Australian Olympic Team - Official Thread [Rs]

[Caesar]

Squad:

1. Brad Jones - GK (Middlesbrough, England)
2. Jade North - DEF (Perth Glory, Australia)
3. Shane Cansdell-Sheriff - DEF (Aarhus, Denmark)
4. Craig Moore (c) - DEF (Rangers, Scotland)
5. Jon McKain - DEF (National Bucuresti, Romania)
6. Adrian Madaschi - DEF (Partick Thistle, Scotland)
7. Ahmad Elrich - MID (Busan, South Korea)
8. Luke Wilkshire - MID (Bristol City, England)
9. John Aloisi - FWD (Osasuna, Spain)
10. Tim Cahill - MID (Millwall, England)
11. Alex Brosque - FWD (Feyenoord, Netherlands - on loan to Westerlo, Belgium)
12. David Tarka - DEF (Nottingham Forest, England)
13. Carl Valeri - MID (Inter Milan, Italy)
14. Brett Holman - FWD (Feyenoord, Netherlands - on loan to Excelsior, Netherlands)
15. Anthony Danze - MID (Perth Glory, Australia)
16. Spase Dilevski - MID (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands - on loan to Rot-Weiss Essen, Germany)
17. Ryan Griffiths - MID (Newcastle United, Australia)
18. Eugen Galekovic - GK (South Melbourne, Australia)

Tournament Schedule:

11 August - First Round (Tunisia, Heraklio)
14 August - First Round (Serbia and Montenegro, Heraklio)
17 August - First Round (Argentina, Athens)
21 August - Quarter Finals
24 August - Semi Finals
28 August – Final

Recent Friendly Results (since qualifying):

30/3/04 Greece 0-0
28/4/04 Tunisia 0-1
25/5/04 Japan 1-0
30/7/04 Korea 1-3

Not an ideal preparation, but the loss to Tunisia was unlucky after dominating all match, and we had some good chances against Korea (although we were clearly outplayed). A tough group means the Olyroos will have to step up their performance if they're going to make the next round - particularly with respect to converting chances, which proved a big problem against Tunisia.

We have a good team though, and we've got a good chance of doing well. At any rate, I expect some good results from the boys.

[ihatesporting]

I think we r gonna surprise people...
Moore, Cahill and Aloisi should do really well.
Brosque and Elrich are on the up.
Holman is a champ (used 2 play squash with me at school!). He has great ability. Hope he does well.

[ERIMUS]

Im rooting for the aussies in the football........no great britain team and the fact Brad Jones is playing and he's a goalkeeper for my team so :)

[MoRado]

Does anybody know the final score on the Costa Rica - Australia friendly game?????

[Caesar]

Does anybody know the final score on the Costa Rica - Australia friendly game?????I'm sorry, I forgot to post it over the weekend.

6/8/2004 Costa Rica (2-1)

Goals to Luke Wilkshire and Ahmad Elrich. A good match, apparently the boys were by far the dominant team and Costa Rica's goal came off one of very few chances. Farina made four substitutions after our second goal, and the Olyroos continued to dominate for the rest of the match - a good sign for our depth.

Attn: Moderators - would one of you be able to do me a big favour and put an [R] in the thread title?

[ERIMUS]

Australia have announced the team for tomorrow's game....

Eugene GALEKOVIC; Jade NORTH, Shane CANSDELL, Craig MOORE, Adrian MADASCHI; Ahmad ELRICH, Luke WILKSHIRE, Tim CAHILL, Carl VALERI; John ALOISI, Alex BROSQUE.

[Caesar]

Australia-Tunisia:

1-1 in a game of two completely different halves. Australia was all over Tunisia in the first 45, richly deserving Aloisi's goal just before the break and unlucky not to be further up. A very strong defence marshalled by Craig Moore.

In the second half, however, they collapsed and were lucky not to lose the game. If we'd played consistently and kept the pressure on in the second half it would have been a comfortable win, but we were completely outplayed.

Disappointing not to come away with a win, but a draw still gives us a very good chance of going through on goal difference.

For a more detailed analysis, see here. (http://www.australiansoccer.com.au/public/article/show.asp?articleid=7834&menuItemID=)

[Caesar]

Australia-Serbia & Montenegro:

Lineup:
Eugene Galekovic (gk), Jade North, Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, Craig Moore, Adrian Madaschi, Ahmad Elrich, Luke Wilkshire, John Aloisi, Brett Holman, Tim Cahill, Anthony Danze, Alex Brosque, Ryan Griffiths, Jon McKain, David Tarka, Carl Valeri, Spase Dilevski, Brad Jones (gk)

5-1. A solid result with some good performances all over. Galekovic made a great penalty save at 1-0 and after that it was all Australia. The only goal to S&M came from a Galekovic error in the second half - a rare lapse in what was otherwise an excellent match for him.

Plenty of goals is a good sign as finishing has been one of the most concerning things for this team of late, although some slackness in this area later on made for some weak shots and easy saves. Probably half a dozen good chances were squandered in this way - something which will simply not be a luxury the Olyroos can afford in the crucial match against Argentina. We may still pay dearly for them if things come down to goal difference.

Another excellent performance from Ahmad Elrich, surely a player to watch in the future. He bagged 2 goals, along with one to Cahill and two to Aloisi.

Tunisia must beat S&M, but a draw with Argentina will be good enough to see Australia through to the quarter-finals regardless. They lead Tunisia by 6 on goal difference going into the final round of the group stages, but this is certainly not a decisive margin considering the final matchups.

