By Con Stamocostas
September 7th 2008 @ 10:01am
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Van Gogh, Rieu, Hartog, Hauer? Your boys took a beating!
So what if it was a friendly. So what if the Dutch goalkeeper was wrongly sent off. So what if Graham Arnold is still involved with the national team. We beat the Dutch!
Australian football fans will dine out on this victory for years.
Like the famous 3-1 friendly victory over England in 2003 (which I had tickets to and missed because I went to a Sigur Ros concert instead, which the football gods will punish me for eternity), this win will become famous in the years to come.
We have a Dutch coach for our national team and our youth team, we have a Dutch referee boss, we had four players that were or are playing in Holland.
The Dutch are ranked fourth and we are in the late 30s. You know they aren’t going to be happy.
While the victory against the Dutch is great, the most important game to come is on Wednesday against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
Hopefully the boys can take the confidence through to their next game and secure another famous victory.
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dasilva said | September 7th 2008 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
Look at our scalps – quite impressive, Argentina 4-1, England 3-1, Brazil 1-0, France 1-0 and now Netherlands 2-1. Hopefully we will add Italy, Germany and Spain to that list in the future.
What a fantastic match. The first half was the most impressive performance by the soccerroos since the world cup and you could argue that we outplayed the dutch when it was 11 vs 11. Dutch may edge us in possession but we created the much better chances and if it wasn’t for Holman we should have been winning at half time. Honestly that performance in the first half put Arnie to shame for that dour olyroos performance.
We did go off the rails in the second half and we played quite poorly. The passing was off and Lucas Neill had a shocker gaving away the ball on number of times as well as giving away the first goal and we were lucky not to have conceded a goal but we scrape a victory in the second half.
+ve – Emerton, culina, Valeri, Schwarzer (awesome save against Kuyt)
So-so – Kewell, Wilkshire, Kennedy, Holman
-ve – Neill, Carney
The red card was a correct decision. He was the last man. Either no foul or a penalty and a send off. The only reason why someone could argue he should stay on the pitch is because it was a friendly and the referee should be lenient. However to the laws of the game it was a correct decision.
dasilva said | September 7th 2008 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
Jamie Coyne wasn’t bad as well – he gets lots of stick for playing in the english 3rd division but in all honestly he outplayed both North and Neill in the last two matches.
Midfielder said | September 7th 2008 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
Just hope the first half form is reproduced for the WCQ.
dasilva said | September 7th 2008 @ 1:43pm | Report comment
the thing about Australia is that we can go and beat hollond, brazil, france etc and then lose to iraq and the uzbeks.
Qatar thrash the Uzbeks 3-0. Maybe the Uzbeks are overated and we should beat them confortably or maybe they come at us as a wounded tiger and fight for their lives in a do or die clash. If Uzbeks lose the first two match they can pretty much give up top 2 positions.
Alan Nicolea said | September 7th 2008 @ 6:35pm | Report comment
It’s a step in the right direction, but it is just a step nonetheless. You guys beat England 3-1 in a friendly years ago but they will always have more chance of winning a world cup than Australia ever will. If Australia loses to Uzbekistan, the result against the dutch will mean nothing. Consolidation is the key.
cosmos forever said | September 7th 2008 @ 7:56pm | Report comment
Alan – in the history of world cup competition, how many have England won. I reckon it’s a pretty big call to say they will always have a better chance. Australia in team sports has an outstanding record in tournament play – England does not.
In a few years England will be lucky to have 11 players even playing in it’s own home league first division
Alan Nicolea said | September 7th 2008 @ 8:49pm | Report comment
Cosmos
At least they have consistently been in World Cups let alone winning it once. Australia consider qualifying for the damn thing a success. You can’t compare mate. In recent team tournaments for england – 2003 rugby world cup champions, 2007 rugby world cup finalists, 2005 ashes series, quarter finalists in 2006 world cup.
Australia – finalists in 2003 rugby world cup, quarter finalists in 2007 rugby world cup, last 16 of Football world cup in germany, ashes triumph in 2006/07.
Yeh, I think England has a case in team sports my friend. A big call? whatever mate.
jimbo said | September 7th 2008 @ 8:58pm | Report comment
Good result no matter the circumstances.
It could be a confidence booster and a false sense of security for the Footballroos, especially as the Uzbeks got thrashed by Qatar and will be looking for a big big improvement at home.
