this world cup and last nights was one of the very best. Despite our severe squad limitations we have performed awesomely and I am incredibly excited for our next match against Spain and the immediate future. Full credit to Ange he has made us not only competitive but has a side made up mostly of the future. I'm tipping the agents of Jason Davidson and Matthew Leckie right now are exhausted from picking up the phone.

Hopefully this sees a resurgence in interest in the A-League which is constantly improving.

I agree, it was a cracker that nobody expected. The TAB had us at 11 bucks which was some sort of record apparently, the game will be saved on disk thats for sure. My whole street new we were on love it! The good thing is we don't have to start again with a new coach, Ange will be there and he has 4 years this time with some young talented players who obviously play for him.

Leckie plays in Germany and it was a real breakout couple of games for him, he is a star.

Davidson was just as good and he is the son of Alan Davidson who made the Socceroos best squad so got some pedigree!

[Rocco Jones]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

First of all we get literally the hardest group you can get. Just unbelievable how good all the other sides are.

If you were then told we were VERY competivive in both games with a great chance to win both you would have to think we parked the bus for 180 mins, had keeper heroics, woodwork saved us and our chances 100% came from dead balls and Super Tim.

Just unbelievable that we played such a purely attacking style, especially against the Dutch.

The errors we have made come with youth. Freezing for 10 minutes vs Chile. Oar having too much time. Davidson not staying in line with his CBs. Having a 22 year old goalie.

I think the tale of our World Cup is well summed up by A-League product Oliver Bozanic. A no name really. Within moments of coming on he weaves some magic to get past two Dutch players before being could. Moments later he cleverly wins a penalty.

Yes, we have lost both games but we are also no longer the Soccerwhos.

[whythelongface]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

It's actually quite tragic seeing the greatest Aussie keeper ever acting so cringeworthy in crap gambling ads.

That was one of the most enjoyable and exciting losses I have experienced and was certainly worth getting up at 2am for.

I admit I was one of the many saying we would struggle to score this world cup and so far we have exceeded my expectations with 3 goals including Cahill's incredible strike. I've watched over 10 matches this world cup and last nights was one of the very best. Despite our severe squad limitations we have performed awesomely and I am incredibly excited for our next match against Spain and the immediate future. Full credit to Ange he has made us not only competitive but has a side made up mostly of the future. I'm tipping the agents of Jason Davidson and Matthew Leckie right now are exhausted from picking up the phone.

Hopefully this sees a resurgence in interest in the A-League which is constantly improving.

I agree, it was a cracker that nobody expected. The TAB had us at 11 bucks which was some sort of record apparently, the game will be saved on disk thats for sure. My whole street new we were on love it! The good thing is we don't have to start again with a new coach, Ange will be there and he has 4 years this time with some young talented players who obviously play for him.

Leckie plays in Germany and it was a real breakout couple of games for him, he is a star.

Davidson was just as good and he is the son of Alan Davidson who made the Socceroos best squad so got some pedigree!

First of all we get literally the hardest group you can get. Just unbelievable how good all the other sides are.

If you were then told we were VERY competivive in both games with a great chance to win both you would have to think we parked the bus for 180 mins, had keeper heroics, woodwork saved us and our chances 100% came from dead balls and Super Tim.

Just unbelievable that we played such a purely attacking style, especially against the Dutch.

The errors we have made come with youth. Freezing for 10 minutes vs Chile. Oar having too much time. Davidson not staying in line with his CBs. Having a 22 year old goalie.

I think the tale of our World Cup is well summed up by A-League product Oliver Bozanic. A no name really. Within moments of coming on he weaves some magic to get past two Dutch players before being could. Moments later he cleverly wins a penalty.

Yes, we have lost both games but we are also no longer the Soccerwhos.

All well said guys.

This really could be the dawn of a new era in Australian football. Arguably our two best players (in Rogic and Kruse) were missing from this tournament and could take the spots of Bresc and Cahill respectively - Kruse would be better suited to a role behind a main talisman, however as we as yet don't have any capable replacements he is the most likely (unless a Taggart steps up - big ask though).

From a team that I thought would be lucky to score a goal to being really one of the surprise packets of the tournament, it was fantastic to see this team of relative no names take it up to two very strong teams in world football. Reading a couple of the on-line Dutch newspapers this morning you could sense relief that they got over the line - Sneijder heaped praise on the team saying how well they performed and took the game up to them. Van Persie was just relieved to get the win.

Being of Dutch background I felt really torn this morning watching the game and whilst not wanting to see Australia lose I was glad Holland were able to secure maximum points to give them a shot of winning the group (don't want to face Brazil next round). It will be tough to win against Chile - they don't seem to press as high as the Australians did (but they may employ these tactics after reviewing today's game), however a draw will be enough to see them win the group.

[lemmon]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Need to find a genuine number 9, Cahill did the job extremely admirably but he is an old warhorse, if Mark Viduka was coming through now it would be perfect. Leckie has been terrific but Oar lacks some composure on the ball, has a lot of tools but needs more polish.

Fair enough saying if Schwarzer played we probably go through but for mine Wilkshire was the man, we would have been better defensively with a scarecrow at right back last night. It looked like a selection error with no cover for Franjic under a cloud and it proved to be that way. Would have been nice having Williams back there

All in all a suprising and promising tournament but we have definite holes, we need a number 9 and 10, perhaps Oar can do a job centrally as he has at club level and Halloran slots in on the left.

[Rocco Jones]

Re: The World Cup Thread.

Socceroos 25 and under

Ryan
McGowan- Spiranovic- Williams- Davidson
Bozanic-Oar
Halloran- Rogic- Leckie
Kruse

Bench- Langerak, Sainsburry, Wright, Luongo, Holland, Taggart, Troisi

All these guys are either in our squad or missed due to injury. All at the age where they should get better or at least stay at around the same level.

Franjic is 26 and just getting better. Jedinak at 29 and Milligan at 28, both hopefully around as the really hardened mean old defensive mids. Look not saying it's a golden era but a hell of a lot better than the great depression of last week.