A speck of blue in a sea of orange
Sunday, 06 January 08, 04:36 PM
One should never allow an opposition supporter choose wear you sit at an away game. Last Saturday night was my second away trip to Brisbane to see the Victory take on the Queensland Roar at Suncorp Stadium. After days of rain, which I enjoyed on Stradbroke Island, Brisbane was at its balmy best for the match. I have a few friends up north who support the Roar and attend these away games with these people. Therefore I was always going to be sitting amongst opposition supporters. However, this time I was deep in enemy territory sitting in the Northern Stand barely fifty metres from "The Den". As I made my way to our seats I was subjected to many a good natured jibe from the Roar fans.
The first half was a fairly tense affair and a pretty ordinary performance from the Victory as the Roar basically camped in our half of the pitch. I thought it was going to be a long night as the team barely created any chances and were being dominated in the midfield. There was a lot of wasted possession and long balls that went to nobody. Luckily for us, Queensland failed to take advantage of their dominance and the score remained 0-0 at half time.
With the second half came a change of mood as twice I leapt to my feet scarf raised amongst the sea of orange as we went two goals to the good. On both occasions I was on the receiving end of some projectiles, namely empty beer cups and coke bottle or two. Luckily none were full and most missed their target and no harm was done. My girlfriend, Caroline, who also joined in the celebrations, didn't cop anything as she wasn't wearing Victory colours. For the next 25 minutes I sat nervously as the Roar went on the attack. The crowd of just over 21,000, a season high, roared into life as Marcinho pulled one back for the Roar and also had very good claims for a penalty as Muscat appeared to handled in the box. For once this season the luck and the call went out our way and the claims were waved away. The sea of orange was livid and vented their frustrations on referee, Matthew Breeze. For the second year running I managed to walk out of Suncorp Stadium with a smile on my face.
Our finals hopes are still alive, although barely as a win or probably even a point to Newcastle in either of the final two rounds will see the official end of our chances and those of fellow 2007 grand finalists, Adelaide. Standout players for me on the night were Theoklitos, Vargas, Thompson and Hernandez with honourable mentions going to Allsopp, Ryall and Muscat. Its good to see Allsopp gaining confidence in front of goal, although to be honest its a little late in the season. Hopefully it continues through to our ACL campaign. I would like to see Hernandez and Ward both start the next game to see how they work together and unfortunately for Caceres that probably means a spell on the bench.
Next is our final home game for the season, barring an unlikely finals appearance, against Wellington. Heres hoping our winning streak continues.
The first half was a fairly tense affair and a pretty ordinary performance from the Victory as the Roar basically camped in our half of the pitch. I thought it was going to be a long night as the team barely created any chances and were being dominated in the midfield. There was a lot of wasted possession and long balls that went to nobody. Luckily for us, Queensland failed to take advantage of their dominance and the score remained 0-0 at half time.
With the second half came a change of mood as twice I leapt to my feet scarf raised amongst the sea of orange as we went two goals to the good. On both occasions I was on the receiving end of some projectiles, namely empty beer cups and coke bottle or two. Luckily none were full and most missed their target and no harm was done. My girlfriend, Caroline, who also joined in the celebrations, didn't cop anything as she wasn't wearing Victory colours. For the next 25 minutes I sat nervously as the Roar went on the attack. The crowd of just over 21,000, a season high, roared into life as Marcinho pulled one back for the Roar and also had very good claims for a penalty as Muscat appeared to handled in the box. For once this season the luck and the call went out our way and the claims were waved away. The sea of orange was livid and vented their frustrations on referee, Matthew Breeze. For the second year running I managed to walk out of Suncorp Stadium with a smile on my face.
Our finals hopes are still alive, although barely as a win or probably even a point to Newcastle in either of the final two rounds will see the official end of our chances and those of fellow 2007 grand finalists, Adelaide. Standout players for me on the night were Theoklitos, Vargas, Thompson and Hernandez with honourable mentions going to Allsopp, Ryall and Muscat. Its good to see Allsopp gaining confidence in front of goal, although to be honest its a little late in the season. Hopefully it continues through to our ACL campaign. I would like to see Hernandez and Ward both start the next game to see how they work together and unfortunately for Caceres that probably means a spell on the bench.
Next is our final home game for the season, barring an unlikely finals appearance, against Wellington. Heres hoping our winning streak continues.
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Three get Socceroos call-up
Tuesday, 01 January 08, 11:27 PM
Today, new Socceroos head coach Pim Verbeek picked 22 players from the A-League for a training camp to be held in Sydney next week. While not a final squad for the Qatar match, it makes for interesting reading. Three Victory players got the call up, being Muscat, Thompson and Vargas who has been rewarded for his consistency over his two seasons in the league. Disappointment must have been felt by Michael Theoklitos, who along with Covic have been the outstanding keepers of the season in the A-League.
