joga bonito!
last night saw the most exciting match so far at the world cup in germany. its the aussies' second try at the finals with the first 32 years ago in 1974 and coincidentally was at germany too. their record stood at 0 win, 1 draw and 5 losses with 0 goals scored n 5 conceded! the japs are playing their third consecutive finals after making their debut at france'98. the last time round, being the co-host, they missed out on the quarters with a narrow 1 nil loss to turkey.
so it was the big tough aussies versus the swift n nifty japs. while the rest of the people there at the big courtyard were supporting the japs with shouts of "nippon!nippon!" occasionally heard, the handful of us were rooting for the aussies with ken sitting on the fence(risking his balls) coz he is half aussie n half jap.
the pace was frantic considering that they are playing in the 3pm afternoon heat. the aussies were playing with viduka up front alone with kewell n emerton supporting from midfield. the japs were doing their tried n tested counter attacking game. so that gave the aussies alot of the early proceedings, but luck was not on their side plus the jap keeper kawaguchi was holding the fort well making a few good saves. viduka was obviously well handled by the jap centre backs. so all the aussie direct balls were not making any in-road.
then against the run of play, the japs scored. a long high ball was crossed in from the right by the jap celtic midfielder nakamura. the aussie keeper, schwarzer came out for the ball but could be impeded by a jap player which the ref judged not. so schwarzer missed the high ball and it went straight in to the net for a goal.
the japs, good as they were with their counter attacking game, were let down by a non existence strike force. the aussies, on the other hand, were having one of those days when lady luck just wouldnt smile on them.
then came the master stroke from the wily dutch head coach of the aussie team, gus hiddink. mid way through the second half, he brought on the everton attacking midfielder tim cahil who was surprising left on the bench in the first place. and subsequently kennedy a tall forward and alosi another attacking midfielder joined in the fray. they had been instructed to push forward as much as possible to support the lonesome viduka.
the moves proved fruitful. with about 10mins left on the clock, the aussies equalised! a long throw from the left touch line, the jap keeper who had been quite steady so far, came flying out to grab the ball but completely missed it. the ball eventually fell to cahil who rammed it into the open goal. finally the aussies got their first ever goal at the world cup.
so i thought the game was gonna be a draw coz that was like a fair result then. but cahil thought otherwise. with the japs quite tired but then, they were barely able to handle the direct balls from the aussies especially after the introduction of cahil, kennedy and alosi. during one of those direct forays, the ball fell nicely to cahil about 25 yards out. he whacked the ball towards goal and the ball went in via the post despite the desperate dive of the jap keeper. suddenly the aussies were in the lead.
how fortune can change so suddenly? the japs were 10mins away from a win but they just fell to pieces under the determined probbing of the aussies plus of coz the brilliant tactical switches of their coach, hiddink. to make matter worse, alosi, the third sub scored another aussie goal in injury time with a strong run into the penalty area, brushing off a jap defender and side footed the ball home.
looks like the japs are not gonna make any headway in this world cup. not with their next 2 opponents croatia and brazil. the aussies meanwhile needs to overcome croatia. as for brazil, they are from another planet la.
ok its time to watch the brazilians do the samba dance! joga bonito!
so it was the big tough aussies versus the swift n nifty japs. while the rest of the people there at the big courtyard were supporting the japs with shouts of "nippon!nippon!" occasionally heard, the handful of us were rooting for the aussies with ken sitting on the fence(risking his balls) coz he is half aussie n half jap.
the pace was frantic considering that they are playing in the 3pm afternoon heat. the aussies were playing with viduka up front alone with kewell n emerton supporting from midfield. the japs were doing their tried n tested counter attacking game. so that gave the aussies alot of the early proceedings, but luck was not on their side plus the jap keeper kawaguchi was holding the fort well making a few good saves. viduka was obviously well handled by the jap centre backs. so all the aussie direct balls were not making any in-road.
then against the run of play, the japs scored. a long high ball was crossed in from the right by the jap celtic midfielder nakamura. the aussie keeper, schwarzer came out for the ball but could be impeded by a jap player which the ref judged not. so schwarzer missed the high ball and it went straight in to the net for a goal.
the japs, good as they were with their counter attacking game, were let down by a non existence strike force. the aussies, on the other hand, were having one of those days when lady luck just wouldnt smile on them.
then came the master stroke from the wily dutch head coach of the aussie team, gus hiddink. mid way through the second half, he brought on the everton attacking midfielder tim cahil who was surprising left on the bench in the first place. and subsequently kennedy a tall forward and alosi another attacking midfielder joined in the fray. they had been instructed to push forward as much as possible to support the lonesome viduka.
the moves proved fruitful. with about 10mins left on the clock, the aussies equalised! a long throw from the left touch line, the jap keeper who had been quite steady so far, came flying out to grab the ball but completely missed it. the ball eventually fell to cahil who rammed it into the open goal. finally the aussies got their first ever goal at the world cup.
so i thought the game was gonna be a draw coz that was like a fair result then. but cahil thought otherwise. with the japs quite tired but then, they were barely able to handle the direct balls from the aussies especially after the introduction of cahil, kennedy and alosi. during one of those direct forays, the ball fell nicely to cahil about 25 yards out. he whacked the ball towards goal and the ball went in via the post despite the desperate dive of the jap keeper. suddenly the aussies were in the lead.
how fortune can change so suddenly? the japs were 10mins away from a win but they just fell to pieces under the determined probbing of the aussies plus of coz the brilliant tactical switches of their coach, hiddink. to make matter worse, alosi, the third sub scored another aussie goal in injury time with a strong run into the penalty area, brushing off a jap defender and side footed the ball home.
looks like the japs are not gonna make any headway in this world cup. not with their next 2 opponents croatia and brazil. the aussies meanwhile needs to overcome croatia. as for brazil, they are from another planet la.
ok its time to watch the brazilians do the samba dance! joga bonito!
posted by misterBlack at 7:52 PM
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