Monday night
Even though it was the end of the long weekend on Monday night, the whole nation was full of adrenalin and watched Australia play in its first World Cup match in 32 years. This match was against Japan. I've never been a fan of Australian soccer, all along, I thought Australia was going to go to Germany, play and lose all three group matches and come back home.
The beginning of the match was fast and intense, played at a much faster pace than I've ever seen Australia play, there were actually some pretty good scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, after 24 minutes, Japan got a dubious goal from a freekick. Mark Schwartzer, the Australian goalkeeper, was fouled while coming out to punch the ball away, the ref missed it, 1-0 to Japan. True, I wasn't surprised that Japan had scored, but I was pretty pissed that such a clear foul was missed by a world class referee. After that moment, the match continued to be tight, but the score was still 1-0 to Japan. After half time, Japan began to concentrate more in their defense to hold their lead. Australia got back to playing some crappy soccer that I have seen for years, straight balls over the top, needless to say, they didn't work. Eventually, Australia used all three of its subs, things got better, but the game was into its last ten minutes and the score was still 1-0. Then, things changed in to 83rd minute. From a long throw, the Japanese goalkeeper had misjudged the flightpath of the ball, ran into one of his defenders, the ball was free in the box, and Australia scrambled a goal, the first ever goal scored by Australia at a World Cup, by a young man called Tim Cahill. It wasn't pretty, but it will be remembered. At that moment, I thought justice had been served because Australia didn't deserve to lose to that Japanese goal because it wasn't fair, but the ref made his decision and it couldn't be overturned, even though he did apologise for that mistake after the match.
I was happy with the 1-1 scoreline, with that goal, Australia wasn't going to come back home with no goals and no points. However, things were to change in the little time there was left. Only a few minutes later, Cahill got a ball just outside the box, had some space, he took a shot, the goalie couldn't reach, the ball hits the post, then into the goal! Australia 2, Japan 1! It was a miracle! The goal was brilliant, it was nothing like the scramble and mess like the first goal, it was a well struck, well placed shot from outside the box. The Australian crowd went even wilder than the first goal, the Japanese crowd was silenced. There were still a few minutes left in the game though, so anything could have happened. There were Japanese scoring opportunities, and if it was an European or South American team, those chances probably would have ended as a goal or two. But deep into injury time, John Aloisi, like Cahill, a substitute, had a great run into the box, the full back knew he was left-footed and continued to lean to the left, this in turn created the tightest of spaces in the middle close to the penalty spot, Aloisi shoots - goal! Australia 3, Japan 1! Australia had sealed its first ever win at the World Cup finals! Before the match, I was expecting a Japanese victory 2-1. However, Australia had proved me wrong. The way they played was still a long way of being a threat, but it was already much better than its warm-up matches and qualifying matches. The new coach Guus Hiddink really is a genius. He had taken many countries to new heights at many previous World Cups, and having only taken over as the Australian coach for less than a year, he had done a bloody good job.
The next challenge, the next group match, wait for it, against Brazil. Brazil had been highly criticised for its performance at its first match. But that's the way the Brazilians do it. They do what they need to get through, and play better and better every match, that's how they won it last time. Their 1-0 victory over Croatia was enough to get them 3 points, but the expectation for them is so high, people were disappointed I guess. Tomorrow night, I'll wake up at 2am and watch the Brazil v Australia match, the whole country will. This time, I'm saying Brazil 2, Australia 0, let's see what happens.
The beginning of the match was fast and intense, played at a much faster pace than I've ever seen Australia play, there were actually some pretty good scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, after 24 minutes, Japan got a dubious goal from a freekick. Mark Schwartzer, the Australian goalkeeper, was fouled while coming out to punch the ball away, the ref missed it, 1-0 to Japan. True, I wasn't surprised that Japan had scored, but I was pretty pissed that such a clear foul was missed by a world class referee. After that moment, the match continued to be tight, but the score was still 1-0 to Japan. After half time, Japan began to concentrate more in their defense to hold their lead. Australia got back to playing some crappy soccer that I have seen for years, straight balls over the top, needless to say, they didn't work. Eventually, Australia used all three of its subs, things got better, but the game was into its last ten minutes and the score was still 1-0. Then, things changed in to 83rd minute. From a long throw, the Japanese goalkeeper had misjudged the flightpath of the ball, ran into one of his defenders, the ball was free in the box, and Australia scrambled a goal, the first ever goal scored by Australia at a World Cup, by a young man called Tim Cahill. It wasn't pretty, but it will be remembered. At that moment, I thought justice had been served because Australia didn't deserve to lose to that Japanese goal because it wasn't fair, but the ref made his decision and it couldn't be overturned, even though he did apologise for that mistake after the match.
I was happy with the 1-1 scoreline, with that goal, Australia wasn't going to come back home with no goals and no points. However, things were to change in the little time there was left. Only a few minutes later, Cahill got a ball just outside the box, had some space, he took a shot, the goalie couldn't reach, the ball hits the post, then into the goal! Australia 2, Japan 1! It was a miracle! The goal was brilliant, it was nothing like the scramble and mess like the first goal, it was a well struck, well placed shot from outside the box. The Australian crowd went even wilder than the first goal, the Japanese crowd was silenced. There were still a few minutes left in the game though, so anything could have happened. There were Japanese scoring opportunities, and if it was an European or South American team, those chances probably would have ended as a goal or two. But deep into injury time, John Aloisi, like Cahill, a substitute, had a great run into the box, the full back knew he was left-footed and continued to lean to the left, this in turn created the tightest of spaces in the middle close to the penalty spot, Aloisi shoots - goal! Australia 3, Japan 1! Australia had sealed its first ever win at the World Cup finals! Before the match, I was expecting a Japanese victory 2-1. However, Australia had proved me wrong. The way they played was still a long way of being a threat, but it was already much better than its warm-up matches and qualifying matches. The new coach Guus Hiddink really is a genius. He had taken many countries to new heights at many previous World Cups, and having only taken over as the Australian coach for less than a year, he had done a bloody good job.
The next challenge, the next group match, wait for it, against Brazil. Brazil had been highly criticised for its performance at its first match. But that's the way the Brazilians do it. They do what they need to get through, and play better and better every match, that's how they won it last time. Their 1-0 victory over Croatia was enough to get them 3 points, but the expectation for them is so high, people were disappointed I guess. Tomorrow night, I'll wake up at 2am and watch the Brazil v Australia match, the whole country will. This time, I'm saying Brazil 2, Australia 0, let's see what happens.