world cup rant
This is going to be a world cup soccer rant. Please feel free to skip it if you want, I won't hold it against you.
I am getting really, really annoyed with people putting Australia down. Hearing "Australia sucks and I hope they lose" all the time all over the net is really frustrating and annoying, and I can't really say anything because I don't want to sound prissy and start a wank or anything, but I'm getting really annoyed. I don't claim to be very knowledgeable in all things soccer, but I'm not stupid. I can tell how well Australia has been playing. Look how far they came. They are ranked like 42 and playing against Brazil and Italy. And you know, when I was watching the games, I was really disappointed in those teams. Because I expect Brazil and Italy to be brilliant. But they both played pretty crap. Well, no, maybe not Italy, but Australia was UP THERE with both teams.
Australia:
- Are very disciplined
- Play with well formed, well thought out strategy
- Are coordinated, have good footwork and can control the ball well
- Play beautifully as a team
- Have an awesome coach
- Do not play dirty just so they can win
- Do not look/get panicky when they realise how awesome the opposing team is
- Play fairly and are good sports.
- Play consistantly, they have good and bad spells equally, but do not dwell on the bad ones and can move on
In the match with Brazil, you could see how panicked they were getting when they realised Australia weren't as crap as they probably thought they would be. They started doing stupid things. Even when they were 1 goal up, which says a lot. Their own fans were booing at them. In the match with Italy last night, the Italian coach LOOKED PANICKED, as did all the players. Australia looked calm, played well. And you know what? I think if that (correctly or inccorectly, who am I to say what it was) last call had not allowed Italy the free kick and the two teams had gone into penalty time, I think Australia would have won.
Australia had 59% of ball possession in the game, with only 1 yellow card to their name. Italy, on the other hand, had about 4 yellow cards and 1 red card. It just tells you the level of professionalism Australia were playing with.
Now, I'm not saying that the team are perfect, heck, they are far from it, but Australia played really well and people need to stop ignoring, dismissing and paying them out just because we are a country not known for soccer. With all our other sports - cricket, rugby, aussie rules football, Australia dominates those fields, or are in the top 3, and soccer is only a new thing. It is about a year old, and to get into the world cup...well, that just TELLS you how far we've come.
I just wish people would stop brattling on about a team they know nothing about. So what if people want a Brazil/Italy final match, if they don't deserve it, then those teams shouldn't be there. I know Australia aren't a brilliant team, but it's no excuse for the amount of flack people give them.
Huh. Not as ranty as I expected.
I am getting really, really annoyed with people putting Australia down. Hearing "Australia sucks and I hope they lose" all the time all over the net is really frustrating and annoying, and I can't really say anything because I don't want to sound prissy and start a wank or anything, but I'm getting really annoyed. I don't claim to be very knowledgeable in all things soccer, but I'm not stupid. I can tell how well Australia has been playing. Look how far they came. They are ranked like 42 and playing against Brazil and Italy. And you know, when I was watching the games, I was really disappointed in those teams. Because I expect Brazil and Italy to be brilliant. But they both played pretty crap. Well, no, maybe not Italy, but Australia was UP THERE with both teams.
Australia:
- Are very disciplined
- Play with well formed, well thought out strategy
- Are coordinated, have good footwork and can control the ball well
- Play beautifully as a team
- Have an awesome coach
- Do not play dirty just so they can win
- Do not look/get panicky when they realise how awesome the opposing team is
- Play fairly and are good sports.
- Play consistantly, they have good and bad spells equally, but do not dwell on the bad ones and can move on
In the match with Brazil, you could see how panicked they were getting when they realised Australia weren't as crap as they probably thought they would be. They started doing stupid things. Even when they were 1 goal up, which says a lot. Their own fans were booing at them. In the match with Italy last night, the Italian coach LOOKED PANICKED, as did all the players. Australia looked calm, played well. And you know what? I think if that (correctly or inccorectly, who am I to say what it was) last call had not allowed Italy the free kick and the two teams had gone into penalty time, I think Australia would have won.
Australia had 59% of ball possession in the game, with only 1 yellow card to their name. Italy, on the other hand, had about 4 yellow cards and 1 red card. It just tells you the level of professionalism Australia were playing with.
Now, I'm not saying that the team are perfect, heck, they are far from it, but Australia played really well and people need to stop ignoring, dismissing and paying them out just because we are a country not known for soccer. With all our other sports - cricket, rugby, aussie rules football, Australia dominates those fields, or are in the top 3, and soccer is only a new thing. It is about a year old, and to get into the world cup...well, that just TELLS you how far we've come.
I just wish people would stop brattling on about a team they know nothing about. So what if people want a Brazil/Italy final match, if they don't deserve it, then those teams shouldn't be there. I know Australia aren't a brilliant team, but it's no excuse for the amount of flack people give them.
Huh. Not as ranty as I expected.