Tuesday, 24 July 2007

Every picture sells a million jerseys


In an attempt to avoid commenting on Australia's exit from the Asian Cup, I've been searching for a "filler"... and what better way of doing so than by looking at pics of what is shaping up to be a deadly attacking combination.
By the looks of these images, all seems to be going well down at Camp Nou; stupendously well at that! With an average weekly crowd topping 75,000 and merchandising sales/television rights up around €100M, it's no wonder Henry(€30M*), E'to(€30M*) and Ronaldinho(€47M*) will have to perform for the Catalan giants this season. There's a lot of pride at stake for the whole team and especially for those competing for the strikers position.

* estimated player/brand worth as found in various internet reports.




Saturday, 21 July 2007

Pre-match Japaction

Arnold is going to set the team up in a pretty predictable formation. If the Jap-osnian's play their card's right, they might just get away with a win. I've spoken to a lot of people about tonights game and they all fear the worst for Australia... and all give the same reason; Cause Arnold won't be good enough to tactically beat Ivica Osim. As much as this hurts, I'm predicting Japan to win 2-0 and if we do happen to score, it'll probably be from a fluky Brett Emerton goal. The Socceroos will really have to turn it up if they're going to win and in a couple of hours we'll know.

Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Bring on Nippon!


Nostalgia, excitement, revenge… the words that come to mind are endless as this game is shaping up to be massive!
Japan, who I believe are playing some of the best football in this tournament at the moment, will also be playing high on emotion… it wasn’t just the Sake that left a sour taste in their mouths a year ago. Defeat at the World Cup will have them seething for Australian blood. They have a full strength team and a midfield danger man in Shunsuke Nakamura (of Celtic FC), scored 2 goals so far and an in form striker in Naohiro Takahara who has scored 3. They will be difficult to contain, cause they play fluent football and break quick on the counter attack.

The Aussies on the other hand, have just kick started their engines and will be stepping into this game with some caution. Even though the score line was convincing against the Thais, there were periods in the match, most notably the second half, where the defense was split in half by simple passes and we struggled to clear it from our box. I believe this game will be decided in the midfield so it means that Culina, Grella and Bresc, will have to work hard for each other. Against Thailand, Culina was snapping at everything, and Grella played a solid game, but I have my doubts about Bresc, in tournaments that is, cause he fades out of matches for long periods of time. This was made even clearer when Cahill was subbed on for him and within minutes had set up his first of 3 goal assists. Dukes is on fire at the moment, Alosis is yet to make an impact and Kewell has had a mixed bag so far. The defense played out of their skin on Monday and now with Lucas Neil back, it’ll be an injustice for the player who misses out to him.

One thing I am certain about though is that this game is going to be a tough one to predict.

I still get goose bumps watching this!

Tuesday, 17 July 2007

Classic Roos - 2003

I was scouring the cesspool that is YouTube and found this classic: The ol' foe v Australia... Gotta love the hairstyles of a bygone era! And to think it was only 4 years ago. Enjoy!

Copa America Final


This was such an anti-climax to the brilliance that was Argentina. By far they'd played some of the best football of the tournament, yet were absolutely destroyed by Brazil's youngsters. Big'up to 'The Beast' for netting the first goal of the game, it was a great strike and unlike many cup finals of the last decade, this final delivered some spark and pazazz!

Watch the highlights here!

Socceroos overcome Thai-phoon!


The Socceroos withstood a barrage of attacks from the Thai’s last night, yet still managed to score a handful of goals. This goes to prove two theories: 1. Retards can coach a team of superstars and 2. Drunken idiots can almost predict the scores of a match that most people would right off.
Australia's 'new' defense proved competent and very capable of replacing the heads that were there in the prior games. And as a result, I don’t see Kisnorbo getting a recall to the starting line-up any time soon. As for Big Dukes and Kewellio, that’s what I call’em when we’re chilling at their place, except I sit outside the window and they don’t really know Im there, I knew that they’d score... now if only could find my pants with the betting stub, I’d be a hell of a lot more perverted wealthier... chu-ching!!

Monday, 16 July 2007

Pundit-Predicts...


