Arif Speaks on....The Socceroos
Welcome to our occasional writer Arif.
Arif is still recovering from his trip to Germany for the 2006 World Cup. He won't be going to the Asia Cup, he's broke, but he is looking forward to hearing all the talk about the Socceroos in the office, pub and gym.
People told him Australia went crazy during the World Cup, talking Socceroos, but he couldn't quite believe it. Who could.
"Arif speaks".
Here's my random thoughts on the Socceroos.
Did you see the game on the weekend? Of course you did. I thought we played pretty well, controlled the game for large parts, but once again our play in the last third just wasn't good enough. I think we really dominated in the middle in the first 20 minutes, but after that I think we let the Uruguayans back into the game. Their right full-back (the bald guy) had a massive game I reckon.
Honestly, for all our possession and nice one touch play, what we really need in the team are a couple of quality wing-backs. Because we just had no width. I know that Emerton and Chiperfield are due back in the team for the Asian Cup, but I just hope Arnold (who's winning me over btw) uses them as proper overlapping wing-backs. Granted we could probably win the Asian Cup by playing the way we did on Saturday, but I just don't think our team is skillful enough to play it through the middle. We're not Argentina! We need to use the flanks, or else against the good teams we just wont create any opportunities.
I really thought we played well after we went behind. We played with a lot more urgency and even created a few opportunities. I particularly thought Nick Carle played well after he came on. I reckon he's a player, Carle. Quite skillful on the ball. The kind of flamboyant player that the Socceroos don't usually pick in their teams, but the type who is capable of changing the course of a game with a bit of brilliance. I hope he goes to Asia and I hope he finds a good club. He'd be wasted in England.
I tell you what, when the national anthem came on, I felt a tingle down my spine. I was back in Germany. But honestly, even though there were 62,000 of us in the stadium, I still reckon a lot of Aussies still don't really get football. I mean, the stadium seemed to lack a little bit of atmosphere - yeah I know it was a friendly and all, but how many times do we get to watch the Socceroos play quality opposition on home soil? A lot of the time the stadium was almost silent. There was no singing. Everyone was sitting in their seats for most of the game. Where was the passion? And then there were my mates (who I dragged along) saying ridiculous things like, "this game should have ended 6-5 to us, if only they could score" and my other mate (dinky-di as, from good Northern Ireland stock) going for the Uruguayans... But hey, good on 62,000 turning up, on the same night that the Swans were playing at the SCG. I reckon the young kids who played would have appreciated it.
Anyway, just some random thoughts. Let me know what you think.
Arif is still recovering from his trip to Germany for the 2006 World Cup. He won't be going to the Asia Cup, he's broke, but he is looking forward to hearing all the talk about the Socceroos in the office, pub and gym.
People told him Australia went crazy during the World Cup, talking Socceroos, but he couldn't quite believe it. Who could.
"Arif speaks".
Here's my random thoughts on the Socceroos.
Did you see the game on the weekend? Of course you did. I thought we played pretty well, controlled the game for large parts, but once again our play in the last third just wasn't good enough. I think we really dominated in the middle in the first 20 minutes, but after that I think we let the Uruguayans back into the game. Their right full-back (the bald guy) had a massive game I reckon.
Honestly, for all our possession and nice one touch play, what we really need in the team are a couple of quality wing-backs. Because we just had no width. I know that Emerton and Chiperfield are due back in the team for the Asian Cup, but I just hope Arnold (who's winning me over btw) uses them as proper overlapping wing-backs. Granted we could probably win the Asian Cup by playing the way we did on Saturday, but I just don't think our team is skillful enough to play it through the middle. We're not Argentina! We need to use the flanks, or else against the good teams we just wont create any opportunities.
I really thought we played well after we went behind. We played with a lot more urgency and even created a few opportunities. I particularly thought Nick Carle played well after he came on. I reckon he's a player, Carle. Quite skillful on the ball. The kind of flamboyant player that the Socceroos don't usually pick in their teams, but the type who is capable of changing the course of a game with a bit of brilliance. I hope he goes to Asia and I hope he finds a good club. He'd be wasted in England.
I tell you what, when the national anthem came on, I felt a tingle down my spine. I was back in Germany. But honestly, even though there were 62,000 of us in the stadium, I still reckon a lot of Aussies still don't really get football. I mean, the stadium seemed to lack a little bit of atmosphere - yeah I know it was a friendly and all, but how many times do we get to watch the Socceroos play quality opposition on home soil? A lot of the time the stadium was almost silent. There was no singing. Everyone was sitting in their seats for most of the game. Where was the passion? And then there were my mates (who I dragged along) saying ridiculous things like, "this game should have ended 6-5 to us, if only they could score" and my other mate (dinky-di as, from good Northern Ireland stock) going for the Uruguayans... But hey, good on 62,000 turning up, on the same night that the Swans were playing at the SCG. I reckon the young kids who played would have appreciated it.
Anyway, just some random thoughts. Let me know what you think.
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