< Australia v Italy... >
Half-time thoughts…
Ok… if I’m being honest here… Italy has the slight edge over Australia right now. It’s a really strange game… so far it doesn’t look like any of the matches Australia have previously played in. Australia just look… different. Maybe it’s the absence of Harry (poor HARRY!!!), but somehow… somehow… Australia reminded me of Liverpool. I don’t know… Australia just looks like a slightly inferior version of Liverpool. The play seems built around its solid defence, while the midfield onwards keeps trying to find a way to break the Italian defence but to no avail.
I think Australia has the far more superior possession right now. In fact I think I heard something like 73% possession for them in the 1st 10 minutes? But they’re hardly creating any chances… that’s why I said it was like Liverpool, but on a really bad day.
The Aussies can pat themselves on the back for the 3 solid defenders they have and for the great goalkeeping by Schwarzer so far though. But then again though, Luca Toni really came too close for comfort.
I know Italians revolve their game around their solid defending, but it’s still too weird to see a supposedly superior side playing counter-attacking football you know? To their credit though, they do it really well. Came a lot closer to scoring than the Aussies. The Aussies play with only 3 defenders so it can be quite hard to cope with Gilardino and Luca Toni at times, but so far, they’ve done it, or else Schwarzer saved the day. I still end up sucking my breath everytime Italy go so close though.
I don’t know how the heck can Australia break Italy’s defence! So far, the best way of scoring appears to be from set-pieces. Viduka and Chipperfield already came close from Bresciano’s freekicks. Or else, they need someone to produce something special… and the only man I can think of who’s capable of doing that is, from what I heard, on crutches (I was horrified when I heard that Harry came into the stadium on crutches). I’m sure Hiddink will bring on Aloisi at some point though, he’s the closest they have to a supersub now.
Full-time thoughts:
Alright. I’m crying.
How can I not?
I remember saying earlier… if Australia go out… I’d be disappointed because they wouldn’t deserve it… and yeah, it’s exactly the way I feel right now. Except… it’s not ‘disappointed’.. rather… it’s heartbroken, devastated, really I just.. I just don’t know how to describe the way I feel right now.
I’ve never lost this way before. This is like, a whole new experience for me. I’ve only been on the other side, you know, the side that gets that something special at the end, Not this side. With Liverpool… no… never have I suffered a defeat like this. Now it seems as though I’m on the West Ham end in that FA Cup Final. Except, I don’t know why… this feels… more important you know? Yeah, I guess I still love Liverpool, but… it’s like even if we had lost that FA Cup final, I know we’ll still have many cup finals in the next few seasons. But with Australia… sigh… some people have waited 32 years for this, and an eternity to see them get any sort of progress. I’m lucky in that sense, jumping onto the bandwagon when the chance presented itself. But… I just feel so.. so… I don’t know. There’s a sense of emptiness inside of me when I think that this is like… goodbye you know? At least, for the next 4 years.
4 years…
That’s a long time…
But that’s the minimal length of time before I see my beloved Socceroos again.
I feel sort of bitter saying this, but I finally know how it feels to be a West Ham fan that day, except it’s gotta be much much worse.
That sense of bitterness knowing you were just this close to getting through is just overwhelming. And to add on to that, there’s this feeling of sadness similar to saying goodbye to a close one who’ll be gone for a long time.
4 years can be a long time, but I guess 32 years is longer. Now all I can hope for is that in 4 years’ time, I can see this bunch of “friends” again. Perhaps, some things would have change… but I hope the Socceroos can take the wonderful experience with them, and always have that same kind of passion, belief and unity as we’ve seen this World Cup. Loved their spirit, and even though I think the neutral will forget about them when this World Cup’s over, I know they’ll still hold this place in my heart… they’ve really inspired me in a big way.
Ok. I’ll try and calm down now. On to the game…
Was that a penalty actually?
I’m really bad at seeing this kind of things, so I don’t know exactly whether it should have been. The fellow tumbled over Lucas Neill, who obviously couldn’t do a thing about preventing the guy from tumbling over him once he was down there. Does that mean it’s a penalty? But then again… just like how probably the guy couldn’t help tumbling over him… he would have tumbled over him even if he could help it right? Sigh. I feel bitter just saying this.