To be honest I am a little surprised at some of the selections, with names such as Corica, Durante, Coyne, Talay, Matt Thompson and Pondeljak springing to mind. It is also worth noting that Graham Arnold has also called up fifteen players from the Olyroos squad for a camp as well. Players such as Milligan, Djite, Vukovic and Musalik in that squad would also be under consideration for the full squad. It would also provide them with excellent preparation for the Olympics. The absence of Craig Moore from the squad raises a few questions, as one would expect a player of his experience to be an automatic selection. This is reported to be the first of two camps before our first qualifying match. It will be something of interest to see if the squad changes between camps as Verbeek sees them first hand and takes in more A-League matches.
It is also interesting to read that Verbeek thinks that an all A-League squad for the Socceroos may not be up to the task of beating Qatar on February 6 and will most likely call up European-based Australians for the game. It is good to seek Verbeek not taking the Qataris lightly and demanding improvement in the local competition.
Squad: John Aloisi (Central Coast Mariners), Clint Bolton (Sydney FC), Alex Brosque (Sydney FC), Simon Colosimo (Perth Glory), Steve Corica (Sydney FC), Ante Covic (Newcastle Jets), Jamie Coyne (Perth Glory), Travis Dodd (Adelaide United), Andrew Durante (Newcastle Jets), Adam Griffiths (Newcastle Jets), Joel Griffiths (Newcastle Jets), John Hutchinson (Central Coast Mariners), Matt McKay (Queensland Roar), Kevin Muscat (Melbourne Victory), Jade North (Newcastle Jets), Lucas Pantelis (Adelaide United), Tom Pondeljak (Central Coast Mariners), Ufuk Talay (Sydney FC), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Matt Thompson (Newcastle Jets), Rodrigo Vargas (Melbourne Victory), Alex Wilkinson (Central Coast Mariners)
To be honest I am a little surprised at some of the selections, with names such as Corica, Durante, Coyne, Talay, Matt Thompson and Pondeljak springing to mind. It is also worth noting that Graham Arnold has also called up fifteen players from the Olyroos squad for a camp as well. Players such as Milligan, Djite, Vukovic and Musalik in that squad would also be under consideration for the full squad. It would also provide them with excellent preparation for the Olympics. The absence of Craig Moore from the squad raises a few questions, as one would expect a player of his experience to be an automatic selection. This is reported to be the first of two camps before our first qualifying match. It will be something of interest to see if the squad changes between camps as Verbeek sees them first hand and takes in more A-League matches.
It is also interesting to read that Verbeek thinks that an all A-League squad for the Socceroos may not be up to the task of beating Qatar on February 6 and will most likely call up European-based Australians for the game. It is good to seek Verbeek not taking the Qataris lightly and demanding improvement in the local competition.
Squad: John Aloisi (Central Coast Mariners), Clint Bolton (Sydney FC), Alex Brosque (Sydney FC), Simon Colosimo (Perth Glory), Steve Corica (Sydney FC), Ante Covic (Newcastle Jets), Jamie Coyne (Perth Glory), Travis Dodd (Adelaide United), Andrew Durante (Newcastle Jets), Adam Griffiths (Newcastle Jets), Joel Griffiths (Newcastle Jets), John Hutchinson (Central Coast Mariners), Matt McKay (Queensland Roar), Kevin Muscat (Melbourne Victory), Jade North (Newcastle Jets), Lucas Pantelis (Adelaide United), Tom Pondeljak (Central Coast Mariners), Ufuk Talay (Sydney FC), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Matt Thompson (Newcastle Jets), Rodrigo Vargas (Melbourne Victory), Alex Wilkinson (Central Coast Mariners)
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Victory makes for easy listening
Monday, 31 December 07, 08:07 PM
Being not able to get myself in front of a TV due to New Year's Eve commitments I had to resort to listening to old friends, Zappers and Trimmers on SEN for my Victory versus Mariners football coverage. Listening to the game makes any objective comments about the game quite difficult as the boys from SEN aren't what you would call impartial.
From what I heard it sounded like we finally put in a performance that is worth talking about and the 5-2 scoreline surely points to that. The result certainly put me in a good mood for the remainder of the night about until we had to try find a way home from the CBD. Nick Ward made his full debut for the squad and by all accounts his hard running in the midfield had a significant impact. Good performances were also put in by regular performers, Thompson and Theoklitos.
The win has huge ramifications within the A-League and mathematically we are still are chance to make the finals. The proviso on this is that we have to win our last three games and hope results go our way in the other matches. Maybe I was a little premature with my performing of the last rites on our season. Our win would have certainly pleased the guys (one Roar Fan and two SydneyFC fans) with whom I watched Sunday night's Perth Glory/Queensland Roar match as it put the Roar on top of the ladder for the start of the new year and gives Sydney still hope of taking out the minor premiership. Wellington's win over the Jets also keeps them in with a chance of finals. The new year will make for an interesting one in terms of the final weeks of the A-League season.
