With Aust meeting Japan so often since the 2006WC, it now feels like a "local derby". Good to go into this game with such a good 2011 tournament record and last game under our belt as well as carrying a very good past record against Japan. Japan would have to be a little fatigued with their hard game against S Korea and they are also a couple of players down due to injury. Be interesting to see if Holger starts Brett Ego-ton on the bench or if he'll be re-iinstated. Looking forward to it.
I'm rooting for australia (as you can clearly see). I would like to know, do you guys have a footy forum outside of BigSoccer? I would like to lurk around and see what you guys have to say. Persians have persianfootball.com, what about you guys?
I hope the referee doesn't determine the outcome of this game. Asian refs (particularly from the Arab nations) have a prejudice against us. Good on the Socceroos. The team looks tight like the 06 Campaign. Good to see everyone getting on again. Japan will be a tough and good opponent. Number 1 and 2 teams in Asia. A great result. Carn Astraya!!!
I don't think the refs necessarilly have a prejudice against us. I think it is more that Asian referees (especially West Asian/ Gulf referees)are far less tolerant of the physical (European style) side of the game, and of course that hurts Australia's Euro style. FWIW I think the referees are getting better in this aspect and consiquently IMO there has been less grassrolling than I expected at this tournament and also some other Asian teams are starting to get more physical in their play - Bahrain and Iraq both handled our physicallity quite well compared to past Asian teams. Korea and Japan were already heading in that direction and have perhaps been helped by Australia joining AFC. Iran and Uzbekistan were already "physical" teams within Asia, but are now probably moreso as well (maybe not so much the Uzbeks by their last effort). The Gulf nations are starting to catch on as well. In the end - appart from the first game v India where I think it was just to avoid an embarrasing result - I haven't really seen anything that could be called bias against us. Incompetance yes (ie AR on near touch line in Semi) but not bias.
I declare the battle of the logos over. Our star-studded orange peel is no match for their nervous three-legged crow.
Just curious, why is it red black and yellow when the teams colours are blue, white and a tad of red?
Dunno, on wiki the logo seems to have white instead of yellow, which would make a bit more sense. Primarily blue kit seems to be a fairly recent decision while the logo is probably much older.
Shall I introduce you all to this site: Old Football Shirts specifically the Japanese page: Blue seems to have been the staple for a while now. http://www.oldfootballshirts.com/en/teams/j/japan/old-japan-football-shirts-t902.html
WE HAVE TO WIN!!!!! For our golden generation, to give them something to show for their years of loyal service and sacrifice in the name of the green and gold. Think about it, if we win, we will win a piece of international silverware, while it has been years, since the English won anything
I have not said anything about Pekerman....in a while, all I said was that I want our boys to win, that is all I have ever wanted, is for the Socceroos to win, and show the world what we are made of. If we win the Asian cup, I will stop call for Osieck's head......for now. Plus all of the media has said that we are FINALLY playing like Australians, which makes me really happy. My one concern and criticism right now is that I do not believe that there has been enough youth development and then transitioning them into the nationals squad, that I would like to see more of.
The time for that is after the Asian Cup. There was a lot of pressure of the 'Roos and Holger to win this thing, hence Holger went with the best and most experienced squad possible. I agree that we need to be focusing on the youth development and I would like to see guys like Kilkenny, Kruse, Burns and Oar getting a run every now and then... But I also agree with Holger putting forward the strongest team possible especially in the knock-out stages. Hopefully we will see some more youth after the Cup.
0-0 at halftime and looking comfortable is a good result against a more talented and creative opponent. We are dominating on the wings, and shutting down Honda et al. in the centre. They're being forced to play long speculative balls which we're scooping up in the CBs and using to counterattack. A couple of hairy moments but all in all pretty decent. Good to see Cahill and Kewell getting down and dirty defending and winning the ball back in the middle of the park. It's doing a lot to keep the pressure off the backs. If we play this well in the second half we have a good chance of snagging a goal on the counter, or at the very least forcing penalties. Got to keep it tight though, a lapse in concentration and it's all over.
Very frustrating. I thought we played relatively well, usually we allow Japan to dominate us more in midfield, but today we were able to stifle their passing game, and not look too horrendous on the counter. Our attacking football was very ugly, but pretty effective. I thought we were clearly ahead in terms of creating chances, but obviously not taking them. I have never, ever been a fan of Carney at LB. His positioning and marking are atrocious, and he was squarely at fault for the goal. A well taken strike, but at this level, a fullback simply cannot be wandering around the box and leaving his man in metres of space. He reacts to a crossed ball in the box and marking his man as a striker might. Instinctively moves towards the ball and loses his man. Annoying as all hell. Oh well, at least we got to the finals. Would have been damn fine to win that trophy though. Any thoughts on the Ref Caesar? First yellow on Valeri aside, I thought he had a good game. A rare event for us
I've already vented my disappointment in the other match-day topic. Nevertheless, it's just too hard to deal with this defeat. I feel like we just lost our best chance to ever win the Asian Cup, regardless of the fact we're going to host the tournament in 2015.
Attn: Nathan Coe, Adam Federici, Brad Jones, Dean Bouzanis, Matthew Spiranovic, Shane Lowry, Luke DeVere, Nikita Rukavytsya, Nathan Burns, Tommy Oar, Dario Vidosic, Adam Sarota: your time starts now fellas.
The only way to go forward from here is to qualify for the World cup in stunning fashion, and to win the Asian Cup four years from now in front of a sold out home crowd.