Italy…
Unlike many others, I never really hated the Italians. Yeah, the fact that I thought they had some of the sexiest players help, though now I’m just in no mood to think about that. And I indeed did think the Italians looked (as in, played) better than even the Brazilians. Did they deserve to go through though? Perhaps… If I were an Italian fan, I’d have said yes… They did create some scary moments, despite having a man down and defending most of the time, they did quite a darn good job of it, and still manage to scare the hell out of me in the final minutes… till yeah, that happened. I could have died there and then. Holding on to King Roo’s hand, I was praying fervently, but just had this bad feeling.
Tough luck that it should happen.. THEN. If it happened earlier, I could have taken it better than then.
But I just wonder, why is it so unfair that some teams just don’t run out on luck? And it isn’t as if Australia have been riding on their luck. Their comebacks have been their own making, rather than luck you know.
Was there anything Australia could have done better? I don’t know, maybe they needed a better finisher up front and passer in midfield. But it’s not like they can buy a striker or get Xabi you know? So… considering all factors, yeah, I’m sure they have already done their best. They really put in their best effort, that I have no doubt at all.
It’s kinda strange, but do you know I’ve ended up actually liking Lucas Neill? To be frank, I’ve never seen him do all the nasty stuff before, but I’ve heard of his reputation… especially with our players’, red cards and broken legs. For him to concede that penalty at the end, I guess it gives me more reason to hate him, but I don’t. I actually felt really really sorry for him when the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot.
Lucas Neill has been really good this tournament. Hell yeah, he’s even better than John Terry from what I’ve seen. And although he still goes in for the tackle, I don’t recall him getting a single card at all.
Even though it seems Australia have conceded a couple of goals, I somehow admire their defence a lot. Their defenders are perhaps the most unknown of the lot, but despite playing with a back 3 most of the time, they do cope well with it.
Another player I’m feeling sorry for is Harry.
Sigh. Once again, he brought a team to a game where he couldn’t play. In fact, it seems like the MORE he does prior to the crucial match, the more he suffers during that match itself. For example, his brilliance against Chelsea resulted in him getting injured halfway during the final. And this time, he took Australia to the knockout rounds with his goal, only to be ruled out of the match completely. And yeah, without a medal at the end too. I had hoped Australia would go through and give him another chance to play at this stage, but it was not meant to be.
Picking a team to support during this World Cup was originally meant to be some sort of a diversion from Liverpool for me. I never really meant for it to get so serious at the start you know? But somehow… the Aussies just made me fall deeper and deeper… in love with them. I had meant for it to be like when I was “supporting” England before I even really knew football. Just… supporting for the fun of it. I didn’t really think Aussies would go far, it was more like a joke kinda thing… and once the Aussies get knocked out, I’d instantly just pick another team to “support”. Feel kinda bad saying that now, but things have really changed since then. Right now as I’m thinking which team I should support from here on, I just realize things can never be the same as it would be with the Socceroos.
Really I struggle just to name a team that can have a character that remotely resembles that of Australia. Maybe I’d support Spain or Italy because they have better lookers in the team, or maybe it can be Germany because they haven’t put me off yet. But in any case, it just wouldn’t feel even close to what I feel for the Socceroos now.
WHYYYY!!!!! This is even harder than if I have to name a favourite Liverpool player after Harry!!!!! Nothing just comes close!!!
I really love you Socceroos… really… and I feel terrible not knowing when will I ever see you guys together again!
Sigh. But since this was meant to be some sort of “diversion” thing, I guess I should have known sooner or later this “fling” would be over, and it’ll be back to my real lover, Liverpool. But… it really meant more to me than just a fling, hopefully you guys know that.
I think not even Liverpool can measure up to the kind of never-say-die attitude they had. I’ve seen a fair amount of Liverpool performances where I felt the need to whine and moan about, but I hardly have anything bad to say about the Aussies. Not because they played better, mind you, but because I knew they were always playing the best they can. The Liverpool spirit is quite similar to the Aussie spirit, but not quite. Liverpool was always easily summed up by YNWA, but for the Aussies… it’s a combination of passion, belief and unity.
I think Liverpool can learn this from Australia. Some people have been moaning too much about us not signing good enough players, at least compared to Chelsea, but I think Australia have showed us that if you have the right attitude, it can mean a lot more than just having big names.
Oh yeah… I saw a Liverpool banner at the stadium… Anyone else saw that?
Time for bed.., 2am now… Think I’ve cried enough, but I really can’t bear to see Totti’s penalty again… even though I don’t dislike them, I still can’t bear seeing the happy Italian faces knowing how shit other Aussie fans and players feel like me.
And my beloved Socceroos? I really do love you guys… and whatever I’ve said earlier still holds true. You guys are winners, and can be proud of yourselves.
