Australia Vs Croatia

[blink]

Having played the game and seen the light - I don't know how anyone can get excited about that soccer. Seriously aginst Australian Football and Rugby (the real Rugby not League) which require motor skills for the entire body not just below the c**k Soccer is a distant 3rd and I haven't even bothered rating sports like hockey Water pole Volleyball etc

Grow up people - Fair dinkum.......

I don't think anyone was saying that soccer is better than the other Australian codes. I reckon people are more excited due to the fact that we are doing well on the world's biggest sporting stage, playing the game that is the most popular sport around the world. Which BTW we aren't exactly known as being good at.

[Dutchy]

I reckon some countries (cue England) will now be thinking "Is there any sport those aussies arent good at????"

Tassie you posts are usually good but this one is poor - go to a game and see it live and youll appreciate it much better, I didnt until I went a few years ago...these guys are much much fitter than any aussie rules player, they dont stop out there on the pitch for the full 45 minutes, no prolonged pauses for free kicks, throw ins, ball ups, points etc and they dont get any fluids like aussie rules

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Having played the game and seen the light - I don't know how anyone can get excited about that soccer. Seriously aginst Australian Football and Rugby (the real Rugby not League) which require motor skills for the entire body not just below the c**k Soccer is a distant 3rd and I haven't even bothered rating sports like hockey Water pole Volleyball etc

Grow up people - Fair dinkum.......

sounds like your doing the work of the bloke in your avatar, i think its someone else who needs to grow up ......... Fair dinkum

[am Bays]

Dutchy, trust me having compared the aerobic capacities of Australian footballers and Soccer players Hockey etc there is no difference aerobically between our athletes and theirs. They are not fitter and the movement patterns are very similar.

The amount of standing around in Australian Football is minimal now compared to the study of Jaques and Pavia in 1973 - even at U/18 level

Subjectively they may look fitter to you but I'll back Tommy Logan, Van Berlo, Kane Cornes & Burton against any of those blokes in a 3 km run

Physical the sports are the same but to compensate for those defiencies they use a round ball, far easier to control and becasue of their neural deficiencies they assit them by limiting their skill level to their feet......

I can not believe how any sane sport watcher anywhere in the world can comprehend for a nano-second how that sport is in the same galaxy when it comes to looking at skill level, physical capacity, demnds on its athletes, decision making and mental application.

Soccer is so far behind Australin Football it is not funny.

Seriously taking my emotions and biases out of it and look at both sports analytically as a trained exercise physiologist it is not a contest....

One day the rest of the world will wake up....

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Soccer is so far behind Australin Football it is not funny.

maybe to a few people, but the facts are Aussie rules is a few hundred countries and a few billion people behind the world game.

[CedeNullis]

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oi Oi Oi. you beauty!





Frankly, 1980 Tassie Medalist, Australia have just made it to the last 16 of the World Cup, and you provide your skewed theories about "aerobic capacity", etc. Let us football/soccer fans enjoy Australia's greatest footballing moment, so far.

[Dutchy]

Dutchy, trust me having compared the aerobic capacities of Australian footballers and Soccer players Hockey etc there is no difference aerobically between our athletes and theirs. They are not fitter and the movement patterns are very similar.

The amount of standing around in Australian Football is minimal now compared to the study of Jaques and Pavia in 1973 - even at U/18 level

Subjectively they may look fitter to you but I'll back Tommy Logan, Van Berlo, Kane Cornes & Burton against any of those blokes in a 3 km run

Physical the sports are the same but to compensate for those defiencies they use a round ball, far easier to control and becasue of their neural deficiencies they assit them by limiting their skill level to their feet......

I can not believe how any sane sport watcher anywhere in the world can comprehend for a nano-second how that sport is in the same galaxy when it comes to looking at skill level, physical capacity, demnds on its athletes, decision making and mental application.

Soccer is so far behind Australin Football it is not funny.

Seriously taking my emotions and biases out of it and look at both sports analytically as a trained exercise physiologist it is not a contest....

One day the rest of the world will wake up....

Contrdicted yourself there Tassie...

