Football world cup draw.

[bingoTE50]

The coach is defence orientated . How can you not start your best players up front.If Kewell and Kennedy are not fit send them home . The backs are too slow and IMO Emerton does not do enough at this level. Holman was good when he came on,he has some vision and a bit of time about him .I wish he would have kept some one like Tommy Oar in the team ,some one with real speed . We look like a one pace team .
The reason Craig Moore is not signed is that he is too slow now at this level ,in fact the A League probably not sign him.
And playing Cahill as a lone striker against six foot 3 and four backs does not make sense ,considering the header is one of his weapons . Lets cross for him ,that makes sense !!
Bring on Ghana with the mindset of actually scoring some goals ...please...

[zdcol71]

As a positive, all I can think of at the moment is that we have been handed a very concise lesson in football, and hope we can use that lesson to our good in the next 2 games.
Unfortunately, totally overwhelmed by one of the masters of the game.

[rodderz]

Australia's defense game was pathetic, Germany seemed to get past with too much ease and some players looked half hearted in their attempts. Felt sorry for Schwartzer, he had to be the final line of defense when those before him weren;t up to scratch.

Dunno why Kennedy wasn't put on, needed some height there. And Cahill's red card, shows why the game is so painfull to watch sometimes. Along with the dives. I follow the world cup, but not any other time of the year for those 2 reasons.... it ruins the game

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by zdcol71

As a positive, all I can think of at the moment is that we have been handed a very concise lesson in football, and hope we can use that lesson to our good in the next 2 games...

I thought that was suppused to happen after the NZ & US games.

[FTE217]

I am still gutted ! and listening to the press only confirms my thoughts the last years about a coach who has been so wrong for us.
Now I hate being an arm chair critic but as bingoTE50 mentions this coach has always shown to be defense orientated - was his outset just to make sure he/we qualified ?
He got us through asia with defense and a handfull of goals !
I hate laying entire blame on the coach but at this level of football the coach's game plans are the blueprint !
Regardless the age of some players they have all been hamstrung by his tactics - I have said watching many games we know how to pass back well but where is the go forward ?????!!!!!!!
1striker nearly every game - one dimentional - cross ball aim for Jesus !
Jesus can't do anything else anyway !
Oar - any other youngster ?? - oh no -.......
Yer I felt for Mark S - he deserved far better but to be honest I feel for them all - imagine how the whole camp feels !
Throw out any of Pims game plans - go for broke play your own game plan fellas within reason do yourself proud and show our aussie spirit is alive and well !

[Ralliart]

i didn't watch the game but imo i'm not surprised we get owned By Germany , they have been in world cup so many times , i watched both warm up matches before this match and i had gut feeling something like this was going to happen in both matches they were playing like girls, not like they were 4 years ago, we need a really good coach and hopefully we can get one.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1225879198534


Germany will go far in the world cup, they are only team that has stood out so far, Most of the matches have been draws or winning only by 1 goal, Can't wait tonights match

dutch vs Danes

[Archilino]

What a disaster! Serious questions must be raised, why did garcia start when he hasnt for a long time? why play cahil as a lone striker when he isnt one? Why didnt Kennedy start when our whole qualifying build-up he has? Why effectively play 9 defensive minded players and one striker? Why play a high defensive line to catch them off-side when we have the slowest back 4 in world football? Why wasnt McDonald in the squad?

It seems after our warm up matches he threw out years of planning and started again with a blank sheet of paper. The only positive is that we must play for 3 points against ghana, so kewell and kennedy must start. The coach must take the blame for this disaster, we havent been knocked out yet but we are down for the count..

[Archilino]

Socceroos fail to compete with Germany

Australia paid the price for conceding defeat to Germany before they'd even stepped on the pitch with their 4-0 horror show in Durban.



Germany 4-0 Australia: Report

Even though the upcoming Group D clashes with Ghana and Serbia were always going to be the deciding fixtures for Australia's hopes of reaching the second round, the Socceroos' World Cup prospects took a severe beating thanks to the humiliation dished out by the Germans on Sunday.

Pim Verbeek and his players will no doubt spend the coming days telling us that 1-0, 4-0 or 10-0, the size of the Germany loss is inconsequential and that Ghana and Serbia are the real targets and were all along. To an extent they are right: when the draw was announced it was clear Australia's most likely route to the second round would be via four or six points from the two weaker group opponents, with any result against the Germans considered a bonus.

