By Julius Ross
Three and a half years ago, John Aloisi’s momentous penalty-kick against Uruguay presented Australia with one of the final golden tickets available to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The spot-kick illustrated the fine line between success – which had evaded the Socceroos for 32 painful years – and failure – which had haunted them for three decades.
In a seemingly ironic turn of fortunes for Australian football, 2009 could see Pim Verbeek’s team, now negotiating the Asian qualification path, become the first team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, in rather comfortable fashion.
If Verbeek’s men grab the all important three points in their next qualifying match against Uzbekistan – and other results go their way – Wednesday April 1 2009 will be etched into the FFA’s record books as another historic moment in Australian football.
The unbeaten Socceroos take on the Uzbeks this Wednesday, with the sides separated by six points on the Group One table of AFC WC qualifying.
The ‘Roos were sitting pretty at the top with three wins and a draw for a total of 10 points before Japan dispossessed them of top spot with a 1-0 win over Bahrain on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has moved from the basement to third place after crushing Qatar 4-0 in Saturday’s other qualifier.
Verbeek has called in the overseas-based cavalry for Wednesday’s significant clash, with household favourites Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer and Scott Chipperfield among the notable inclusions.
In the Socceroos’ most recent match, a 2012 Asian Cup Qualifier against Kuwait, Verbeek named an exclusively domestic squad to take on the visitors in Canberra, only for the side to go down 1-0 in a hugely disappointing showing.
The domestic plan once again backfired and reiterated the need for players with European experience to be present in the squad.
This time around, Verbeek has opted for a entirely European-based squad, with the exception of Jade North who is currently playing his club football in South Korea for Incheon United.
Verbeek will not only have the luxury of a full-strength squad heading into the clash with the Uzbekis, but his side will be fully refreshed after a week-long training camp in Australia.
In start contrast, Uzbekistan will have to endure a long-haul flight to Australia after their home clash with Qatar on Saturday, giving them less than three days preparation.
It will leave the visiting side vulnerable, and the Socceroos will be ready and eager to exploit any obvious weaknesses.
But the Socceroos will have to lift their game after poor performances in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifying and will have to be wary of the Uzbeks who will be on a high after demolishing Qatar.
Recent Socceroos performances have been less than desirable, with the loss to Kuwait coming on the back of a lucky escape in Japan last month where heroics of Mark Schwarzer salvaged a point, adding to a very fortunate 1-0 win over Bahrain last November.
In light of these performances, critics have labeled the Socceroos as boring, unimaginative, unimpressive and result-oriented.
But while the ‘Roos may have failed to impress the crowds, no one can argue with their unbeaten record.
Verbeek has blasted the Australian media and critics of his style, stating that the main aim is to qualify for the World Cup, not to play ‘pretty’.
The Dutch maestro is so focused on booking his ticket on the plane to South Africa that he has dismissed talk of qualification if Australia win against Uzbekistan this Wednesday.
Although it is a mathematical possibility that the Socceroos will qualify for their second consecutive finals if they pick up all three points, Verbeek is leaving nothing to chance and believes it essential to pick up maximum points in the next two qualifiers before getting carried away.
In previous years, qualification has left fans on the edge of their seats, in nail-biting circumstances.
This time around there may not be as much excitement, but there would be few Australians who mind that the Socceroos have sacrificed class for a ticket to South Africa 2010.
SOCCEROOS SQUAD:
Michael BEAUCHAMP (Aalborg BK, DENMARK)
Mark BRESCIANO (U.S. Citta di Palermo, ITALY)
Jacob BURNS (FC Unirea Valahorum, ROMANIA)
Tim CAHILL (Everton, ENGLAND)
David CARNEY (Norwich City FC (on-loan), ENGLAND)
Scott CHIPPERFIELD (FC Basel, SWITZERLAND)
Chris COYNE (Colchester United FC, ENGLAND)
Jason CULINA (PSV Eindhoven, HOLLAND)
Adam FEDERICI (Reading FC, ENGLAND)
Richard GARCIA (Hull City FC, ENGLAND)
Brett HOLMAN (AZ Alkmaar, HOLLAND)
Mile JEDINAK (Genclerbirligi SK, TURKEY)
Josh KENNEDY (Karlsruher SC, GERMANY)
Harry KEWELL (Galatasaray SK, TURKEY)
Scott MCDONALD (Celtic FC, SCOTLAND)
Lucas NEILL (West Ham United FC, ENGLAND)
Jade NORTH (Incheon United FC, KOREA REPUBLIC)
Michael PETKOVIC (Sivasspor, TURKEY)
Mark SCHWARZER (Fulham FC, ENGLAND)
Mile STERJOVSKI (Derby County FC, ENGLAND)
Carl VALERI (U.S. Grosseto FC, ITALY)
Luke WILKSHIRE (FK Dinamo Moscow, RUSSIA), Bruce Djite (Gençlerbirligi, TURKEY).
