World cup

[johnny]

Another poor performance, but at least we can play poorly AND still win, unlike France, Germany, England and Spain.

[Memnoch]

Mediocre performance from the OZ and Kewell who was dumb enough to get his arm in the way of a ball bound for goal. He'd have been better off conceding the goal rather than getting penalised and red carded, at least we'd still have 11 men on the pitch.

That said, Ghana looked pretty ordinary. I'd back the Krauts to knock them over and take one of the qualifying spots. That will leave us with a must-win match against a pretty good Serbian side without Kewell and Moore, but Kewell's done farkall anyway and we will have Cahill back.

In any case, we didn't really expect to qualify with such an old team - if England muff it up against Slovenia it will more than make up for our performance

EDIT: Just realised we need Germany to lose to have a chance. Given Ghana's form today they've got buckleys of doing that :|

[Sever]

Originally Posted by Memnoch Mediocre performance from the OZ and Kewell who was dumb enough to get his arm in the way of a ball bound for goal. He'd have been better off conceding the goal rather than getting penalised and red carded, at least we'd still have 11 men on the pitch.

Did you see the replay of Kewell's handball? Eyes closed, arms down and in. Maybe i don't know enough about football, but doesn't a straight red have to be deliberate in some form? Something like the sliding trip from the Ghana midfielder which was punished only with a yellow? I'm playing the dodgy ref card on this one. (Bloody Itallians!) If we can't have some consistency then i'd like the calls to be consistently in our favour for a change.

A better performance by the Aussies though. Fingers crossed for a victory against Serbia and a favourable result in Germany v Ghana.

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by Sever Did you see the replay of Kewell's handball? Eyes closed, arms down and in. Maybe i don't know enough about football, but doesn't a straight red have to be deliberate in some form? Something like the sliding trip from the Ghana midfielder which was punished only with a yellow? I'm playing the dodgy ref card on this one. (Bloody Itallians!) If we can't have some consistency then i'd like the calls to be consistently in our favour for a change. A better performance by the Aussies though. Fingers crossed for a victory against Serbia and a favourable result in Germany v Ghana.

Yes, but unfortunately if the referee gives a penalty (which he pretty much had to as it was a goal denied) the red card has to follow because Kewell was deemed to have stopped a goalscoring opportunity (whether intentional or not). Just the way the laws work. He can't give a penalty (which is given when goalscoring opportunity has been illegally prevented) and not card him. I agree it didn't look intentional (though he did move his arms wider slightly possibly as reflex) but once the referee gave the penalty that was it for Harry Cool.

[Sever]

Originally Posted by Memnoch Yes, but unfortunately if the referee gives a penalty (which he pretty much had to as it was a goal denied) the red card has to follow because Kewell was deemed to have stopped a goalscoring opportunity (whether intentional or not). Just the way the laws work. He can't give a penalty (which is given when goalscoring opportunity has been illegally prevented) and not card him. I agree it didn't look intentional (though he did move his arms wider slightly possibly as reflex) but once the referee gave the penalty that was it for Harry Cool.

K, thanks for the clarification. I understand it now, and look forward to it being contradicted at least once in the remainder of the cup.

[johnny]

A yellow would be more than enough, seeing as it definitely wasn't intentional. The penalty is punishment enough as it is, the red card was over the top, and by doing so anyway, the ref more or less killed the game. I don't think we'll be seeing him anymore though, because FIFA officials take notice of screwups like that.

[Sever]

Ya, that was my thoughts on it also. But i won't dwell on it.

Originally Posted by Memnoch EDIT: Just realised we need Germany to lose to have a chance. Given Ghana's form today they've got buckleys of doing that :|

If Germany beats Ghana x-0 and Aus beat Serbia 1-0, Aus and Ghana are dead even in everything except goal difference. That thrashing by ze Germans will come back to haunt us, unless we manage to get a 3-0 result (which i can't see happening). Anyway, will worry about that after the Serbia game. Thursday will be a big night!

[Memnoch]

Well in any case it wasn't Kewell's fault he was carded, I blame Wilkshire and Emerton for trying to dribble the ball out of the box instead of clearing it when they momentarily got it away from Ghana. Instead they ended up losing it again, Ghana crossed it in and the rest is history.

Moving forward we will have to find replacements for Harry and for Craig Moore (the latter will be harder to replace even though he looked past his best today). Probably Milligan may have the edge over Beauchamp despite his lack of height. Cahill, Kennedy and Grella (if fit) need to come in. Holman played really well today but we need Timmy back. If Pim decides to play Wilkshire or Carney at centre back and put Emerton at wingback to accommodate Grella or Holman it will be a disaster. Pick a proper centre back to replace Moore, then figure out how to fit Grella, Cahill, Emerton, Bresciano, Valeri and Kennedy in.

[wellard]

Gee that first half of the Holland - Japan game was boring, thankfully my second choice for the cup - Holland - came good.

that Greece - Nigeria game was a corker (best of the cup so far that I have seen) the flying banana in the Nigerian goal was outstanding.

[Sever]

The Kiwis tie the Bellazura 1-1. Go Kiwis!