Rob's Sports, Fitness & Science Blog

Australian striker Harry Kewell lost his cool and had words to say with the central referee after the Socceroos game the other night. He was obviously upset and disappointed with the seemingly one-sided free kick count against Australia and his lack of finishing with the chances he had. But the way he showed his disappointment was not a good example to the thousands of young soccer fans that were watching, and FIFA understandably take a hard line against such actions. Fortunately for Australia’s chances he was cleared to play in the next match, an important one for Australia looking to make it through to the second round. But it would be good if he could still make amends for it. Maybe with a some good sportsmanship and a winning performance in the next game we will forgive him.

Related Pages: Soccer, Football World Cup, Australia at the WC, Harry Kewell profile

Last night the Socceroos took on arguably the best football team in the world, the Brazilians. Like most Aussies, I woke up in the middle of the night to watch the game. Australia lost 2-0, but again showed that they deserve to be on the world stage, and with a win or draw next week against Croatia they can make it to the next round. Such a feat would have been unthinkable a few years ago, but not surprising considering Australia’s rich sporting history. Against Brazil they matched them in most areas around the field and must have had them worried when the score was still 0-0 at half time. The Brazil team is not dominating the tournament as expected, and at this stage don’t look like going all the way.

Related Pages: Soccer, Football World Cup, Brazil at the WC, Australia at the WC

Australia are back on the world Football stage, winning their first ever match in the World Cup. The game started at 11pm Melbourne time, which was not too late, made easier by a mid-afternoon power nap in preparation. The game was played at Kaiserslauternin Stadium in 30 degree heat, and despite Australia’s dominance for much of the game looked like it was going to fall Japan’s way. Japan were awarded a lucky goal in the first half when one of Japan’s strikers blocked the Australia goalkeeper Schwarzer and should have been penalised. The score remained at 1-0 until less than 10 minutes to go in the match, at a time when most viewers would had given up on the Socceroos, as I had. I was thinking that a draw would be our best chance, and considering the situation that would not be too bad a result. Finally the Australians’ pressure up front paid off, with Tim Cahill slotting one through to draw level with Japan at the 84th minute. A short time later he put Australia ahead with his second goal, a well placed kick into the corner of the net. To make it Australia’s day, in the final minutes John Aloisi scored a third goal for Australia after some agressive foreward play to make it 3-1. It was a fantastic comeback. It was the first win for Australia in a World Cup game, actually the first time they had ever scored a goal at the World Cup. After that performance, I don’t think it will be our last. If luck goes our way, we may even be able to upset the Brazilians, our next match.

Related Pages: soccer, Football World Cup, Tim Cahill profile, Australia at the WC, Japan at the WC

Australia played a match against the Netherlands last night – a warm up game for each team before the tournament starts next week. I stayed up to watch it (starting at 10.30pm). It was a tightly marked game, and Australia did not seem as comfortable as they have appeared in their last couple of internationals – and rightly so as the Dutch team are ranked third in the world. Australia went one down in the first half, and tiredness caught up with me and I did not stay up for the second half. I woke expecting to hear of a 3-0 loss, but was pleasantly surprised to hear it ended up 1-1, with Australia playing one short for most of the second half. It is a good result leading up the the World Cup games – they have shown they deserve their place in the finals. Hopefully I can adjust my internal clock and be able to stay up and watch the games when they are on. Win or lose, I think most Australian just want to be a part of it and show the world we are good enough to be there.

Related Pages: soccer, Football World Cup, Holland at the WC, Australia at the WC

Last night the Australian Soccer team, the Socceroos, took on the Greek national team in a friendly. It is unbelievable the hype that surrounded this game – I can’t imagine how it can get much bigger for the World Cup games next month. It is not surprising the interest in this game – the promoters found the right opponents for Australia in Greece as Melbourne has one of the highest populations of Greeks outside of Greece itself. I couldn’t get tickets to the match as I was a bit slow – they all sold out in a couple of hours, and had to watch on TV. Australia played quality football, beating Greece 1-0 – indicating that they deserve to be at the World Cup. The game was played at the home of Cricket and AFL – the MCG. These other sporting codes must be concerned about the interest in soccer/football. After the World Cup undoubtedly more and more people will be playing and watching the game, which has to impact of the figures of the other codes. I am happy watching any sport played at an elite level, though I am particularly happy to watch Australia playing and winning.

Related Pages: soccer, Football World Cup, Australia at the WC