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
MANCHESTER MELTDOWN BLOWS TITLE RACE OPEN
By Julius Ross
Two weeks ago you would have bet your house, car and children on Manchester United winning a third consecutive English Premiership.
But within the space of a fortnight, United’s title prospects have been thrown into disarray as they faltered miserably at Fulham on Saturday night, prompting bookies to start placing their bets elsewhere.
The Red Devils appear to have hit the self-destruct button at the crucial time of the season, as ex-Liverpool boy Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera gave eighth-placed Fulham a shock 2-0 victory, and inflicted United’s second defeat in as many games.
The afternoon quickly turned sour for United when Murphy slotted home a spot-kick after Paul Scholes deliberately handled in the box and was given his marching orders on 17 minutes.
The afternoon went from bad to worse, as Gera doubled the Cottagers’ advantage, and referee Phil Dowd sent the short-tempered
Wayne Rooney off for, you guessed it - dissent, to reduce the Red Devils to nine men.
Rooney was the third United player to be shown a red card in seven days, as he joined Nemanja Vidic and Scholes on the suspended list, heading into a pivotal stage in United’s season.
It was only 14 days ago that the red half of Manchester were on an unbeaten streak of 17 games in all competitions, 16 of which they had grabbed maximum points, with the only ‘mishap’ a 0-0 stalemate with Inter Milan in the knockout round of the Champions League.
They led the premiership by a seemingly unassailable seven points with a game in hand over their nearest rivals Liverpool, but Rafa Benitez’ side demolished the reigning champions with a scintillating 4-1 win last weekend, to place doubt in the mind of those who believed United invincible.
With eight matches to go (nine for United), the often-predictable English Premier League title race has been blown wide open, with the chasing pair of Chelsea and Liverpool keen to capitalise on Manchester’s meltdown.
For those who thought that the title race was well and truly over for 2009, think again.
In the wake of their defeat, Ferguson’s side will breath a slight sigh of relief that Chelsea failed to capitalise on their disastrous breakdown; the Blues slumping to a 1-0 loss in the London derby against the temperamental Tottenham.
Croatian Luka Modric hit the solitary goal, to dent Chelsea’s hope of closing the gap on United to just one point, and administered Guus Hiddink’s first loss in charge of the Blues.
Liverpool will be licking their lips at the prospect of closing the gap on United to just one point, and edging three points clear of Chelsea, if they secure maximum points against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Still on the Premiership, and Arsenal continued its recent fine form to record a 3-1 victory over Newcastle at St. James Park, as it leap-frogged Aston Villa into the all-important fourth place Champions League qualification spot, and condemned Newcastle to the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, West Brom’s 1-1 draw with mid-table Bolton made little impact on its current position at the foot of the premiership, and having failed to win a single match since January, the Baggies look destined to play Championship football next season.
In another battle at the bottom, Stoke City scored a precious 1-0 win against second-last Middlesbrough, who have failed to score in seven of their last nine matches in the league.
Portsmouth pipped Everton of three points when they came from behind to win 2-1, and Blackburn and West Ham shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Two weeks ago you would have bet your house, car and children on Manchester United winning a third consecutive English Premiership.
But within the space of a fortnight, United’s title prospects have been thrown into disarray as they faltered miserably at Fulham on Saturday night, prompting bookies to start placing their bets elsewhere.
The Red Devils appear to have hit the self-destruct button at the crucial time of the season, as ex-Liverpool boy Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera gave eighth-placed Fulham a shock 2-0 victory, and inflicted United’s second defeat in as many games.
The afternoon quickly turned sour for United when Murphy slotted home a spot-kick after Paul Scholes deliberately handled in the box and was given his marching orders on 17 minutes.
The afternoon went from bad to worse, as Gera doubled the Cottagers’ advantage, and referee Phil Dowd sent the short-tempered
Wayne Rooney off for, you guessed it - dissent, to reduce the Red Devils to nine men.
