Victory in Melbourne 

I must have been living under a rock since I first got interested in football and the World Cup back in 1986 because I never knew the Panini World Cup Sticker Album existing until this year.

You may think it’s a bit weird for 31 year old to be collecting stickers and it’s true that I do get some odd looks from those behind the counter of the various newsagents from which I purchase my packets of stickers. Not to mention that my girlfriend also thinks that I should find better things on which to waste my money. In light of this I asked my twitter followers if it was a little weird for a person of my age to be collecting Panini stickers. I got the following responses:

No, but it might be weird for a 31-year-old to be tweeting about collecting stickers

No. It just proves your passion for football. Which, obviously is a good thing.

I’m a 32y.o. doing the same

To be honest though I’m not the greatest of collectors as at most I will only purchase about ten packets a week and never have had the inclination to buy one of those blister packs. In fact it was only today that I completed my first swap (not being a big purchaser means I don’t have too many doubles). And to be brutally honest I don’t even think I will get round to completing the whole set.

One of the anomalies in the whole collecting of the Panini stickers is the prevalence or lack there of of certain stickers. In this article by Guardian writer John Crace he notes that:

Would Panini load the packs so some stickers appear more often, ensuring you fork out for more packets? Yes, says almost everyone who has ever collected them.

Chris Taylor, from Manchester, collects with five or six of his mates. “My album is now about two-thirds full and I’ve already ended up with a whole load of Lee Young-Pyos, Hameur Bouazzas and Vince Grellas,” he says.

“Definitely,” says Sarah. “Four years ago it was all Gary Nevilles and Marco Materazzis. This year I’ve got loads of Didier Drogbas and Wilson Palacios.” Meanwhile @benjilanyado tweets, “Panini seem to be flooding the packs with Javier Mascheranos and Blaise Nkufos”. In my collection, John Terry was an early front runner in the doubles stakes but then went awol; perhaps he’s hidden himself in the Panini Wag stickers.

Amongst collectors here in Australia there has been talk of a severe lack of Chilean players appearing in their packets of stickers and I myself am yet to get one myself which is a bit of shame as they are my second team for this World Cup behind Australia.

For those who are interested in swapping I have the following doubles available (list will be updated as I get more). Feel free to drop me a line if you are interested in doing a deal.

2, 23, 24(x2), 25, 92, 106, 155(x3), 161(x2), 163(x2), 171, 180, 185(x2),235, 250(x3), 251, 258, 279, 302, 343, 353, 388, 399, 440(x2), 452(x2), 502, 533, 589, 614, 617

updated: 26 June 2010 @ 11:45pm

Qualifying for a tournament is one thing, but actually performing in a tournament is a completely different thing. And that’s what we learned last night as the Socceroos crashed to a 4-0 defeat in Durban at the hands of Germany.

In a similar situation four years ago against an opponent of a similar stature to Germany (namely Brazil) the Socceroos probably played their best game of the tournament despite going down 2-0. The reason why we did so well is because we took the game to our opposition on the day and didn’t take a backward step.

Contrast that to the game against Germany earlier this morning where Pim Verbeek telegraphed his intention from the time he announced that the Socceroos would be starting their match without a recognised striker. He may have called it a 4-4-2 but in all reality it was a 4-6-0 with both Garcia and Cahill playing as advanced midfielders/strikers.

So without a ball being kicked we had already handed the advantage to our opposition. If you are playing the best team in the group shouldn’t you be playing your best team in response and the decision not to give either Kewell or Kennedy a run was truly mindboggling.

The decision to play Tim Cahill and Richard Garcia as ’strikers’ smacked of tactical naivety by Verbeek at worst and clutching at straws at best. Both players are ill-suited to the role and Verbeek should have known this from Cahill’s performance in that role against Japan during qualification. Why take your best player and play him out of position?

Two of our better performers were the returning Brett Emerton and the ever dependable Luke Wilkshire who both patrolled the right-hand side of the pitch. However, a lot of their efforts were wasted as when they got into good positions to get the ball into the box there were never enough bodies to really take advantage of their good work.

Credit has been and should be given to the Germans for their performance with Mesut Ozil being outstanding as he ran the show from the midfield. He appeared to have heaps of space in which to display his considerable talent despite the fact that the Socceroos were playing with five in their midfield.