But being prepared to accept a loss should it come is quite different to approaching a match as if the result is fait accompli. Now the Socceroos will be forced to rebound from their heaviest defeat in recent memory to regain the competitive edge they are usually renowned for.

Given the relative importance of the Ghana fixture over this one, the loss of talismanic midfielder Tim Cahill through suspension is even more costly than the unflattering scoreline. The decision of card-happy referee Julian Rodriguez Santiago to give Cahill a straight red for a challenge on Bastian Schweinsteiger, in which he lunged in from behind but appeared to pull out at the last minute, will have infuriated Verbeek.

Hindsight might tell captain Lucas Neill he overplayed the underdog tag by hailing Germany as a "superior team" in the build-up. It was the first sign Australia would be relying on complacency from their opposition, or hoping to dump excess pressure on the shoulders of Germany's second youngest World Cup squad rather than go out and have a genuine crack at the three-time winners.

Neill's observation proved true as Germany put on a clinical, fluid and dynamic showcase of penetrative attacking football to dismantle Australia's much-vaunted defensive structure. Four different scorers and a hatful of missed chances reflected the total domination enjoyed by Germany's attackers.

Such was Germany's performance, Australia would have been extremely lucky to get a result out of their opening fixture even at their best. Regardless, they gave themselves next to no chance of competing in the match with their negative philosophy and personnel selections.

In contrast to the 2006 World Cup, when Guus Hiddink tapped into the Australian 'have a go' psyche to instil this same group of players with the belief they could take on anyone and win, Verbeek has moulded his team into a dour defensive unit whose consistently disciplined performances eased them through their first qualifying campaign in the Asian confederation.



Australia were well beaten by Germany
Verbeek famously employed a 4-6-0 formation away to Japan to come home with a valuable point during qualification. With the surprise omission of both Harry Kewell and Josh Kennedy, Verbeek reprised his containment strategy in the hope of a similar result in the World Cup proper.

But toothless Japan and explosive Germany are different prospects. By sitting back in the hope of holding out and holding on, Australia gave Germany the freedom they needed to make their inevitable bursting runs in behind, with crafty cutbacks and clinical strikes.

Jason Culina was employed on the left of midfield in place of Mark Bresciano, who is defensively suspect, to thwart Philipp Lahm's influence and Richard Garcia was the surprise selection as a roving forward, bursting into the channels on the counter-attack. While the reunited right-side pairing of Luke Wilkshire and Brett Emerton held their own, Lahm and Thomas Muller dominated down Australia's weaker left side where the ever-slowing centre-back and full-back combination of Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield were exposed for pace time and again.

Cahill's best work is done when ghosting into dangerous positions while a genuine striker distracts the opposition defence. Without Kennedy or Kewell on the pitch, he was often left to lead the charge alone and his threat was reduced significantly as a result.

And when Germany took an early lead and Australia's Plan A was ruined, they appeared unable to flick the switch and turn their negative approach into a positive one. They failed to press higher up the pitch or lift the tempo of the match, and when it came to substitutions, Verbeek opted to bring on his young fringe players in an attempt to save his leading stars for the Ghana test.

As Monday's dawn arrives in Australia, their supporters will be wondering if this is the result to mark the twilight of this golden generation of players. Only the next two games will confirm or dispel that notion for sure.

But by sitting back and waiting to be beaten, the Socceroos made certain they wouldn't earn what would have been another landmark result for this team.

Just to confirm my suspicions.

[jimmyxr6t04]

If you're playing a defensive game, you need to play at least one striker and one quick attacking midfielder to take advantage of counter attacks.. The germans knew that the aussies were not going to be a threat on the counter with the team they had, and the aussies were never going to win a battle of posession! This ensured that the germans had a free run! They attacked at will, and had little concern of australia on the counter...

[MAGPIE]

Germany
Australia


Why is Moore even in the squad let alone starting he was rubbish at NUFC

No striker

Cahill Red Card

Formation

[Barra 290]

The signs were there during the qualification campaign that they were not convincing even with mediocre asian opposition and nothing had been done to address the issues, the defence were constantly hailing for cabs hoping for the offside rule but were caught out and exposed.Some new talent should have been blooded at the start of qualification and had a mixure of new and old,i wonder if the media especially all the commercial stations will all jump off the bandwagon if they fail to perform at this world cup just as quickly as they jumped on after 2006.