Firstly having a round ball makes the game harder as there are less variables so you need more skill to deceive opposition and goalkeepers...it also makes it harder that you cant pick it up as in aussie rules

18 players on the field in footy with sometimes up to 60 interchanges per game - they get plenty of rest time, have a look at a forward line when the ball is up in the other pocket

Neil Craig is successful as he has identified that AFL players can get fitter and more dynamic...there are many teams that havent got anywhere near the capacity of the Crows or top level soccer players (Rioli from Essendon...LOL)

anyway have a good weekend and Im sure we both agree on one thing - go the tiges tomorrow...looking forward to it

[Blue Boy]

Just got up - stayed up all night !!!

What a bender and what a little ripper that Harry Kewell lad is !!!

Cant wait till Monday night !!!

[stan]

Great result for the guys, 2 - 2 against croatia isnt a bad effort. And to make the second round well done to the guys. Thats a great effort. But i think we have drawn Italy.

[JK]

Still coming down from the game ... That last 10 minutes seemed to take as long as another match in it's own right ... Agree with the earlier call about Neill, he has been our player of the tournament, but tonight there was no doubting Harry's class, his runs and ball control were simply awesome ... Bresciano's impact was MASSIVE and he can take most of the plaudits for bringing us back to level terms!

Australia, whilst technically exposed on occasions, were by far the better team out there tonight .. Agree with the comments earlier (think it was Blink) that we should have won the game 4-2 ... But no matter, we've made it further than so many other highly fancied countries, and who knows, maybe we could ge even further still!! WOHOO!!

[blink]

Still coming down from the game ... That last 10 minutes seemed to take as long as another match in it's own right ... Agree with the earlier call about Neill, he has been our player of the tournament, but tonight there was no doubting Harry's class, his runs and ball control were simply awesome ... Bresciano's impact was MASSIVE and he can take most of the plaudits for bringing us back to level terms!

Australia, whilst technically exposed on occasions, were by far the better team out there tonight .. Agree with the comments earlier (think it was Blink) that we should have won the game 4-2 ... But no matter, we've made it further than so many other highly fancied countries, and who knows, maybe we could ge even further still!! WOHOO!!

I think we can go further CP - we certainly have the ability to. Now all we need is those 50/50 calls mostly go our way, and when we get an opportunity, we need to seize it.

Looks like Viduka won't be taking during-match penalties anymore. I hope that a game doesn't come down to him scoring in final penalties, or we could be screwed!!

[JK]

Still coming down from the game ... That last 10 minutes seemed to take as long as another match in it's own right ... Agree with the earlier call about Neill, he has been our player of the tournament, but tonight there was no doubting Harry's class, his runs and ball control were simply awesome ... Bresciano's impact was MASSIVE and he can take most of the plaudits for bringing us back to level terms!

Australia, whilst technically exposed on occasions, were by far the better team out there tonight .. Agree with the comments earlier (think it was Blink) that we should have won the game 4-2 ... But no matter, we've made it further than so many other highly fancied countries, and who knows, maybe we could ge even further still!! WOHOO!!

I think we can go further CP - we certainly have the ability to. Now all we need is those 50/50 calls mostly go our way, and when we get an opportunity, we need to seize it.

Looks like Viduka won't be taking during-match penalties anymore. I hope that a game doesn't come down to him scoring in final penalties, or we could be screwed!!

LOL ... Id sooner see him taking one than Kalac trying to save them!

Not sure if anyone caught any of the USA v Ghana game which was reffed by the bloke we had v Brazil, but he crucified the Yanks aswell ... Thats gotta earn him back some points surely?

Hopefully now we've reached this far, the Refs will give us some respect, thus far they've been treating us like Football/Soccer Minnows rather than adjudicating the games on their merit ... How often has Viduka been penalised in 1-on-1's this tournament when he's been in FRONT of his opponent!!

Anyway, enough whinging about Ref's, still better to savour todays result!!

[Magpiespower]

Reakon Tassie's been sniffing some of Punkie's chemicals.

But anyway, the petulant Azzuri will crack under the pressure sooner or later.

Hopefully, sooner rather than later - as in the second round!

[RustyCage]

We can all stay on the soccer bandwagon for a few more days now.

What time is the next game starting?

[heater31]

We can all stay on the soccer bandwagon for a few more days now.