For more info see here. (http://www.australiansoccer.com.au/public/article/show.asp?articleid=7840&menuItemID=)

Next match:
Australia v. Argentina
Wed 18 August, 3:30am AEST

[ERIMUS]

Question......why hasnt Brad Jones been number one goalkeeper?

[Caesar]

Question......why hasnt Brad Jones been number one goalkeeper?
Both guys are excellent, they played pretty much an even number of matches each leading up to the tournament and there really wasn't much to seperate them in terms of form or ability. The spot was extremely hotly contested, and it was generally recognised that whoever was selected for the final preparation game against Costa Rica would start against Tunisia.

Galekovic got the nod from Farina, had a good match, and has played well ever since - hasn't given much reason to replace him. Although he made a costly mistake last night, his performance was otherwise pretty much flawless. I can't see him being dropped for the Argentina game.

[ERIMUS]

Who does he play for? (club level)

[Andy TAUS]

Who does he play for? (club level)Boro,

Why don't you scroll up to the first post in this thread ???

:rolleyes:

[Caesar]

Who does he play for? (club level)
He played for South Melbourne last year in the Australian National Soccer League, and was one of, if not the outstanding 'keeper in the competition.

Just before the Olympic tournament he signed for Beira Mar for this coming season, who play in Portugal's top tier.

[ERIMUS]

Boro,

Why don't you scroll up to the first post in this thread ???

:rolleyes:

Its not the right club now :p

[Andy TAUS]

Its not the right club now :pIt is until he actually plays for his new club, just like Tim Cahill & Everton. :p

[Caesar]

Quarter-Finals:

21/04/08
QF1 - Winner Group A v. Runner-Up Group B
QF2 - Winner Group D v. Runner-Up Group C
QF3 - Winner Group C v. Runner-Up Group D
QF4 - Winner Group B v. Runner-Up Group A

Semi-Finals:

24/08/04
SF1 - QF1 Winner v. QF3 Winner
SF2 - QF2 Winner v. QF4 Winner

Finals:

27/08/04
Bronze Medal Match: SF1 Loser v. SF2 Loser

28/08/04
Gold Medal Match: SF1 Winner v. SF2 Winner

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

At present the first half of the draw looks like being easier, as it seems that Portugal will not top their group, and possibly Italy may not either - putting them in the same side as the Group C winner.

This means the most beneficial result for Australia is probably a draw with Argentina on Wednesday, which will guarantee progression to the top half. The Group C Runners-Up will likely meet Iraq in the Quarters, while the winners will probably end up playing Portugal.

In the semi-final, the winner of the Iraq match will likely meet either Korea, Mali, Ghana or (possibly) Italy.

[Caesar]

Australia-Argentina:

A solid result for the Olyroos against a team that's looked unstoppable all tournament. Argentina brought their best team to the match, and the 1-0 loss is a credit to the boys as to how well they contained them.

The first half was undeniably dominated by Argentina, who had the lion's share of posession mostly in Australia's half. The first 10 minutes had Australia completely on the back foot, culminating in D'Alessandro's goal. However, the team rallied well and after Jade North's expedition upfield in the 17th minute Australia began to penetrate Argentina's defence more frequently, with a couple of scoring chances ensuring Argentina didn't completly dictate play.

The second half saw a great performance by the boys, who controlled a lot more of the posession and dictated play to a greater extent. More time was spent in Argentina's half putting pressure on, and there were numerous chances to Aloisi, Cahill, Moore and Holman. In particular, Australia looked very dangerous from set pieces. Outstanding players were Moore, who was an absolute rock in defence, and Holman who, subbed on late, looked very dangerous around the penalty area and had a couple of Australia's biggest chances of the match.

All in all, a very good match that is a credit to this team's ability. Probably the first team so far to really trouble the Argies, and force them to change the way they played the game. Again, it was shown that we need to convert chances on goal - plenty went begging when it was quite concievable that we could have managed a draw.

A major blow is suspensions for the QF to Moore, Cahill and Elrich. Moore has been the heart of the team with his captaincy, and has turned the back line into a formidible force. Elrich has been one of the outstanding players for this team, bagging a brace of goals in the tournament, and along with Cahill's suspension leaves the midfield noticably weakened. Holman's performance last night leaves hope he can step up and assist Aloisi - the tournament's equal leading goalscorer - in striking duties, but it will be a severely depleted defence that lines up for the next match.

For more detail, see here. (http://www.australiansoccer.com.au/public/article/show.asp?articleid=7849&menuItemID=)

Australia looks likely to face Iraq in the quarter-finals, as a draw with Morocco will be enough to guarantee progression at the top of their group.

21/08/2004 QF2: Winner Group D v. Australia - 1am EST

[Hanjin]

Australia put up a good fight though watched the first half on sbs had a few good chances do you know if craig moore and tim cahil are out for the next match?

[Caesar]

Australia put up a good fight though watched the first half on sbs had a few good chances do you know if craig moore and tim cahil are out for the next match?
Yes. Moore, Cahill and Elrich are all suspended for one match for recieving their second cautions of the tournament.

[Caesar]

It has been confirmed that Australia's QF opponent will be Iraq.

Quarter-Finals:

QF1: Mali vs. Italy
QF2: Iraq vs. Australia
QF3: Argentina vs. Costa Rica
QF4: Paraguay vs. Korea

Semi-Finals:

SF1: Winner Mali-Italy vs. Winner Argentina-Costa Rica
SF2: Winner Iraq-Australia vs. Winner Paraguay-Korea