We are all proud of you boys! You took on the world and your heart, passion, and tenacity won us all over, and no small part of the world as well. People had no choice but to sit up and take notice of you and for that we applaud you.Lets get a few things straight.
1. It probably wasn't a penalty.
2. Italy were very hard done by the ref with that send-off.
Therefore, in the scheme of things, we had a better deal than they did. Sure the penalty did us in, but we played for 40 minutes with them down to 10 men and couldn't penetrate - we had our chances, and we were beaten by a team that, while they had looked really quite ordinary and lucky in getting 7 points from the group stage matches, were a different team entirely in this match. The Azzuri were desperate in defence, and the wall they put up was near on impenetrable. And with only 10 men, they somehow summoned the energy to survive, and in the end, were rewarded for their bravery with a win.
They deserved it. On the strength of that one match, they deserved it.
But on the strength of the tournament, the Socceroos did - and for that as much as anything I'm broken-hearted!
Here's to Australia's football future. Here's to our entrance into the Asian zone, and the quality of matches that should do nothing but improve our squad. But don't think we will always make the finals. In the Asian zone we don't have a free pass to the World Cup. What we do get, however, is a large number of matches over which to qualify, to ensure our fate, rather than a sudden death double-leg tie against a team from the other side of the world.
Australia's footballing future will never be the same - but that doesn't mean it will come easy. It's just that we now have it in our own hands. We can ask for no more than that...
2 comments:
Well spoken big fella and good retrospect. Soccer is a cruel game of love & hate for me. I have trouble at times deciding whether really like it, or it drives me up the wall!
There's several things I would definately change (and I don't care what anyone says!) They desperately need a referee in the media box to quickly review certain matters, like diving and crucial incidents to the outcome of the game. It would only take 5 seconds for the internal ref to make a decision and radio it to the on field ref's ear-peice. Doesn't need to be everything, Just Crucial Matters.
"That was NOT a penalty!"
amen to both of you!
Did you notice that the umpire from our Croatia game that forgot to send off the Croatian has retired from international football? He admitted it was his call and he got it wrong.
Interesting...
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