Thanks Lads.
Thanks lads for all you did in the World Cup. You couldn't have tried harder. It seemed as if FIFA didn't want you to succeed and appointed you referees from the back-alleys of New York (broken and dodgie). Despite that, you made the top 16. You went just as far as Holland and Spain (countries ranked alot better than you) and you narrowly lost in the closest Round of 16 match there was (I'm not including UKR v SUI which went to penalties because that game was not the same quality as AUS v ITA). .
Cheers fellas. Unlucky you didn't have Emerton and Kewell. A different story would have unfolded.
In the end, penalty or no penalty, you couldn't manage to score against 10 men and that haunted you in the 92nd minute when Lucas Neill was penalised for his challenge in the box. The Italian player obviously could have remained on his feet but as you saw, he lost possession of the ball after he pushed it passed Neill and Craig Moore booted it over the sideline. So of course he was going to dive in the box, if not for the penalty, to save face for losing the ball. The referee had a decision to make. Should I screw Italy? A country I frequently have connections with as a referee in domestic and international competitions and not give them the penalty? Or should I screw Australia? A country that is thousands of miles away and I won't see again until next world cup and give the penalty? He made the easy choice and we have to cop it. We'll get you next time Italy. It will be just-desserts too. Once again, thanks Socceroos. Bunch of Legends.