So with that out of the way let’s hope Pim reverts to the formula that provided much success during qualification. There’s that old adage, if it broke . . .

Yesterday I posted up part of the fatwa Soccer is Forbidden Except When Played as Training for Jihad which was issued by Sheikh Abdallah Al-Najdi in 2003. After a bit of searching I found all fifteen prohibitions and here they are courtesy of Progressive Islam.

1. Don’t play soccer with four lines [surrounding the field], since this is the way of the non-believers, and the international soccer rules require drawing [these lines] before playing.

2. One should not use the terminology established by the non-believers and the polytheists, like: ‘foul,’ ‘penalty kick,’ ‘corner kick,’ ‘goal,’ and ‘out of bounds.’ Whoever pronounces these terms should be punished, reprimanded, kicked out of the game, and should even be told in public: ‘You have come to resemble the non-believers and the polytheists, and this has been forbidden.’

3. If one of you falls during the game and breaks his hand or his foot, or if the ball hits his hand, he shall not say ‘foul’ and shall not stop playing because of his injury. The one who caused his injury shall not receive a yellow or a red card, but rather the case shall be judged according to Muslim law in the case of a broken bone or an injury. The injured player shall exercise his rights according to the shari’a, as [is stated] in the Koran, and you must testify together with him that so-and-so tripped him up intentionally.

4. Do not set the number [of players] according to the number of players used by the non-believers, the Jews, the Christians, and especially the vile America. In other words, 11 players shall not play together. Make it a larger or a smaller number.

5. Play in your normal clothing, or in Dishdashas [traditional Arab long garb], or something like that, but not in colorful pants and numbered jerseys. Pants and jerseys are not appropriate clothing for Muslims. They are the clothing of the non-believers and of the West, and therefore you must be careful not to wear them.

6. Once you have fulfilled [these] conditions and rules, you must play the entire game with the intention of improving your physical fitness for the purpose of fighting Jihad for Allah’s sake and preparing for the time when jihad is needed. One should not waste time in celebrating a false victory.

7. Do not play for 45 minutes, as is the practice among the Jews, the Christians, and in all of the countries of non-belief and atheism. This is also the length of time that is accepted in the soccer clubs of those who have strayed from the righteous path. You must be different than the non-believers, depart from their path, and not imitate them in anything.

8. Do not play in two parts [i.e. halves], but rather in one part or in three parts, so as to be different than the sinful and rebellious, the non-believers and the polytheists.

9. If neither side has defeated the other and neither side has inserted the ball between the posts, do not waste further time [in an extension] or in ‘penalty kicks’ until someone has won, but rather leave [the field] immediately, since this kind of victory is precisely an imitation of the non-believers and [adoption] of the international soccer rules.

10. Do not appoint someone who follows the players around and is called ‘a referee’, since, after canceling the international rules such as ‘foul,’ ‘penalty kick,’ ‘corner kick’ and so on, there is no need for his presence. Moreover, his presence is an imitation of non-believers, Jews and Christians, and constitutes adoption of the international [soccer] rules.

11. In the course of the game it is forbidden for groups of youth to gather and watch, since if you are gathering for the sake of sports activity and physical fitness, as you claim, why should they be looking at you? You must make them participate [in order to improve] their physical fitness and prepare for jihad; or else say to them, ‘Go propagate Islam and seek out moral corruption in the marketplaces and in the press [in order to correct it], and leave us to improve our physical fitness.’

12. When you finish playing, be careful not to talk about the game, and not to say ‘we play better than the opponent,’ or ’so-and-so is a good player,’ etc. Moreover, you should speak about your body, its strength and its muscles, and about the fact that you are playing as [a means of] training to run, attack, and retreat in preparation for [waging] jihad for Allah’s sake.

13. If one of you inserts the ball between the posts and then starts to run so that his companions will run after him and hug him, like the players in America and France do, you should spit in his face, punish him, and reprimand him, for what do joy, hugging, and kissing have to do with sports?

14. You must take the three posts or iron rods which you use to construct [the goal], and into which the ball is kicked, and replace them with just two instead of three. In other words, take out the cross-post or rod… so that [the goal] will not be similar to what is customary among the non-believers, and in order to violate the despotic international soccer rules.

15. Do not do what is known as ’substitution’ — that is, putting in a player in place of a player who has been disqualified — since this the custom of the non-believers in America and elsewhere.