Speaking of the next three weeks, they will be extremely hectic for myself as I will be taking in all three remaining Victory games live, including two away trips, one to Brisbane and the other to Sydney. Slotted in between them will be our last home game against Wellington Phoenix. I am looking forward to the away trips, in particular the Sydney one as I have never done this trip and it will be my first time in the "away" end. So northern states, you have been warned, Victory In Melbourne is heading your way looking for some wins and a finals charge. Optimism may be returning, the next three weeks will tell.
From what I heard it sounded like we finally put in a performance that is worth talking about and the 5-2 scoreline surely points to that. The result certainly put me in a good mood for the remainder of the night about until we had to try find a way home from the CBD. Nick Ward made his full debut for the squad and by all accounts his hard running in the midfield had a significant impact. Good performances were also put in by regular performers, Thompson and Theoklitos.
The win has huge ramifications within the A-League and mathematically we are still are chance to make the finals. The proviso on this is that we have to win our last three games and hope results go our way in the other matches. Maybe I was a little premature with my performing of the last rites on our season. Our win would have certainly pleased the guys (one Roar Fan and two SydneyFC fans) with whom I watched Sunday night's Perth Glory/Queensland Roar match as it put the Roar on top of the ladder for the start of the new year and gives Sydney still hope of taking out the minor premiership. Wellington's win over the Jets also keeps them in with a chance of finals. The new year will make for an interesting one in terms of the final weeks of the A-League season.
Speaking of the next three weeks, they will be extremely hectic for myself as I will be taking in all three remaining Victory games live, including two away trips, one to Brisbane and the other to Sydney. Slotted in between them will be our last home game against Wellington Phoenix. I am looking forward to the away trips, in particular the Sydney one as I have never done this trip and it will be my first time in the "away" end. So northern states, you have been warned, Victory In Melbourne is heading your way looking for some wins and a finals charge. Optimism may be returning, the next three weeks will tell.
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You write fiction
Saturday, 29 December 07, 11:08 PM
That's the quote attributed to Joseph Blatter that appears on the back of Foul! by Andrew Jennings (Harper Collins, 2007), probably one of the most controversial books about football every written. Jennings exposes a culture of endemic corruption that runs throughout all facets of the largest sporting body in the world, FIFA. He is particularly scathing on his main targets, Sepp Blatter and Jack Warner. Other continental federations also rate a mention and Asia's very own Mohamed Bin Hammam cops a spray.
Both Hamish and The Football Tragic have posted excellent reviews on this book, which are probably much better than anything I can hope to write and I would be repeating much of what they have to say. I have probably the benefit of reading a slightly later edition which now includes the Jack Warner ticketing scandal of the 2006 World Cup and the VISA/Mastercard sponsorship farce that preceded that event. For those that have read the slightly early edition, it is certainly worth having a look at these couple of new chapters.
I highly recommend this book for all lovers of our beautiful game as it is a well written expose by one of the best investigative journalists going around. The first chapter is one of the most enthralling pieces of writing that I have come across. My only criticism of the book is that Jennings tends to repeat facts and stories in various parts of the book which tends to be a tad annoying at times.
If you want to keep up to date, with Andrew Jennings ongoing investigations into FIFA in both print and on film, check out Transparency In Sport.
Both Hamish and The Football Tragic have posted excellent reviews on this book, which are probably much better than anything I can hope to write and I would be repeating much of what they have to say. I have probably the benefit of reading a slightly later edition which now includes the Jack Warner ticketing scandal of the 2006 World Cup and the VISA/Mastercard sponsorship farce that preceded that event. For those that have read the slightly early edition, it is certainly worth having a look at these couple of new chapters.
I highly recommend this book for all lovers of our beautiful game as it is a well written expose by one of the best investigative journalists going around. The first chapter is one of the most enthralling pieces of writing that I have come across. My only criticism of the book is that Jennings tends to repeat facts and stories in various parts of the book which tends to be a tad annoying at times.
If you want to keep up to date, with Andrew Jennings ongoing investigations into FIFA in both print and on film, check out Transparency In Sport.
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Shameless plug
Sunday, 23 December 07, 04:22 AM
Back in my not too distant past I used to volunteer at an Op-Shop. One day whilst working in the shop a distinguished lady told that I had a good voice for radio. Now you can be the judge of that as I was kindly asked by Eamonn of Football In The Capital to make a guest appearance for his Christmas special on his Nearpost Radio Show. The show is going to air on Christmas Day at 6:30pm on 2XX 98.3fm. For all those outside the Canberra area, the show will be available shortly after the show as a podcast at Football In the Capital. Not only do you get hear my dulcet tones, but also the people behind Football Down Under & Beyond, The Football Tragic, MVFC Blog and The Round Ball Analyst. Hopefully it makes for interesting listening.
I will now take this opportunity to wish all my readers (there's about five or six of you out there) and my fellow football bloggers a safe and festive season. May all your football teams do well in the coming year unless of course they are playing Melbourne Victory.
I will now take this opportunity to wish all my readers (there's about five or six of you out there) and my fellow football bloggers a safe and festive season. May all your football teams do well in the coming year unless of course they are playing Melbourne Victory.
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On A 21st Century Portrait