Im about to do something outrageous right now and predict that Australia will beat Thailand tonight 5-0! Viduka(x2), Aloisi(1), Nick Carle(1)… yeah that’s right Nick Carle!... and Kewell(1).
Crazy or not, I think that tonight things will actually go right for the Socceroos and they will announce that they've arrived in the Asian Cup tournament.
Finally, we’ll b e playing a night match, conditions will be cooler, we’re under pressure to perform and we’ll be playing in front of around 30-40 thousand spectators… conditions all too similar to what the players are used to…

And for those of you who think the Sato has gotten to my head, here’s how I justify my prediction:
I DON’T NEED TO JUSTIFY IT! Just come and pull me out of a Bangkok gutter tomorrow morning;
I’ll be the one with a massive head and a Thai beaut under each arm!

Friday, 13 July 2007

Did tonights game just happen...

or was it a nightmare?
Judging by the date and the way the Socceroos performed, I'd say it was a nightmare. Even though Australia performed better than what they did against Oman, I believe school boy errors in the defence cost them the match. Iraq's talented midfielder, Nashat Akram helped to drive a steak right through the heart of the Aussie team by scoring one and setting another up.

Stay tuned for all the post game wash-up.

All out attack!!

Arnie's under pressure, so are the boys. They need to step it up a notch and take it to the Iraq's. Media has been suggesting over the last week that the Aussies will come out in a more attacking formation... my guess is that they'll be digging into Iraqi oil wells for a supply. Let's just hope that Viduka bought his RPG's and Bresciano has his Snipers rifle at a ready to pin point some passes from a mile away.
This is a must win for both the team and myself... if not, I may have to answer to a couple'a Kamikaze piolts already preparing to fly over Ivica Osim's house... catch my drift!?

Thursday, 12 July 2007

More Messi Magic!


This boy never ceases to amaze me. I've commented on his impeccable skill so many times over the last few months, Messi goal, not scrappy at all!, Lionel Messi Saves Barca in Extra Time, its just mind boggling to think he's only 20 years old and still has so much learning to do. Only hours ago, he scored a brilliant goal for Argentina as they secured a place in the final of the Copa America against Brazil.
Quite simply, I predict that Argentina will win it this year. They are by far the most experinced team in the tournament, with the likes of Riquelme, Verón, Crespo, Cambiasso and Heinze. And with the amount of talented ankle biters running around like Messi, Tevez, Aimar and Mascherano, I can't see the Seleção doing much to prevent the Argentine onslaught!

Here are the highlights:

Wednesday, 11 July 2007

Bounce, Bounce, C'mon Bounce!!!


This is testament to the lyrics of 50 Cent:
"Homie, you hustlin' backwards if you chasin' a bitch
Stupid, chase the paper, they come with the shit"
... no truer words have been spoken or in this case sung!
In all fairness though, Messi could of at least given her his jersey...

Monday, 9 July 2007

Copa America


We're down to the business end of the Copa America, and overnight, the favourites Argentina, ripped apart peru 4-0. Juan Roman Riquelme bagged 2, while Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano completed the drubbing.And in the other quarter final, Mexico demolished Paraguay 6-0.

So it all boils down to an '06 World Cup rematch, which was probably one of the best games played at last years World Cup and both teams are playing some very attractive football. Fingers crossed the match lives up to expectation and half way through we don't get Argentines snorting tequila and Mexicans doing shots of coca... that should be left to the trained professionals.

Speaking of which:

O'man! Were Australia lucky!?


The Socceroos were given a rude awakening overnight, as was I, when they barely scraped through their maiden Asian Cup match against Oman.
These few simple words published on The World Game summed it up to a tee:

"The Socceroos were so poor and disjointed in their maiden match in the Asian Cup that super-sub Tim Cahill’s late, late strike seemed like a godsend. It certainly was a gross miscarriage of justice"


I don’t know about you, but I was watching this match with the Sultan of Oman, three Iraqi pop-stars, and a Thai “lady-boy” named Megawatti Porntip-Bangbang. At half time they were all rubbing their hands at the prospect of playing the revered European superstars that make up the Socceroos squad and placing bets on how many goals they were going to score past AU's makeshift defense…

As for me, well, I’d heard so many times over the last couple of weeks that the heat and humidity was going to be a determining factor in these games and I guess now I can vouch for the Aussie team, cause once lil’old Timmy Cahill scored that equalizer, I had to make a 90min dash to the jungles of Cambodia in the hope of avoiding decapitation an enema… and that’s when my night got really tough!!

Ps. I lost count of the amount of stretchers that were needed for the Omanies throughout the match... anyone keep count?

