Victory in Melbourne 

The roar that erupted in the Charles Dickens Tavern when Mark Schwarzer made his penalty save was as loud as any I have heard within its walls. I wanted to yell out: “That one’s for Tibet!” but I kept my mouth shut. I did say to the two guys in front of me on the noise generated: “Its like we’ve scored.” Their response: “Its even better than that!” And I think that most people in the extremely crowded pub agreed. A pub so crowded that my late arriving girlfriend almost didn’t make it inside. Many people obviously finishing their working day early, as I had done, to take in the game.

I would have to agree with The Football Tragic that we were pretty luck to get away with a point in Kumming. It was clear early on that the Chinese had set out to frustrate a clearly undermanned Australian outfit by packing their defensive half. This seemed an odd tactic considering that the Socceroos were clearly lacking an out an out striker, particularly after the injury to Thompson and probably showed the lack of confidence within the Chinese team in front of their home crowd.

I think Verbeek got his tactics right on the night (or day as it was) with our lack of firepower that was available for the game. As said above it was helped that the Chinese played into his hands. The combination of Grella and Valeri as two holding midfielders was excellent and provided perfect foils for each other. Tactially, it was almost Capello-esque. For this combination to work in other situations a more creative midfielder is required rather than having Cullina in there as well. Myself along with the masses that were crammed into the bar, let out a groan as they realised that possibly Thompson would probably miss upcoming ACL games and that his replacement would be Brett Holman. I have never really been a big fan of Holman. Too often he appears to run around like a chicken sans head. Although at times he did appear to reverting to old habits he did his thankless job well, although not quite as well as a lot of pundits would make out.

A lot of credit for the point must also go to our defence with both North and Neill putting in outstanding performances ably assisted by Beauchamp after a slow start. Their only mistake was the failure to cover the long ball that resulted in the referee pointing to the spot. North looked really comfortable in the team and if the rumours are true he will be soon heading overseas in order to gain more game time in order to maintain his position within the squad. Newcastle’s loss, but the Socceroos gain. Of concern would be the lack of width provided by both Carney and Wilkshire on their respective sides of the park.

A comment must be made about the poor performance put in by the referee, only moments after Holman received a soft yellow card for a minor shirt tug, Sun Ji Hai puts in a studs up, ankle destroying type tackle on Wilkshire and walks away without even a yellow card. It should have been a straight red and it had the patrons incensed. Although they were appeased somewhat when Valeri put in a strong tackle only moments before full time. There was also a number of dodgy calls that appeared to go against the Australians - but they always seem to do for the away team

With Qatar pulling off a surprising 2-0 victory over Asian Champions, Iraq, the Socceroos are now in a good position to progress to the next stage of the qualification process. The two games against the Iraqis, both home and away will more than likely decide who will be advancing from the group. June will also provide a feast of international football with the last four games of this qualification stage occurring in a torrid three weeks. It also provides a great opportunity for all European-based members of our squad to play regularly together in high quality games as it will be their off-season.

A more comprehensive analysis of the game can also be found here, here and here.

The end has almost come on what I said earlier would be a big week of football and I have finally got round to write and muse about it.

The footballing week started off with a visit to the Telstra Dome to see Australia vs Qatar. As everyone knows the result went out our way and we all went awat very happy except maybe for the contingent of Qatari fans that were in attendance. There has much analysis from my fellow bloggers, so I will only add a small analysis of my own. The first half was great with the home team playing free-flowing, attacking football and were duly rewarded with three goals. Second half wasn’t as great as the first and it was something to be expected as the jet lag kicked in for our overseas players. Standout players for me for the Socceroos in no particular order were McDonald, Emerton, Wilkshire, Carney and Moore. Was disappointed to see Thompson not get a run. I think his pace and trickery would have been useful against a tiring Qatari team in the second half, although maybe that is my Melbourne bias showing.

I was a little disappointed with the crowd, not the numbers, but the atmosphere. There was little or no atmosphere and I could barely hear the Green and Gold Army from my position on the third level. Maybe it was to do with the fact that the lure of an international game brought out a lot of non-footballing people. If Melbourne is to host more qualifying games we need to create a more intimidating atmosphere for opposition teams. We have the numbers but not the noise and atmosphere - something that is quite prevalent at Victory games. Anyway I went home happy and that’s the main thing. Sad to here after the game that Craig Moore had retired from the international arena but now is a good a time as any and we thank him for his efforts for the national team.

In other news, it was disappointing to hear that Adrian Caceres would be leaving the Victory after our ACL campaign and heading north to Gosford to join the Central Coast Mariners. Obviously, he believes he is not getting the game time that he deserves under Merrick and its time to move on. It will be also disappointing for my girlfriend’s dad, with whom I watch most home games, who won’t get to see a player that reminded him of himself in his playing days back in Chile. On the plus side we have gained the services of Billy Celeski, who returns to his home town after a stint with Perth Glory. It will be interesting to see how he will fit into the squad. Now that Caceres is leaving will that mean more game time for players such as Berger and Patafta (that’s if he stays after the loan period), let’s hope so.

Finally, my indoor soccer team, Max Power made its debut during the week and we lost 14-2 in a grading match. The less said about the game is probably best although we were complimented on our team name and shirts. I did score one of our two goals and it was a bit of a golazo if I do say so myself.

This week promises to be a big week of football. You may think that taking in the spectacle of Australia vs Qatar on Wednesday night at the Telstra Dome would be enough to make it a big week of football. But no, there is another big football event this week. My new indoor mixed football team, “Max Power” will be making its debut on Thursday night in some grading matches all kitted out in our Barcelona “knock off” away shirts (the blue ones). In fact that night I will be playing three matches as an outdoor five-a-side team I play with will be also playing that night.

In truth this Wednesday night’s match for the Socceroos vs Qatar is definitely the big football story of the week. Everyone is waiting with baited breath to see how the team will perform in their first match under new coach, Pim Verbeek. With concerns raised after their 1-1 draw with a Melbourne team that was missing a lot of its stars, will the gamble to rely on our overseas-based players pay off, even though most will only be here 48 hours before the game. This will be the first World Cup qualifying match I have attended and am looking forward to it immensely. With the likelihood that roof will be closed due to forecast rain here’s hoping that the atmosphere and noise generated by a crowd close to 50,000 will both inspire the home team and intimidate the visitors.

Let’s hope that this week there is victories for both the Socceroos and “Max Power”.

Whilst Kevin Muscat, Rodrigo Vargas and Archie Thompson all are in camp hoping for an international call-up against Qatar next Wednesday night, Melbourne Victory’s very own Carlos Hernandez is already on international duty with Costa Rica. Los Ticos took on a coachless Iran in an empty Azadi Stadium (a stadium I would very much like to visit) and by all accounts the match was a rather drab affair finishing 0-0. For match reports click here and here. It is good to hear that Hernandez’s choice of playing in Australia hasn’t harmed his chances of international selection. Game time in this match and in an upcoming match against Jamaica will keep him match-fit for our upcoming ACL campaign.

It is also interesting to note that fellow AFC heavyweights, Iran, are only to gain the services of their new coach, Javier Clemente, days before their first World Cup qualifier against Syria. Certainly interesting times for Team Melli.

Image “borrowed” from the Tehran Times.