Different referees would have interpreted the goalkeeper send off in different ways but the referee was well within the rules sending him off.
Often playing against 10 or even 9 men doesn’t give the big advantage it should.
Holman played well and will probably start against the Uzbeks, but he still hasn’t got that touch in front of goal. He should have converted one of his chances and needs a bit more confidence in scoring.
Kennedy did well and hopefully we now have a striker who can score goals no matter the circumstances. His scoring average per game for Australia is a lot better than most strikers, including Dukes.
BTW New Zealand beat New Caledonia 3-1 in New Caledonia to sew up top spot in the Oceania Qualifiers and will face off against the fifth placed Asian team. They now have a 4 point lead over New Caledonia who only have one game left to play against New Zealand in NZ.
Fingers crossed both Australia and New Zealand both make it to the FIFA WC Finals!
Alan Nicolea said | September 7th 2008 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
Can New Zealand do a Haka in football if they wanted to or not?
dasilva said | September 7th 2008 @ 9:33pm | Report comment
I guess the penalty could be interpreted as a back pass ot the keeper and since kennedy didn’t touch the ball – therefore the last man rule doesn’t apply.
What’s the official rule in that matter. Is simply denying a goal scoring opportunity a red card or the player has to be in possession of the ball for the red card for the last man to apply.
Anyone knows any referrees
jimbo said | September 7th 2008 @ 9:55pm | Report comment
Alan,
I’ve never seen the haka at an All Whites football game – I like the idea and could be something good and would be really welcome to add some international flavour to their game. All the Pacific teams should do their ritual dances at a football game, as they do in other sports.
dasilva,
Its hard to tell whether Kennedy or Maarten Stekelenburg actually touched the ball or the player first. There was definite contact with Kennedy’s right leg and I was holding my breath hoping he wasn’t injured.
Stekelenburg was definitely the last player, so it was up to the referee’s interpretation as to whether he made illegal contact or not. Should be automatic red card at that point.
Craig Moore wants to play for the Socceroos again.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24299717-10389,00.html
Will we see the old Neill & Moore back line pairing that did so well at Germany 06?
Is Craig still up to it? He’ll be 34 by the time the next FIFA WC starts in SA.
Is he better than Coyne, Beauchamp, North or Spiranovic?
The Bear said | September 8th 2008 @ 8:49am | Report comment
The real deal is this week. i never took much notice of friendlies.
drew said | September 8th 2008 @ 9:15am | Report comment
dasilva
I am a referee, and i know numerous high quality referees.
It was a tough call but the golakeeper clearly took the player not the ball so the referee was entitled to send him off. I would have.
All my referee friends agree.
drew said | September 8th 2008 @ 9:18am | Report comment
jimbo
I would love to see moore back in the line-up.
he is a class defender and controls teh back line extremely well.
At the roar he is playing solidly week in week out and is easily better than spiranovic, coyne and north.
I ahve been very impressed with Spiranovic though. With some experience he will make a good defender, but for now let’s keep Moore there.
Koala Bear said | September 8th 2008 @ 9:48am | Report comment
Drew,
spot on; Moore is the only option partnering Lucas Neil at present as one of the two central defenders .. Thank God Craig has put his hand up for the spot. He is head and shoulders above all the others that we have tried there. The only defender who can read a game and position himself correctly when under attack..
I like Spira as an understudy. Give him an extra year and he will challenge Moore of Neil for one of the Central defenders spots..
~~~~~~~
KB
alan said | September 8th 2008 @ 11:56am | Report comment
I don’t think New Zealand would do their haka because soccer is not a war on the pitch, unlike rugby and co. The Haka is used to fire up troops for battle and it helps to inspire them to play physical no matter what the pain. Soccer is a patience game more than anything and i don’t think the all whites could stand seeing their opponents just passing the ball between each other. With all that passion inside you, A new zealander just wants to come out all guns blazing.
True Tah said | September 8th 2008 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
Alan,
I think FIFA has issued a rule that pre-game rituals etc are banned.
I guess that would be a major impediment to the haka or any other dances performed by Islanders.
Also I dont think there are too many Maori or Polynesians in the All Whites, and traditionally these were the guys that lead the haka…before Buck Shelford came along and basically said guys, if you want to do the haka, you may as well do it right…anything less is almost like an insult, and before this happened, the haka was almost laughable.