Here are the match highlights:

Thursday, 5 July 2007

Renewed confidence


Up until I saw this picture, I'd had my doubts about Australia's preparation leading up to The Asian Cup, which starts this Saturday. I think it's because the Socceroos went into the World Cup as underdogs and proved to the world that they could play football.
Yet now, a year on, they're about to embark on a tournament in which they're one of the favourites. Could this have an adverse effect on the team?

Their game against Singapore the other day, proved that there was still much work to be done and hence why I felt a little on the nervy side... . (mind you, I still feel a little queezy about the guy in the middle). The face that Rob Baan(left) is part of the coaching staff, somewhat eases my concerns for the team. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the first game pans out.

Bresciano doubtful... again!


Socceroos midfielder Mark Bresciano has pledged he will only play in Australia's Asian Cup opener on Sunday night if fully fit as he races time to get over a foot injury.
Bresciano picked up the knock in a practice match in Singapore on Tuesday night and admitted he had been struggling since to shake off the problem.


Is it just me, or did Bresciano pull something like this during the '06 World Cup as well? Although last time it was an ear infection and it kept him from playing to his full potential.

Im not saying that his injury isn't legitimate, but why does there always seem to be speculation around whether he'll be playing or not? It'd be nice if he could have a great tournament and put rants like this one to rest once and for all!

Classic Bresch!

Wednesday, 4 July 2007

...thats why I said maybe...

So it's been brought to my attention that the China v Mexico match is part of a women's four country international series! Dang! And I thought I was onto something!

My apologies for jumping the gun, although I'll still be logging into TvAnts at that time to try and find a rogue connection and will post details if I find anything.

Watch China v Melbourne Victory...maybe?


Recently I discovered some little applications that rocked my world. Apparently, they've been a round for a while, but there was never a need for me to have to use them until the recent Euro 2008 qualifiers. Basically, you can watch live football matches from anywhere in the world, as long as they're being televised and streamed. Between these three applications, I've always seemed to watch the matches that matter most to me. Get them here: SopCast, TvAnts, PPMate.

Anyway, I'll get to the point of this post. Since SBS, or any other free-to-air station for that matter, doesn't want to televise the match between Melb. Victory and China, I found the next best solution.... maybe.

On this particular TVguide, they're claiming that at 7:30(Timezone: (GMT+8) Beijing / HK / Malaysia / Singapore) on Shanghai GSports(Channel), that the Chinese V Mexico (live)... how is it possible when Mexico is currenly playing in the Copa America?
This could very well be the match that everyone wants to watch, yet no-one wants to televise.

For those watching on the East Coast of Austarlia, the game will be televised at 9:30pm... Regardless if they show the match on this channel or not, I know I'll be tuning in cause it's bound to be shown on some channel somewhere on the internet!
Good luck and Go Victory!

Tuesday, 3 July 2007

Fred nets his first for DC.


His first goal in the MLS and for new club DC against Colorado. Fred started the move and played a one-two with the striker and then slotted the ball past the keeper, while under pressure by two defenders. Impressive... and will be missed from the A-league this year.
A link to view the goal
Ps. Any idea where I can get one of those t-shirts from?
It seems now days that every Brazillian wears one under their jersey... i wonder if it'll help me become a better player too!? ;)

Monday, 2 July 2007

El Zorro, Victory’s new hero!?


OK, so I've had some time off and now I'm back with a fresh new outlook on the up and coming Asian Cup and football seasons. I'll be taking a closer look at the teams, their preparations and tracking their movements in the transfer market.

Speaking of which; Its fairly old news now in the transfer market, but it's also the question on every one's lips. Will Carlos Hernandez be a fitting replacement for the departed Fred?
There has been a lot of hype around the Victory and "El Zorro"(The Fox) and I'm starting to get the impression through the media that everyone is expecting him to be the next Fred.

To me, Carlos looks like no featherweight and like he could lose a KG or two and as seen in the video below, his strikes really do pack a punch too. Whether he can replace or even better Fred can only be a good thing for Melbourne, cause you have to give him credit, El Zorro comes to town with some very nice credentials.


  • 2001 FIFA Under 20 World Cup, Argentina

  • 2004 Athens Olympic Games

  • 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany


For now I guess, only time and youTube will tell. Here are some videos that were dug up of "The Fox", make your own minds up.

Carlos Hernandez search on YouTube