Australia took a brutal beating from Germany in its first match of the 2010 World Cup. At 4-0 to Germany, and with Cahill receiving a shock red card (madness, Rodriguez, what were you thinking?!) and unavailable for our next match against Ghana, it looks bleak for the Aussies.
Okay Voodoonista, what went wrong against Germany, and do we have any real hope at all for surviving the Group round?
This is an open conversation follow-up to Who are you tipping to win the 2010 World Cup?, please join in!
I said this previously and I was wrong…Germany drubbed us 4 – 0 not 3 – 0. And Harry didn’t even run on!
“I have already digested the fact that Australia will be unceremoniously bumped out of the cup after a 3 – 0 drubbing at the hands of Germany and two lacklustre draws against Serbia and Ghana. But we can always ask ourselves ‘What if Harry had been there? What if his left testicle hadn’t exploded as he was running onto the field for the anthems before the Germany game?’.”
I am so freakin upset at the moment I am not sure I can contribute to this thread. The thing that spins me out is that all the pundits were saying… sure sure their attack is pretty lite-on but the ‘roos have a world class defence in place… wtf?? arrrgggghhhh. Man – I stayed up till 2am this morning, hauled my sorry arse into wan chai, ran the lady boys and the nigerian love mistresses, ate a freakin chilli dog, and for what – to sit next to Germans who shared a special moment at my expense…. freakin…. freaky freak!
Well, Stark Raving, I gotta say… when you’re right, you’re very very annoyingly right. Very annoyingly. Oh so freakin’ annoyingly.
And I simply don’t get Verbeek’s decision to keep Kewell on the bench. Sure, maybe he has something in that it would be largely pointless to trot Kewell out when you’re down a man, since you’d be risking injury when the conclusion was probably written in large, German letters by that point, but still. Not a single minute? What about before Cahill was sent off? Arrgh!
Okay, okay, calm, be calm…
So, Stark Raving, are your crystal balls still indicating a draw against Ghana and Serbia?
Murray @ Midnight
I understand Pim’s decision not to play Harry. In fact I think one of the only reasons Harry is in South Africa with the team is that there would have been a friggin riot if Pim had said “Sorry Harry you’re just not fit, maybe next time son”. Harry is good for maybe 20-30 mins per match and you just don’t need another attacking midfielder when you’re down to ten men and you have realized that your defense is very very old.
Sorry Saturday but the defense ARE very very old and slow. On the plus side glad you showed true Aussie spirit and meet some lady boys just to be a Socceroo fan…shows grit and more importantly you are a true patriot.
We were never going to win against Germany, they are no 4 or 5 in the world and Australia are 27ish, plus the football gods hate us. I know that Safran tried to remove the curse but alas it’s back.
The next two games are must wins for Australia, you can’t get to the 16 with a goal difference of -3, so a win and a draw just won’t cut it. Ghana beat Serbia, this wasn’t meant to happen so it works well for Australia
As for the game, Australia is down its best player (that’s Timmy not Harry) but the Socceroos have shown that they can actually play football (not against Germany but at other times). Ghana now think we are an easy beat team and probably won’t show us the respect that Germany showed during the game. So I am thinking Aust 1 (scored in the 88th minute) Ghana 0.
If Timmy only cops a one match ban he’ll be back and fired up for Serbia. So if Australia beat Ghana we’ll presume that Serbia will already be out of the cup (after going down 2-0 to the Germans) they’ll only be playing for pride which is nothing when a spot in the real finals is on the line.
Forgot to mention that we should also be madly supporting the ‘All Whites’. Just like Dragon, Crowded House and Russell Crow if they do well we can steal em. Most of them play in the A-League so it would be a pretty easy claim.
Oh if the football gods are listening – please remember what Italy did in 2006 – Please let our Trans-Tasmin cousins and closest neighbours humilate them in the biggest shock game of the world cup (ever) – we promise never to make sheep jokes again.
Did I mention that my predictions only count if Australia is not friggin robbed by shocking decisions from the refs.
OK – so Australia got a draw against Ghana and if they win by a reasonable margin against Serbia (which so far they’ve proven to be pretty ordinary in front of the net) aaaaannd Germany wins huge over Ghana… we might have a slight chance… but more to the point let’s celebrate our other team the ‘All-Whites’ with a draw against current World Cup holders Italy – go Australasia!!
… in a peverse kinda way, I think Australia should look at getting another red card in the final match so we can hold the record for red card consistency.
I have to say, Saturday, that you nailed it in the head that world soccer needs to take acting lessons from the Italians.
And does this mean that Kewell is out for the match against Serbia?
Kinda weird that Australia must be coming across in parts of the world as a trouble-making team, when I think the reality is that we’re up against teams that are better at the part of the game that has little to do with actually kicking a ball.
Murray @ Midnight
Back to the inital prediction for the Socceroos…and lacklustre draw with Serbia is the next result.
Now we have to wait and see if OUR ‘All Whites’ can upset the football world and do Australia (and New Zealand) proud.
Well, there you have it. Despite finally winning a World Cup game, Australia is heading home and Germany and Ghana go through.
It will be interesting to see how our Boys In White do, but I’m not holding my breath. They’re up against Paraguay next, who are clear leaders in the Group, while Italy is playing Slovakia, who are at the bottom of the table. Unless something very interesting happens, I’d be expecting Paraguay and Italy to be heading to the 16.
Murray @ Midnight
And you’d be expecting wrong then considering the pasta boys are on the next canelloni home.