Rooney was the third United player to be shown a red card in seven days, as he joined Nemanja Vidic and Scholes on the suspended list, heading into a pivotal stage in United’s season.
It was only 14 days ago that the red half of Manchester were on an unbeaten streak of 17 games in all competitions, 16 of which they had grabbed maximum points, with the only ‘mishap’ a 0-0 stalemate with Inter Milan in the knockout round of the Champions League.
They led the premiership by a seemingly unassailable seven points with a game in hand over their nearest rivals Liverpool, but Rafa Benitez’ side demolished the reigning champions with a scintillating 4-1 win last weekend, to place doubt in the mind of those who believed United invincible.
With eight matches to go (nine for United), the often-predictable English Premier League title race has been blown wide open, with the chasing pair of Chelsea and Liverpool keen to capitalise on Manchester’s meltdown.
For those who thought that the title race was well and truly over for 2009, think again.
In the wake of their defeat, Ferguson’s side will breath a slight sigh of relief that Chelsea failed to capitalise on their disastrous breakdown; the Blues slumping to a 1-0 loss in the London derby against the temperamental Tottenham.
Croatian Luka Modric hit the solitary goal, to dent Chelsea’s hope of closing the gap on United to just one point, and administered Guus Hiddink’s first loss in charge of the Blues.
Liverpool will be licking their lips at the prospect of closing the gap on United to just one point, and edging three points clear of Chelsea, if they secure maximum points against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Still on the Premiership, and Arsenal continued its recent fine form to record a 3-1 victory over Newcastle at St. James Park, as it leap-frogged Aston Villa into the all-important fourth place Champions League qualification spot, and condemned Newcastle to the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, West Brom’s 1-1 draw with mid-table Bolton made little impact on its current position at the foot of the premiership, and having failed to win a single match since January, the Baggies look destined to play Championship football next season.
In another battle at the bottom, Stoke City scored a precious 1-0 win against second-last Middlesbrough, who have failed to score in seven of their last nine matches in the league.
Portsmouth pipped Everton of three points when they came from behind to win 2-1, and Blackburn and West Ham shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Technology Saves the Day for United
By Julius Ross
The credit for Manchester United's 4-1 penalty-shootout win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup perhaps should not be awarded for the ingenuity of Sir Alex Ferguson or the silky skills of Cristiano Ronaldo - but to a hand held device known world-wide as the iPod.
After 120 minutes of football failed to separate the Mancs from the Londoners, a brief - but defining - break in procedure, prior to the penalty shootout, may have handed United the trophy.
While the teams took time out to stretch sore muscles, replenish glycogen stores and focus on where to place their forthcoming 12-yard kick, United's astute goalkeeping coach Eric Steele handed 'keeper Ben Foster an iPod.
Listening to an iPod may appear to be a strange pre-penalty ritual on first glance, by Foster was in fact quickly absorbing a video compilation of Tottenham's penalty takers, provided by Steele's carefully planned research.
Foster honed in on Jamie O'Hara's technique on the miniature screen - footage of O'Hara taking a spot kick in Spurs' UEFA Cup defeat to PSV Eindoven, to be precise - which showed the midfielder prefers to hit his penalties to the left of the 'keeper.
Similar to Neo's lighting-fast computer-aided training in the original Matrix film, the United goalkeeper uploaded the information with photographic memory and proceeded to step up and save O'Hara's attempt - which as the footage had illustrated, went to the 25-year-old keeper's left.
iPod 1 - Tottenham 0.
Foster's save was Tottenham's first spot kick and it is questionable whether the United 'keeper would have 'guessed' the right way without the help from Apple's ingenious invention.
But, admittedly, Foster's teammates' immaculate penalty conversions were nothing but human brilliance and coolheadedness - and their success could not be attributed to a portable music player - although they were executed with robotic precision.
With Foster's initial penalty save setting the tone in United's favour, the Red Devils sealed the Cup victory when David Bentley shot wide, and Brazilian Anderson slotted home the winner for a 4-1 rout.
It may be "Glory, Glory, Man United" for Sir Alex's men, but Foster's 'heightened performance' as a result of the iPod has caused uproar in some footballing circles, and has divided opinions between techno-enthusiasts and traditionalists.
Former referee Graham Poll is one such purist who believes that the iPod usage by United "had the potential to exploit a loophole in the laws which should be referred to FIFA".