[ED Classic]

Garcia looked dangerous, If he learns to finish a bit better he will become a great asset for us

[gtxb67]

we are on the board - maaaaiiiiiison

[ubute]

Dunno if this has been posted, but here is an awesome calendar for all the games, including scores etc...

http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/...o-english.html

[MAGPIE]

New Zealand 1
Slovakia 1



Stunning effort to snatch a draw...

As they say "It ain't over till it's over"

[FTE217]

Yer good luck to the all whites ! even though the slovaks should have put the game away great result for the kiwis,nothing like getting out of jail that late in the game !
Been some interesting results - nth korea getting one in v's the brazillians and never letting up good on them.
Dutch Dane game was a fizzer
Port v's Ivory was disappointing - was hoping this would have been a great attacking game but they like cancelled each other out most of the game or more like muscled ronaldo out haha Deco is finished by the look of it.
Hows the chunks of pitch coming up at times ?
Well look forward to the Spain game tonight.
Overall regardless of our dire performance the Krauts have impressed the most imo and our fellas put on the worst performance - it can only get better hehe

[XR8putts]

NZ media been having a field day with this today..



Australasia 1 - Slovakia 1

WHAT?!! Don't you mean NEW ZEALAND?

If you're gonna play the continent card and compare goals, then it'd be Australasia 1 - Europe 5 (thanks to Aussies 4-0 loss )

[FTE217]

What a ridiculous headline in the herald above - am OS for this week so don't see any ozzie papers....joke.

Well how was last nights games !
Spain had enough chances to win 5games.
So many cross's just didn't get to the targets/or Torres just couldn't get into place.
How was Alonso's bullet from out the box hitting the cross bar,what a first time hit !
Great defense by the swiss hung in there like mad (take note socceroos) rewarded on a counter.
Afrikans got done as expected,3zip and keeper send off probably feel like we did.
Chile played on fire first half and should have put the game away by the break.
Good hussling by Hondouras but couldn't get control of the ball enough,Chile had them covered.

So one of the favourites has suffered a setback,be interesting to see how/if they can get out of trouble.
Cheez that ball keeps in the air longer.

[anto]

chile were really dissapointing,in fact all the south american teams are. They just dont have the flair they usually have.
I agree about the Germans, definately the most impressive side so far. I cant believe I just said that !!!
very dissapointing world cup so far

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by puts99

NZ media been having a field day with this today..



Australasia 1 - Slovakia 1

WHAT?!! Don't you mean NEW ZEALAND?

If you're gonna play the continent card and compare goals, then it'd be Australasia 1 - Europe 5 (thanks to Aussies 4-0 loss )

They need some sorta bandwagon to keep the papers selling...seems everyone has jumped of Australia's and pulled the knives out.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by vztrt

They need some sorta bandwagon to keep the papers selling...seems everyone has jumped of Australia's and pulled the knives out.

yer well its human I'm afraid - I'm guilty of it but I knew we were never going to beat germany its just how we got hammered hence the visious post mortems.
It shows how big this game really is....but the media are as usual pathetic parasites !

anto - to be honest I am enjoying it and its wide open to date which is good - chile were cutting them up 1st half and looking very good,first to the ball-faster but they didn't carry it on in the 2nd...which is not good in the end.

[MAGPIE]

Cheating frogs went down... Excellent !

[ST]

Yeah I don't think the world cup has been disappointing thus far, it's been surprising in many ways and that is a good thing in my mind. I guess you'd be pretty frustrated if you are tipping, pretty unpredictable right now. The only let down for me (and for everybody else here i'm guessing) is Australia's performance against Germany and the s'house coaching that went along with it.

Anybody else trying to collect those world cup glasses from maccas? I think i've had like 8 big mac meals in a fortnight and I feel like that guy out of supersize me. Not good. :(

[GTJOHN]

mate just go into a Maccas store and buy the glass fro $1.95 ...saves having to fill up on big macs

[BA GT-HO]

England held to a draw and booed off the pitch!

Germany beaten!

Eghhhhhhhhhhh just makes it harder for the Aussies..

[DJR David]

Nothing like pressure

come on boys a big win tonight, then beat the serbs 1-0, then through the next round where they are all failng then......... oh hold on.Just a win tonight will do for a starT!!

[TheInterceptor]

Their odds are better, after all, we did beat them 4 times out of 6 ;)

Should be a good game

[TheInterceptor]

And a ripper goal by Holman!!!

[DJR-351]

Is it just my tv or are them ******* bees even noisier here....

Go

[DJR-351]

Harry a red card, penalty, 1 all.....