Socceroos stun Paraguay with enterprising play

Yes he does, he only accepted the Macedonia call up (and he never actually went) because Pim said to him via the national press that he would never call him up and if he wanted to play international football to play for Macedonia.

Does anyone know if "the Og Monster" has any desire to play for Australia? In 2009, Ognenovski officially accepted an offer to play for Macedonia and was scheduled to make his debut in a friendly against Moldova. According to MacedonianFootball.com at the time: "The question mark is now gone, he choose to play for Macedonia over Australia." However, due to administrative issues, Ognenovski still hasn't played for Macedonia so he is still eligible to play for either Australia or Macedonia ... does anyone know what he actually wants to do? Source: http://www.macedonianfootball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1043:ognenovski-will-play-for-macedonia&catid=13:international&Itemid=64

Very true, what I would like is as was mentioned on the other thread some regeneration in the senior team - frankly Oar & Leckie with Kewell in the middle and Macca up front would be a very good front 4. Have Cullina and the flavour of the month as the holding midfield with a back four of Wilkshire, Spira, Og Monster and Carney (Og Monster would help cover Carney's defensive frailties nicely) and we would give the Asian Cup a great shake!

Once we have Holman back then the passing channels will open up and we will be able to pass it along the ground a bit better.

HK holding back? Only in friendlies as I just explained. If you saw what he did in the WC before he was sent off. That was some mighty stuff. And I was very critical of him also until I worked out he definitely paces himself in friendlies and for good reason. Your personal battle is to stop football from realising its full potential in Australia---mine is trying to make it the number one code in Australia.. And if that make you feel uncomfortable I make no apologies for that.

I vote no for a return to the days of 'attacking' football meaning: Hoof it up the park! Get rid of it quick! Pass it! Pass it! Lump it to the tall! Get stuck in! We are past the old English style of play, hell England are well and truely past the old English style of play! I want to win the Asian Cup, not get owned by the strongly pressing, highly technical game that many of our Asian opponents play - and owned we will get if we play like that.

btw it's AF not KB.. first and last notice..

The simple answer HK has been hitting the target regularly for his club. This is his true form up to date. You can argue all you like----if he is still worth a punt in the NT, but in club appearances so far this year he definitely is. If I was he playing in friendly internationals I would certainly not be stretching out like I would normally do if it had been an Asian qualifier.. It is perfectly clear to me he is definitely pacing himself for the real tests in the Asian Championship where it will count.. If you want to see unnecessary blood and guts Football then by all means throw in the fringe players who want to make an impression on the manager. However, will they have the technique and nous to perform when it counts in the Asian Championships. The time for those youngsters is straight after the Asian Championships with 2 years lead up to the 2014 world cup.

I partly agree considering I wrote an article in the past about how we shouldn't rely on Kewell to be a gamebreaker and supporting Cockerill comments that he hasn't really had a great game since Iraq. http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/06/19/can-we-really-rely-on-kewell/ However I do differ in that although he is no longer a star player for Australia. He is still worth a spot in the squad I'll just say that with Kewell, expect inconsistency. in the previous WCQ he will have couple of poor matches (Bahrain Away), few average match (Uzbekistan) and a few above average matches (qatar away, Netherlands at home). However that is still superior performance to the likes of Garcia etc. So Kewell had a quiet game against Paraguay but really Kewell has been inconsistent for a long time. Personally I would take Kewell to the Asia Cup and then perhaps put him to pasture afterwards. At most only a bench player for the next World Cup.

Rijkaard has nothing to do with whether Harry should be in the NT or not. The question for the NT is this: is Harry doing enough to justify keeping an up and comer out of the starting line up who could be getting invaluable NT experience (and perhaps matching Harry's contribution). That question has nothing to do with what Harry is doing at club level. It has nothing to do with how good Harry once was. It has nothing to do with Rijkaard.

Subiaco has been used for NSL finals with a capacity of 43,000. Adelaide Oval has been used for football and has a capacity of 33,000. The problem was this time that the FFA wanted to show off existing stadia and these two places aren't the best for watching football. Still, this will be a non-consideration come January 2011.

KB/AF - I'm a Roar poster and nothing more - but an opinionated bastard like most on here. Doesn't your last paragraph make you wonder why he is continuing to play in these non-crucial games if he's not intending to perform? And, if he is so fragile why are we relying on him so much? Seriously don't you think we should cut the sentiment and move on, or is his influence off the field (and not all his fault) so great that we can't move him on? Kewell is a decent player but I'm quite serious about the "diminishing returns" line and it is time for Australia to invest in the future. As much as I'd like us to win the Asian cup we need to groom players for future World Cup's and frankly I'll be very disappointed if Kewell is around for that one barring an astonishing return to form and positive influence on the way we play. He was at his best in his Leeds United years ...guys. that was like ten years ago! I will watch the interview tonight in the hope that Harry gets asked, and answers, some decent questions but really Foster is just a fan boy when it comes to Kewell. I not holding much hope for anything too illuminating.

Adelaide or Perth's stadiums only have a capacity of less than 20,000; but they would have filled them. Sydney's had a good run of Socceroos internationals - and obviously Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will always be the venues for the World Cup qualifiers. But for friendlies, why not share the love with places like Adelaide and Perth? How long's it been since either of them have hosted a Socceroos game?

As an Aussie Rules devotee----why do you presume to know more then Rijkaard and Oiseck? This was a friendly internationl----Kewell had nothing to prove in it. Kewell clearly is pacing himself against further injury. This game was just a hit out to keep his spot in the squad..

Vicentin is a respected poster on many forums, who sticks to the subject and stays out of personal battles - something you and fussball are incapable of doing. So Harry holds something back when he plays friendlies? Mate - he's been holding something back for at least three years now!!

MF I actually totally agree with your opening paragraph, but that's not what you originally said. Your actual words were: "Harry – time to hang up the boots.", which indicates you think Harry is not good enough for National Team selection. Since I have never seen you post anything positive or complimentary about Australian Football, in general, or the National Team, in particular, I'm not surprised that you continue to post negative comments about another terrific Australian performance. Isn't it amazing that you never post any criticism of any Aussie Rules coach. Your own AFL team and its coach were - without doubt - the biggest under-performers this season, yet I've not read a single word of criticism from you about your AFL team and your AFL coach's technical and tactical ineptness respectively. For some reason, you only like to criticise our National Football team and A-League teams.

It remains the case - just because a club manager signs a player for another year, is not a good enough reason to suppose that the NT should perservere with him - it's a warped logic. I stand by my opinion that the the selection process for the NT manager was compromised, and people are far, far too eager to talk up Osieck, when really, it's too early. All the Australian NT managers, going back to Venables, achieved similar results in the early part of their reign playing friendlies. The amazing thing about the Paraguay friendly are the amount of people impressed by the fact that Australia got numbers forward - yeh, great - but what about the ability to string three passes together!!

I got pulled up by a lot of 'randoms' after the Yarraside derby (yes, I like it and will use it to see if it takes off) wanting to know the result. There was a buzz around the game precinct and on into the city. Hopefully a few go along for the next one or a few other games in-between.

OK - c'ya!

Garcia not upto it? Which game were you watching?