The Football Association replied to Poll that there was no case to answer for Foster's actions as the footage he was examining was not of anything that had occurred during the match taking place, and no further action would be taken.
Using an MP3 device as a 'tactical aid' is not against the written laws of the game, but world governing body FIFA has long resisted the temptation - and incessant demand from some quarters - to introduce technology to the game.
Controversial former President Sepp Blatter was adamant that the introduction of technology of any kind would have a detrimental effect on the game, despite obvious and reoccurring mistakes by referees and linesmen at the highest level.
The course of footballing history has revealed that the introduction of technology to assist referees' decisions - whether it be reviewing offsides, mistimed tackles or goal-line judgements - may be beneficial to resolving these mistakes caused by 'human error'.
But critics are insistent that the introduction of replays, goal-line computer chips and artificial linesmen - any type of technology for that matter - would remove the 'human' factor that makes the game so unpredictable, would cause a division among supporters and would inevitable change the face of football that the world knows and loves.
One thing is for certain though, Apple's iPod has not only revolutionised the way we listen to music, watch videos and even browse the web, it has revolutionised the world's most popular sport - football.
The credit for Manchester United's 4-1 penalty-shootout win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup perhaps should not be awarded for the ingenuity of Sir Alex Ferguson or the silky skills of Cristiano Ronaldo - but to a hand held device known world-wide as the iPod.
After 120 minutes of football failed to separate the Mancs from the Londoners, a brief - but defining - break in procedure, prior to the penalty shootout, may have handed United the trophy.
While the teams took time out to stretch sore muscles, replenish glycogen stores and focus on where to place their forthcoming 12-yard kick, United's astute goalkeeping coach Eric Steele handed 'keeper Ben Foster an iPod.
Listening to an iPod may appear to be a strange pre-penalty ritual on first glance, by Foster was in fact quickly absorbing a video compilation of Tottenham's penalty takers, provided by Steele's carefully planned research.
Foster honed in on Jamie O'Hara's technique on the miniature screen - footage of O'Hara taking a spot kick in Spurs' UEFA Cup defeat to PSV Eindoven, to be precise - which showed the midfielder prefers to hit his penalties to the left of the 'keeper.
Similar to Neo's lighting-fast computer-aided training in the original Matrix film, the United goalkeeper uploaded the information with photographic memory and proceeded to step up and save O'Hara's attempt - which as the footage had illustrated, went to the 25-year-old keeper's left.
iPod 1 - Tottenham 0.
Foster's save was Tottenham's first spot kick and it is questionable whether the United 'keeper would have 'guessed' the right way without the help from Apple's ingenious invention.
But, admittedly, Foster's teammates' immaculate penalty conversions were nothing but human brilliance and coolheadedness - and their success could not be attributed to a portable music player - although they were executed with robotic precision.
With Foster's initial penalty save setting the tone in United's favour, the Red Devils sealed the Cup victory when David Bentley shot wide, and Brazilian Anderson slotted home the winner for a 4-1 rout.
It may be "Glory, Glory, Man United" for Sir Alex's men, but Foster's 'heightened performance' as a result of the iPod has caused uproar in some footballing circles, and has divided opinions between techno-enthusiasts and traditionalists.
Former referee Graham Poll is one such purist who believes that the iPod usage by United "had the potential to exploit a loophole in the laws which should be referred to FIFA".
The Football Association replied to Poll that there was no case to answer for Foster's actions as the footage he was examining was not of anything that had occurred during the match taking place, and no further action would be taken.
Using an MP3 device as a 'tactical aid' is not against the written laws of the game, but world governing body FIFA has long resisted the temptation - and incessant demand from some quarters - to introduce technology to the game.
Controversial former President Sepp Blatter was adamant that the introduction of technology of any kind would have a detrimental effect on the game, despite obvious and reoccurring mistakes by referees and linesmen at the highest level.
The course of footballing history has revealed that the introduction of technology to assist referees' decisions - whether it be reviewing offsides, mistimed tackles or goal-line judgements - may be beneficial to resolving these mistakes caused by 'human error'.
But critics are insistent that the introduction of replays, goal-line computer chips and artificial linesmen - any type of technology for that matter - would remove the 'human' factor that makes the game so unpredictable, would cause a division among supporters and would inevitable change the face of football that the world knows and loves.
One thing is for certain though, Apple's iPod has not only revolutionised the way we listen to music, watch videos and even browse the web, it has revolutionised the world's most popular sport - football.
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