What time is the next game starting?

think its 12:30 not entirely sure tho

anything can happen now we just need the 50/50s both chances and refs decisions to go our way and then lookout world here come the socceroos

[Ecky]

Dutchy, trust me having compared the aerobic capacities of Australian footballers and Soccer players Hockey etc there is no difference aerobically between our athletes and theirs. They are not fitter and the movement patterns are very similar.

The amount of standing around in Australian Football is minimal now compared to the study of Jaques and Pavia in 1973 - even at U/18 level

Subjectively they may look fitter to you but I'll back Tommy Logan, Van Berlo, Kane Cornes & Burton against any of those blokes in a 3 km run

Physical the sports are the same but to compensate for those defiencies they use a round ball, far easier to control and becasue of their neural deficiencies they assit them by limiting their skill level to their feet......

I can not believe how any sane sport watcher anywhere in the world can comprehend for a nano-second how that sport is in the same galaxy when it comes to looking at skill level, physical capacity, demnds on its athletes, decision making and mental application.

Soccer is so far behind Australin Football it is not funny.

Seriously taking my emotions and biases out of it and look at both sports analytically as a trained exercise physiologist it is not a contest....

One day the rest of the world will wake up....

I see what you are saying Tassie, and I think you make some very good points. There is no question that a wider range of skills etc. are required in Aussie Rules than in soccer.

I think though that you aren't going to win over many converts from soccer on the day after Australia makes the last 16 for the first time ever in the World Cup.

[Sploosh]

Tassie, I don't know who you are in real life, but it clearly sounds like you have a lot of experience with football, so respect to you for that. But soccer is a fantastic game to watch on a huge International stage like it is at the moment, and it's being played by some truly talented and hard-working players. You have gone off the deep end. Perhaps you are worried that soccer will take away some of the fans/young kids who start to take much more of an interest in soccer now, to the detriment of Aussie Rules. I love Aussie footy, but this soccer game has a lot going for it too.

[RoosterMarty]

Tassie... thats pretty poor mate. I assume you are Australian. Even if you dont like the sport at least get behind the mighty Aussies. They have done the whole nation proud with their achievements so far.

When will other countries wake up?? Considering 99% of the worlds population dont give a stuff about our game i dont think anybody cares.. this is the biggest event in the World. Much much bigger than the Olympics. Nothing stirs a country's emotions like the World Cup. If you hate it so much why bother posting in this thread? Keep you disappointing views to yourself and let us enjoy this fine moment, one of Australia's biggest ever sporting achievements (and it would go close to #1 i reckon... for me it is definately top of the pile)

[David Votoupal]

Why on earth do we need small-minded bigots to try and sour our greatest moment, and people deciding they want to bash another sport for whatever reason?

I love all sport, period. Each sport is a beautiful and worthwhile pursuit in its own right, and what matters most is that we all have our kids playing a sport of their choice for the sake of their health. That is the crux of the matter my friends.

[ORDoubleBlues]

Agree with previous posters who who said (they, like myself, see justice as being done in the end) that the score should have been 4-2. Viduka mugged in the penalty box and a pretty obvious handball in the box missed not long after it was pointed out in commentary that a few of the Croatian defenders seemed to have a habit of leaping in the air on corners and crosses with the arms outstretched above their heads!
Better understanders of the rules may be able to explain as to why Emerton was yellow carded for his handball. Ref must have thought it was intentional, which I thought was a bit harsh given the strength of the kick and that it was nowhere the box?Why wasn't Prso (I think) red carded for manhandling the ref? Know we don't have to worry about it now but it's very annoying to think that some of this could have cost Australia it's eventual place in the last 16.
Agree with comments on Neill. Thought he was very important in the last 10 minutes when there were a few Croatian shots at goal. Think Emerton was important and is a shame that he misses the game against Italy. Like the way Scott Chipperfield and Jason Culina go about it and have been impressed with Sterjovski given that I must admit that I didn't know too much about him 'til recently. Would like to see Josh Kennedy get on earlier and possibly even start the next game against Italy as he has been causing the opposition headaches with his tall frame in the box.
Anyhow, well done to the Aussies and we should all put any spare cash on Italy win as I know it's usually a good kiss of death for me