The fatwa forbidding football - except when played as training for Jihad - issued by Sheikh Abdallah Al-Najdi in 2003 lists fifteen prohibitions, including:

Don’t play football with four lines (surrounding the field), since this is the way of the non-believers.

One should not use the terminology established by the non-believers and the polytheists, like: ‘foul’, ‘penalty kick’, ‘corner kick’, ‘goal’ and ‘out of bounds’. Whoever pronounces these terms should be punished, reprimanded, kicked out of the game, and should even be told in public: ‘You have come to resemble the non-believers and the polytheists, and this has been forbidden’.

Do not set the number (of players) according to the number of players used by the non-believers, the Jews, the Christians, and especially the vile America. In other words, eleven players shall not play together. Make it a larger or a smaller number.

Do not play in two parts (i.e. halves), but rather in one part or in three parts, so as to be different than the  sinful and rebellious, the non-believers and the polytheists.

When you finish playing, be careful not to talk about the game, and not to say ‘we play better than the opponent’, or ’so-and-so is a good player’. Moreover, you should about your body, its strength and its muscles, and about the fact that you are playing as (a means of ) training to run, attack, and retreat in preparation for jihad for Allah’s sake.

If one of you inserts the ball between the posts and then starts to run so that his companions will run after him and hug him, like the players in America and France do, yo should spit in his face, punish him, and reprimand him, for what do joy, hugging, and kissing have to do with sports?

- Sukhdev Sandhu in Matt Weiland & Sean Wilsey’s The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup.

The announcement yesterday that Melbourne Victory would be taking on Boca Juniors in a one-off friendly on the 16 July provides with me a conundrum. What shirt shall I wear to the game featuring two of my favourite teams?

Whilst they will never truly compete with the affection that I hold for the Victory I do hold the team from Buenos Aires close to my heart. This affection comes about from a visit I took to the Argentinean capital four years ago. Arriving on the day of the superclasico, but unable to get a ticket I had to make do with watching the game at a cafe, a game in which Martin Palermo scored a late penalty. Seeing that I was unable to be at the stadium for the game I did the next best thing and did a stadium tour.

From then on I have followed the fortunes of Boca Juniors pretty closely, one particular highlight being their 2007 Copa Libertadores triumph. However, I have never had the opportunity to see them play live but this game in July changes all that. To say that I am pretty excited about the whole thing is somewhat of an understatement.

Maybe I’ll just take both shirts and swap at half time.

Football Federation Australia today released the fixture for the 2010/11 season and surprise, surprise Melbourne Victory play Sydney FC in the first round. This will be the fifth time in a row that Melbourne will have played Sydney and quite frankly I’m getting a little sick of the sight of them. I know that the powers that be always like to have the two teams who have played off for the title play the first game of the season but considering that we played each other four times in the space of six weeks at the end of last season surely warrants a change. I would have much preferred to see a Melbourne derby to start off the season. Other interesting points to note from the new fixture are:

• Melbourne’s first game at AAMI Park will be against Perth Glory, who coincidentally were the first team to play the Victory at Olympic Park in the first season;
• The first Melbourne derby takes place on October 2, 2010 with Melbourne Heart being the home team. I wonder how the seating arrangements will be for that one;
• Melbourne Victory don’t get a “weekend break” until Round 16, whilst both Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners get two in that time;
• The second Melbourne derby of the season unfortunately takes place on the weekend of my girlfriend’s birthday. Again it is a Melbourne Heart home game;
• Melbourne plays four midweek games against Wellington Phoenix, the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets with only one of them being an away game (Wellington);
• The third Melbourne derby will be played at Etihad Stadium. Are they forgetting that for the first two derbies Victory supporters will also be attending?
• Last game of the season is against Adelaide United at the Adelaide Oval. Pencil in three points for that one.

As part of my application to be part of The Guardian’s Fans’ Network for the World Cup I had two write two pieces and I thought it would be an opportune time to share them with you. The first piece was a short explanation in 150 words or less of why you would be the right person to be in the Guardian Fans’ Network. My response below took inspiration from Christiano Ronaldo’s efforts in that Castrol advertisement that always cracks me up.