Ok… if I’m being honest here… Italy has the slight edge over Australia right now. It’s a really strange game… so far it doesn’t look like any of the matches Australia have previously played in. Australia just look… different. Maybe it’s the absence of Harry (poor HARRY!!!), but somehow… somehow… Australia reminded me of Liverpool. I don’t know… Australia just looks like a slightly inferior version of Liverpool. The play seems built around its solid defence, while the midfield onwards keeps trying to find a way to break the Italian defence but to no avail.
I think Australia has the far more superior possession right now. In fact I think I heard something like 73% possession for them in the 1st 10 minutes? But they’re hardly creating any chances… that’s why I said it was like Liverpool, but on a really bad day.
The Aussies can pat themselves on the back for the 3 solid defenders they have and for the great goalkeeping by Schwarzer so far though. But then again though, Luca Toni really came too close for comfort.
I know Italians revolve their game around their solid defending, but it’s still too weird to see a supposedly superior side playing counter-attacking football you know? To their credit though, they do it really well. Came a lot closer to scoring than the Aussies. The Aussies play with only 3 defenders so it can be quite hard to cope with Gilardino and Luca Toni at times, but so far, they’ve done it, or else Schwarzer saved the day. I still end up sucking my breath everytime Italy go so close though.
I don’t know how the heck can Australia break Italy’s defence! So far, the best way of scoring appears to be from set-pieces. Viduka and Chipperfield already came close from Bresciano’s freekicks. Or else, they need someone to produce something special… and the only man I can think of who’s capable of doing that is, from what I heard, on crutches (I was horrified when I heard that Harry came into the stadium on crutches). I’m sure Hiddink will bring on Aloisi at some point though, he’s the closest they have to a supersub now.
Full-time thoughts:
Alright. I’m crying.
How can I not?
I remember saying earlier… if Australia go out… I’d be disappointed because they wouldn’t deserve it… and yeah, it’s exactly the way I feel right now. Except… it’s not ‘disappointed’.. rather… it’s heartbroken, devastated, really I just.. I just don’t know how to describe the way I feel right now.
I’ve never lost this way before. This is like, a whole new experience for me. I’ve only been on the other side, you know, the side that gets that something special at the end, Not this side. With Liverpool… no… never have I suffered a defeat like this. Now it seems as though I’m on the West Ham end in that FA Cup Final. Except, I don’t know why… this feels… more important you know? Yeah, I guess I still love Liverpool, but… it’s like even if we had lost that FA Cup final, I know we’ll still have many cup finals in the next few seasons. But with Australia… sigh… some people have waited 32 years for this, and an eternity to see them get any sort of progress. I’m lucky in that sense, jumping onto the bandwagon when the chance presented itself. But… I just feel so.. so… I don’t know. There’s a sense of emptiness inside of me when I think that this is like… goodbye you know? At least, for the next 4 years.
4 years…
That’s a long time…
But that’s the minimal length of time before I see my beloved Socceroos again.
I feel sort of bitter saying this, but I finally know how it feels to be a West Ham fan that day, except it’s gotta be much much worse.
That sense of bitterness knowing you were just this close to getting through is just overwhelming. And to add on to that, there’s this feeling of sadness similar to saying goodbye to a close one who’ll be gone for a long time.
4 years can be a long time, but I guess 32 years is longer. Now all I can hope for is that in 4 years’ time, I can see this bunch of “friends” again. Perhaps, some things would have change… but I hope the Socceroos can take the wonderful experience with them, and always have that same kind of passion, belief and unity as we’ve seen this World Cup. Loved their spirit, and even though I think the neutral will forget about them when this World Cup’s over, I know they’ll still hold this place in my heart… they’ve really inspired me in a big way.
Ok. I’ll try and calm down now. On to the game…
Was that a penalty actually?
I’m really bad at seeing this kind of things, so I don’t know exactly whether it should have been. The fellow tumbled over Lucas Neill, who obviously couldn’t do a thing about preventing the guy from tumbling over him once he was down there. Does that mean it’s a penalty? But then again… just like how probably the guy couldn’t help tumbling over him… he would have tumbled over him even if he could help it right? Sigh. I feel bitter just saying this.
Italy…
Unlike many others, I never really hated the Italians. Yeah, the fact that I thought they had some of the sexiest players help, though now I’m just in no mood to think about that. And I indeed did think the Italians looked (as in, played) better than even the Brazilians. Did they deserve to go through though? Perhaps… If I were an Italian fan, I’d have said yes… They did create some scary moments, despite having a man down and defending most of the time, they did quite a darn good job of it, and still manage to scare the hell out of me in the final minutes… till yeah, that happened. I could have died there and then. Holding on to King Roo’s hand, I was praying fervently, but just had this bad feeling.