On youtube there is footage of Zinedine Zidane doing a haka…lets just say it wasn’t as intimidating as the Pacific teams doing it.
fatboi-v- said | September 8th 2008 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
i hope pim now has more faith in the abilities of his socceroos and we can finally see the end of his disgusting 5-5-0 formations.
Koala Bear said | September 8th 2008 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
True Tah,
I think the IRB wanted to band Waltzing Matilda and the Hakka from any future world cups as well .. Not sure of the outcome if it succeeded or not..?
~~~~~~~~
KB
True Tah said | September 8th 2008 @ 3:15pm | Report comment
KB,
Im not sure about the IRB, but a few years ago the Welsh RU said they could only perform it before the national anthems, the ABs got ticked off, and ended up doing it in their dressing room.
Aside from NZ, I know that Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and Madagascar do a pre-game ritual dance before they start.
jimbo said | September 8th 2008 @ 3:36pm | Report comment
I’ve heard the Madagascan war dance is mad!
Lucky they aren’t in our WC qualification group.
The Bear said | September 8th 2008 @ 4:22pm | Report comment
LOL, fatboi, Pim has set a dangerous precedent. Has he been holding out against us ALL THIS TIME?
I expect that he, and players like Culina, start pulling their finger out and finding some attacking fervour.
Graciously,
The Bear
Alan Nicolea said | September 8th 2008 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
Jimbo
It would be interesting to see a Maori play football. They are naturally gifted athletes (in Rugby anyway) and some of the Maori guys that i play with have nice potential.
jimbo said | September 8th 2008 @ 8:11pm | Report comment
Alan,
Archie Thompson – Socceroo and Olyroo, is of Maori descent.
Jeremy Christie (Phoenix and All Whites) is also of Maori descent.
There are probably a lot of other footballers of Maori descent playing in Australia and New Zealand.
The most famous Pacific Islands footballer is Cristian Karembeau, who was from New Caledonia and signed up by the French. He went on to win a FIFA World Cup with France in 1998 as well as a European Champions League medal with Real Madrid in 2000.
Indigenous people make excellent athletes and sportsmen, no matter what code.
Alan Nicolea said | September 8th 2008 @ 8:16pm | Report comment
Jimbo
I never knew Archie thompson was of Maori descent. Did he have a choice of playing for New Zealand or Australia?
The Socceroos should incorporate more indigenous players in their side. Australia lacks a lot of flair for me in attack. They do not have that one player that can take the game by the scruff of the neck and dominate. Until they find that player, they will always be competitive, yet will remain as a second tier football nation.
jimbo said | September 8th 2008 @ 8:35pm | Report comment
Archie was born October 23, 1978 in Otorohanga, New Zealand.
His family moved to Lithgow NSW at an early age, he played football and he always wanted to play for the Socceroos.
There are a few other indigenous footballers like Jade North, Travis Dodd, Harry WIlliams, David WIlliams, Charles Perkins, Fred Agius and many others over the years.
The other codes like cricket, AFL and NRL have their greater share of indigenous athletes. There is a very keen competition among the major codes to try to recruit the best young indigenous sportsmen for their game.
True Tah said | September 9th 2008 @ 9:45am | Report comment
jimbo,
how many Aboriginals have played cricket for Australia? Apart from Gillespie I don’t know if any have.
I also thought Thompson was half Papuan and Pakeha – although many Pakeha have some Maori ancestry, and vice versa.
One thing about Karembeu is that I read that he refused to sing la marseillaise, some sort of protest about the way the French treated some of the indigeonous New Caledonians.
Probably the second most famous futboler of Pacific descent would be Tim Cahill.
jimbo said | September 9th 2008 @ 10:02am | Report comment
True Tah,
what about Andrew Symonds – isn’t he an indigenous cricketer?
I heard the head of the ACB on ABC radio’s Grandstand program on Saturday saying that while they were playing in Darwin, they were recruiting indigenous playesr for the AIS and they got a utefull of them.
The young indigenous Aussies are the wellspring of our future sports stars according to some of the codes’ administrators.
Might be a good thing to get them out of poverty, like the Afro American ghettoes?
True Tah said | September 10th 2008 @ 10:44am | Report comment
jimbo,
Andrew Symonds was actually born in the UK, and his heritage is from the Caribbean, however the bloke is about as Aussie as you can come – not too many poms are into their pig hunting as much as Roy is.
dasilva said | September 10th 2008 @ 11:01am | Report comment
Nah the poms shoot fox instead