Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley says the A-League’s expansion plans will not be slowed by the world’s economic crisis.
More football
Melbourne, Sydney share remaining World Cup games
Midfielder hopes Verbeek feels the need for Reid
Dunga complains of dirty tricks as Brazil go second
Brazil and Argentina put the mediocrity of recent World Cup qualifying performances behind them this weekend with respective wins that has left them second and third respectively in the table.
The remaining home games of Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign will take place exclusively on the east coast, with the nation’s soccer chief saying Perth and Adelaide no longer have big enough venues.
Playing 10 matches in 44 days isn’t enough for Adelaide United midfielder Paul Reid. He’d like to make it 11 - if Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek will let him.
Veteran Socceroo Scott Chipperfield is considering prolonging his European crusade to aid his 2010 World Cup ambitions.
Mark Viduka may have taken a step closer to returning to the Socceroos’ fold, joining them in Brisbane today as he turns to the national team’s medical staff to help him overcome a debilitating injury.
Pim Verbeek’s win-loss record as Socceroos coach will surpass Guus Hiddink’s if he can mastermind a victory against Qatar in Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier in Brisbane.
National team hopeful Shane Stefanutto has dispelled the myth about any shortage of left-sided talent for the Socceroos, saying it’s a position in which Australia is doing all right.
Former champions France and 2006 semi-finalists Portugal were struggling to keep their 2010 World Cup dreams on track on Saturday as Europe’s major powers toiled on the rocky road to South Africa.
Fabio Capello has warned his England stars that Belarus will provide a much sterner World Cup test than a Kazakhstan side that frustrated them for the best part of an hour at Wembley on Saturday.
Pim Verbeek has reluctantly given up hope of an unexpected Harry Kewell recovery in a major blow to the Socceroos ahead of Wednesday night’s crucial clash with Qatar.
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Having sat through Mamma Mia: The Movie with my wife, I read with some degree of amusement Giles Smith’s article in the Times about Roy Keane’s dislike of Abba music.
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After being underwhelmed by The Graham Arnold Olyroo’s Finishing School, that was the Beijing Games, I opined that the FFA served the bad china in the wash-up. And now it appears that Baan has poured the tea.
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I’m curious as to where the goalkeeper, Les Pogliacomi, has disappeared to. He was dropped for Chris Day by Ronnie More in the 2005-2006 season, and went to Blackpool FC. However, John Sheridan brought him back to Oldham in the 2006/2007 season.
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In a post-match interview with Aurellio Vidmar, Simon Hill referred to the Adelaide United Football Club as the Manchester United of the A-League. Is that some sort of praise or largely due to Adelaide United’s involvement in the Asian Champions League and their very busy match schedule of the past few weeks?
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Coaches and their symbiotic relationships with the media often generate fireworks. Although speaking to the media is part of what professional coaches are paid to do and the media also need their precious sound bites from coaches to sell their wares, at times the mutual relationship seems fraught with drama.
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Scanning the football websites this weekend made me smile. And it was an SBS article about the A-League, in particular, that was responsible for bringing on that smile - surprising if discussions over the past year have any basis in truth.
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A few months ago the A-League franchise hotline was ringing off the wall with investors looking to buy a share of a sporting business with annual growth running at nearly 20 per cent.
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One of the best analysis of football I have read is by Dr. Istvan Gorgenyi, who was the coach of the Gold medal winning Australian women’s water polo team in Sydney 2000. An expert in group dynamics, he developed a theory in team life called ‘The Hunting Territory’.
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Australia’s top referee Mark Shield has dropped a bombshell by announcing his retirement. His last game will be in round eight of the A-League. Shield said family and business commitments were the main reasons behind his shock resignation.
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I can recall Melbourne’s first red card of last season: Pantelidis was dribbling the ball down the left wing, going deep into the Jets’ half, and for the whole of the 20-metre run he had Joel Griffiths hanging off his shoulder, pulling him back, trying to slow him down illegally.
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I read with some degree of sadness a report that the Iraq FA have lost their last chance of competing at the 2010 World Cup after a court rejected an appeal against Qatar for using an ineligible player.
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Which Australian football side, of any code, last achieved a sell-out for a club game in a midweek match? It’s AFL grand final week, but it’s Adelaide United, the football team, making all the noise in Adelaide.
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Over the next week, some 150,000 live fans will see the grand finals of the two domestic winter codes in Australia - AFL and NRL - and countless conjecture will be consumed on the basis of those two games.
The timing of Adelaide United’s result at Hindmarsh is, in this context, nothing short of perfect.
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Adelaide United’s historic quarter-final win over Kashima Antlers in the Asian Champions League following their 3-0 demolition at the hands of Sydney FC has brought up an interesting question: should the FFA rearrange the A-League schedule to assist Adelaide United make history in Asia?
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Besides the action on the park, watching the crowd figures and the response to them can be a sport in itself. This is not just for the round ball game but all the codes. However, due to football’s colourful past with crowds in Australia the response by fans and the media to most crowds stories are usually manic or depressive.
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In Hobart for junior development clinics, freelance journalist Julius Ross queried former Socceroo duo Craig Foster and Paul Wade on the potential expansion of the A-League into Tasmanian territory and the hopes for a truly national competition.
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Football is in its infancy as a professionally-run code in Australia. Maybe still at the rolling stage in that football is not crawling, never mind being able to toddle along. Walking then running and sprinting are still a fair way off.