Football takes me many places, hot places, cold places … But I prepare for it all. Those are the words of Cristiano Ronaldo in an advertisement for Castrol. Football also takes me many places but unlike Cristiano it is not through any sort of footballing ability. I have to make do with living vicariously through watching others play the game I love. And that means watching football in many places, from the comfort of large stadiums in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to the outer suburbs of Melbourne in the death of winter supporting my local team with only a scarf and jacket to keep me warm. There also have been ventures overseas to the rickety stadiums of Santiago and Buenos Aires that were only slightly less dangerous than some of the pubs I have to make do with when I couldn’t be at a game. Football takes me many places.

Here is that ad just for a laugh.

The second piece was a more analytical piece in 300 words or less on how you think your country will do in South Africa. This was slightly more difficult but this is what I had to say.

Whilst Australia qualified for the 2010 World Cup for the first time through Asia by only losing two out of fourteen matches and conceding only four goals it was hardly the stuff that inspired the Australian footballing public and has many worried going into this year’s tournament.

In a group alongside Germany, Ghana and Serbia, the Socceroos may find it very difficult to match the feats of 2006. Under the tutelage of Pim Verbeek, Australia has essentially played a 4-5-1 formation that is meant to be 4-3-3. It’s a style useful for suited for qualifying not so much for progressing through tournaments.

Of most concern is Verbeek’s rigidity to this formation and his inability to change it not matter the situation or opponent and could very well Australia’s undoing in South Africa. Tournaments are all about making that game changing decision and in Verbeek we don’t have someone with that quality.

Another reason for my pessimism is Socceroos’ over reliance on ‘keeper Mark Schwarzer and midfielder Tim Cahill. Throughout the qualifying campaign, Schwarzer was often Australia’s saviour and the fact he had so many clean sheets was mostly down to his own efforts rather than that of the defence in front of him.

With a number of Socceroos’ strikers finding it difficult to find the back of the net, it was the goals of Tim Cahill that played a huge part in Australia’s qualification. If he were to come under any injury cloud in the lead up to the tournament it would have many fans worried.

It is therefore my conclusion that Australia will find it difficult to progress past the group stages in South Africa and if they do I will be pleasantly surprised.

Even though Melbourne Victory are taking a well earned break it doesn’t mean Victory In Melbourne will be taken it easy. In fact, I will be pretty damn busy. As I alluded to earlier this week on both our Facebook and Twitter pages, Victory In Melbourne will be taking on a distinctly Socceroos theme as part of The Guardian’s Fan’s Network for the 2010 World Cup (more details to follow). On top of that, I will be following the fortunes of the teams of Group H for FourFourTwo Australia and you can read my first effort about Chile right here.

In his latest diatribe for the Herald Sun, Eddie McGuire whilst taking aim at every football team in Melbourne that don’t play AFL makes the comment in reference to the Melbourne Storm that:

Its one remaining premiership trophy can be put into a cabinet at its purpose-built stadium, referred to alternately as the “Rectangular stadium”, “the Bubble” or “AAMI stadium”, but more than likely “the White Elephant. This new stadium will exist for either no Melbourne Storm or one that is a shadow of its former self, one barely established soccer team and a rugby union and soccer team that haven’t played a game yet. Most would be flat-out filling a phone box far, much less this magnificent stadium.

I would like to point out to Mr McGuire that unlike the AFL’s showcase Docklands Stadium it won’t be sitting empty for half the season and more than likely will have a surface that will be the envy of every stadium in Australia. So who’s sitting on a white elephant now?

Oh and by the way, it’s called AAMI Park and enjoy the view from the shithole that is the Lexus Centre.

Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s last match of its ill-fated 2010 ACL campaign against Seongnam Ilhwa. All the action kickoffs at 8:00pm AEST and we will be keeping you up-to-date with all that happens on the pitch.

Note: This page does not automatically update so you are going have to keep hitting that refresh button like mad to keep abreast of what’s going on.

Whilst you are watching the game or following this minute by minute feel free to pass on your comments as the action unfolds, by either of two methods:

1) By emailing neiljzimmerman@gmail.com
2) Or tweeting Victory In Melbourne

A debut for Ferreira. Langerak (gk), Muscat (c), Broxham, Brebner, Pondeljak, Hernandez, Foschini, Ward, Leijer, Angulo and Ferreira.

For the Koreans. Sungryong (gk), Jaesung, Ognenovski, Byungkuk, Kwangjin, Fabricio, Sunghwan, Do, Chul, Jaechol, Hackyong

0 mins: And we’re off.