Tough luck that it should happen.. THEN. If it happened earlier, I could have taken it better than then.
But I just wonder, why is it so unfair that some teams just don’t run out on luck? And it isn’t as if Australia have been riding on their luck. Their comebacks have been their own making, rather than luck you know.
Was there anything Australia could have done better? I don’t know, maybe they needed a better finisher up front and passer in midfield. But it’s not like they can buy a striker or get Xabi you know? So… considering all factors, yeah, I’m sure they have already done their best. They really put in their best effort, that I have no doubt at all.
It’s kinda strange, but do you know I’ve ended up actually liking Lucas Neill? To be frank, I’ve never seen him do all the nasty stuff before, but I’ve heard of his reputation… especially with our players’, red cards and broken legs. For him to concede that penalty at the end, I guess it gives me more reason to hate him, but I don’t. I actually felt really really sorry for him when the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot.
Lucas Neill has been really good this tournament. Hell yeah, he’s even better than John Terry from what I’ve seen. And although he still goes in for the tackle, I don’t recall him getting a single card at all.
Even though it seems Australia have conceded a couple of goals, I somehow admire their defence a lot. Their defenders are perhaps the most unknown of the lot, but despite playing with a back 3 most of the time, they do cope well with it.
Another player I’m feeling sorry for is Harry.
Sigh. Once again, he brought a team to a game where he couldn’t play. In fact, it seems like the MORE he does prior to the crucial match, the more he suffers during that match itself. For example, his brilliance against Chelsea resulted in him getting injured halfway during the final. And this time, he took Australia to the knockout rounds with his goal, only to be ruled out of the match completely. And yeah, without a medal at the end too. I had hoped Australia would go through and give him another chance to play at this stage, but it was not meant to be.
Picking a team to support during this World Cup was originally meant to be some sort of a diversion from Liverpool for me. I never really meant for it to get so serious at the start you know? But somehow… the Aussies just made me fall deeper and deeper… in love with them. I had meant for it to be like when I was “supporting” England before I even really knew football. Just… supporting for the fun of it. I didn’t really think Aussies would go far, it was more like a joke kinda thing… and once the Aussies get knocked out, I’d instantly just pick another team to “support”. Feel kinda bad saying that now, but things have really changed since then. Right now as I’m thinking which team I should support from here on, I just realize things can never be the same as it would be with the Socceroos.
Really I struggle just to name a team that can have a character that remotely resembles that of Australia. Maybe I’d support Spain or Italy because they have better lookers in the team, or maybe it can be Germany because they haven’t put me off yet. But in any case, it just wouldn’t feel even close to what I feel for the Socceroos now.
WHYYYY!!!!! This is even harder than if I have to name a favourite Liverpool player after Harry!!!!! Nothing just comes close!!!
I really love you Socceroos… really… and I feel terrible not knowing when will I ever see you guys together again!
Sigh. But since this was meant to be some sort of “diversion” thing, I guess I should have known sooner or later this “fling” would be over, and it’ll be back to my real lover, Liverpool. But… it really meant more to me than just a fling, hopefully you guys know that.
I think not even Liverpool can measure up to the kind of never-say-die attitude they had. I’ve seen a fair amount of Liverpool performances where I felt the need to whine and moan about, but I hardly have anything bad to say about the Aussies. Not because they played better, mind you, but because I knew they were always playing the best they can. The Liverpool spirit is quite similar to the Aussie spirit, but not quite. Liverpool was always easily summed up by YNWA, but for the Aussies… it’s a combination of passion, belief and unity.
I think Liverpool can learn this from Australia. Some people have been moaning too much about us not signing good enough players, at least compared to Chelsea, but I think Australia have showed us that if you have the right attitude, it can mean a lot more than just having big names.
Oh yeah… I saw a Liverpool banner at the stadium… Anyone else saw that?
Time for bed.., 2am now… Think I’ve cried enough, but I really can’t bear to see Totti’s penalty again… even though I don’t dislike them, I still can’t bear seeing the happy Italian faces knowing how shit other Aussie fans and players feel like me.
And my beloved Socceroos? I really do love you guys… and whatever I’ve said earlier still holds true. You guys are winners, and can be proud of yourselves.
posted by lala at 7:17 AM
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