We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Day Four of Deutschland '06 and we've got our first crap match coming up, Australia vs. Japan. Although I don't fancy either side, this is not without interest, so if you're skiving off work and aren't completed saturated with the footie yet, join me. Think of it as an appetizer for the main event coming up at noon.
posted by gatorbob @ 8:40 AM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
17 Comments:
I have to say that, despite living in Japan for two and a half years, I never developed any fondness for the Japanese side. They're just not direct enough for my English footie loving heart.
Whereas, the Aussies have two Leeds old boys in Kewell and Viduka. So....come on you Socceroos!
Oh dear, it's the Shep Messing show again - I'm off to Univision "Gooooooool" land.
The Japanese are out running the Socceroos so far, although Dukes just had a decent chance.
Good period for the Oz - they could've just had a pen. Shame. Nothing from Harry Kewell yet - big surprise!
Mohawk boy Takahara just skinned the left post - the closest Japan have come so far after being pinned back by Oz for ten minutes or so.
GOAL: Japan 1-0; comical mistake by Schwarzer, who came for a cross and just didn't get near it. The Aussies were claiming foul, but I don't think the keeper needs that much protection.
This could fire the Oz up, though. Viduka has been marvelous laying off balls left and right for runners.
bob, that was clearly a foul. a japanese forward took out Schwartzer and Nakamura cleaned up the scraps.
really disgraceful decision by let's see..., oh yes, egyptian referee. well done FIFA. will this be another game decided by the bastard in the bla.., ok red?
i worry also that viduka won't last and that there aren't any goals in the rest of the team. kewell seems more and more of a luxury whose initial promise has been exhausted. only good thing you can say about him is that he's ditched the girlie double ponytail. bet he was teased too hard by the rest of the socceroos.
Don't agree with you on the goal. Schwarzer should never have come and when he did, he just didn't make it. Isn't that the golden rule of keeping when it comes to going for crosses - if you decide to come, you better bloody well grab the ball. I didn't see a lot of contact.
Agree with you on the Oz. They don't have a lot of quality. Viduka has laid some lovely balls off to Bresciano, but to no avail.
Half-time 1-0. Disappointing for the Aussies. They'll continue to gripe about the jammy goal, but Guus Hiddink's has to get their heads straight. The game is there for the taking. The running game is not going to work in the heat, so the Japanese will probably tire toward the end. If Hiddink takes Viduka off at the 60 minute mark, I'll be astonished.
hopefully your coverage will show the goal and the camera angle that we saw. schwartzer did come, was pushed over, leaving nakamura a tap in. clearly impeded and there's no other interpretation that i or anyone watching the itv coverage can have. they've been going over it and there's 100% agreement that the aussies were robbed on the goal. el tel fumes that if schwartzer had ploughed through to make a clearing contact, he'd have been called for a penalty. no one is happy with the ref.
ruud again points out zico's and the japanese fa's appeal to fifa to watch the fouling of the aussies. that gets el tel and andy townshend's agreement that the gamesmanship battle to get the ref's ear has been won by the japanese. and thankfully too, they've also suggested that a ref as inexperienced at this level as this egyptian bozo is is going to be susceptable.
aussies otherwise have struggled with japanese running. i can't see viduka lasting past the 70 minute mark. so, with a shagged dukes, and harry the dilletente, the aussies have a tall order to fill. bresciano looks capable if they get some free kicks.
Hiddink's rolling the dice, bringing in Tim Cahill on. He's been crocked and wouldn't have wanted to have come on in this match. The Aussie's really do need a result in this one or it's curtains.
Another massive clanger from Schwarzer - heads straight to a Japanese player while well out of his box. I've never seen him play so poorly. They must replace him for the next match. You can tell that the back four has lost confidence in the big man.
A world class save from Kawaguchi from a brilliant Viduka free kick. This'll be written up as a "Tale of Two Keepers," I predict. Kawaguchi's kept them in it.
Japan with their backs to the wall now. Aussie's piling on the pressure. Surely they can get an equalizer. Very negative stuff from the Japanese. If you have to defend a 1-0 win against the Aussies, you're going nowhere in this tournament.
GOAL: 1-1; Hiddink's gamble with Tim Cahill pays off. Typical Everton style goal with a scramble in the box from a corner and an opportunistic finish.
Two late goals from Oz have put Japan to the sword, and too right to. Finally someone's been punished in this tournament for trying to defend a 1-0 lead. I had a feeling that the Aussie's could do this. This was much more fun than I'd expected.
Still, I don't expect either side to progress from this group. How about you?
i predicted that the aussies would prevail as well. it was clear that the japanese strategy was to outlast the aussies with their tireless running. it's hard to keep that up and they flagged badly from the 75th minute. full marks for hiddick's subs cahill and aloisi.
whether australia will progress will depend in large part to what kind of team croatia has. it was always a battle for second in this group and the aussies are in the battle and the japanese are in the proverbial.
glad to see that things evened out for the aussies. right after cahill scored, he brought down that forward in the box for a stone guarantee penalty. lucky-boy 'cause he was carrying a booking as well.
best quote here was after Fukinishi missed a shot and the camera closed on his face shouting about his miss - "the name on the back of his shirt says it all, really."
roll on the Americans
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