2 mins: Seongnam has its first opportunity of the night with Langerak smartly off his line to deny Jo Jaecheol. After his little twitter outburst his failed transfer to Borussia Dortmund I thought Langerak would have missed out of this one but looks like I was wrong.

6 mins: Robbie Slater seems to think Kevin Muscat will go around for another season. That’ll surely piss off a lot of opposition supporters. As for the game not much happening at the moment although Seongnam is looking the more dangerous at this early stage.

12 mins: Have got to say that the Victory blue ACL is rather impressive looking, a lot better than this effort.

17 mins: Langerak makes a great save to deny Hackykong from distance. Muscat follows up by giving away a free kick in a dangerous position. Fortunately for the Victory they manage to clear the ball. Seongnam dominating possession at the moment with Melbourne looking to hit on the counter and not having any sustained amount of pressure. Playing without a recognised striker probably means its going to be a night of limited chances for Melbourne.

20 mins: Do wastes a golden opportunity to score as Langerak is left stranded in no-mans land. This is quickly followed by an effort from Fabricio that also flashes wide. Melbourne looking vulnerable from some well taken crosses.

22 mins: We’ve gone two whole minutes without Robbie Slater pushing the case of Sasa Ognenovski for the national team. That’s an effort in itself.

26 mins: Langerak makes another save to deny Fabricio at his near post.. From the resulting corner Ognenovski hits the upright which surely have Slater going into raptures about the big Macedonian. Looks like Langerak is going to be in for another busy night.

28 mins: GOAL! Seongnam opens the scoring as Kwangjin ghosts in at the back post as the Melbourne defence is found guilt of ball watching. You could see that goal coming as the Victory failed to deal with constant pressure of Seongnam. Foschini, who I have rated as one of the bright lights to come out of this campaign is having a torrid evening as the Korean side look to mount all their attacks along his side of the pitch.

36 mins: Angulo has Melbourne first real chance to test the Sungryong in the Seongnam but in the end his indecision means it comes to nothing.

I have lost visual transmission at the moment and can’t actually see what is going on with all I have to work with is the sound of the commentary.

45+1 mins: At that’s half time. Melbourne looking like a team that would rather be at home curled up in front of the fire reading a good book rather than running around in the rain in Korea.

46 mins: GOAL! I walk away from the coverage for a couple of minutes and Dugandzic finds the back of the net to start off the second half. Melbourne’s first goal from open play for this campaign. Looks like both Pilkington and Dugandzic have come on at half time.

48 mins: Langerak makes another great save to deny Fabricio from a long range free kick. Despite that effort Melbourne is looking

51 mins: So close! Dugandzic wastes a golden opportunity to put Melbourne into the lead as he spurns a one on one chance with the Seongnam ‘keeper. Melbourne certainly looking a lot better since his introduction. With Dugandzic’s efforts in his brief time on the park so far would have many Melbourne Victory fans wondering why he wasn’t brought on against Beijing Guoan two weeks ago when we still had a slim chance of progressing.

61 mins: The game is starting to open up a lot more as the Victory look to attack more in this second half making for a much more enjoyable footballing spectacle despite the rain. Is this the opportunity for Melbourne’s first win away from home in the ACL?

64 mins: Evan Berger comes on for Marvin Angulo. Is this the last time we will see Angulo in Victory colours as his loan spell comes to an end in the very near future (that’s my way of saying I don’t when it ends at this very moment).

73 mins: GOAL! Do (that’s his name) makes Melbourne pay again for some poor marking in the penalty area. Do was put through by a lovely back heel by Fabricio after Ferreira gave the ball away cheaply close to goal. All Melbourne’s hard work comes to nothing.

78 mins: GOAL! Scores are level again as Pondeljak finishes nicely from just outside the area. I really should stop walking away from the coverage.

83 mins: GOAL! Jaecheol puts Seongnam back in front as he brilliant chips Langerak from just outside the area as he makes a well timed run onto a flick-on from his teammate. Again the Victory defence fails to react quickly enough to the threat. Does Melbourne have enough time to level it again?

87 mins: Football Superstar wastes a golden opportunity to level the scores as his free header at the back post fails to the find the target after Ferreira puts in a delightful cross. Is this a sign of the future for the Victory?

90+3 mins: There goes the final whistle and thus ends Melbourne’s 2010 campaign. Despite the loss it was probably Melbourne’s best performance of the campaign.