World Cup 2018

[Senor Moto Gadili]

Got to love hindsight. If Kewell had his time again he doesn't stick out the arm and lets them score but stays on the park. Can't blame him though for what would have been a reflex action.

Cahill's straight red against the Germans didn't help either

[RB]

Funnily enough I consider 2010 to be a bigger wasted opportunity than 06'.

We only missed out on the round of 16 by goal difference after one bad performance against the Germans. Our R16 opponents would have been against the USA (very winnable game).

Also led 2-0 against Serbia and could have pushed forward but ended up only winning 2-1.

The quarter finals would have saw us matched against Urguagy who with our rivalry around that time would have made it a tense close battle.

If we'd beaten Italy in 2006 though (and we had our chances) we'd have played Ukraine in the quarter final, and probably ripped them a new one, as they weren't particularly impressive in that tournament.

[tigerpie]

Another disappointing campaign.
We have world class defender midfield types but just can't buy a quality finisher.
Its always been a problem but I have no idea why.
We create great chances but don't have the class to put them away.
Frustrating game soccer!

[mighty hounds]

Who can forget Hoglers decision to play a high line in defence with a slow Lucas Neil and Craig Moore against the Germans first up [emoji38]

Pim's decision, not Holger's

Ahh knew it was one of the Germans

[Jim05]

Who can forget Hoglers decision to play a high line in defence with a slow Lucas Neil and Craig Moore against the Germans first up [emoji38]

Pim's decision, not Holger's

Ahh knew it was one of the Germans

Pim is Dutch

[mighty hounds]

Who can forget Hoglers decision to play a high line in defence with a slow Lucas Neil and Craig Moore against the Germans first up [emoji38]

Pim's decision, not Holger's

Ahh knew it was one of the Germans

Pim is Dutch

I’ll use the door

[Jim05]

Another disappointing campaign.
We have world class defender midfield types but just can't buy a quality finisher.
Its always been a problem but I have no idea why.
We create great chances but don't have the class to put them away.
Frustrating game soccer!

Seems that most of the marquee players in the A-League are strikers who are overseas imports and that is where the money is at. I’m not sure if that’s because of the fact we don’t have any coming through or ranks or we just aren’t giving them chances

[RB]

Actually that's a good point. If you look at each A-League team's starting line-up over the course of a season, there's generally a foreign striker, foreign CAM and at least one foreign winger. A pretty large portion of goals scored in the A-League are scored or assisted by a visa player.

It's a tough problem to fix without reducing the number of foreign players in the league, which they probably won't do. Perhaps an expanded league will create further opportunities for locals.

[Grenville]

Shut up Craig Foster. There are a lot better teams than Australia that have not progressed. It's simple, we need to have a lot more players playing in top leagues. You can't blame Bert. We were a shambles when Ange quit and he did well to get us back to being competitive.

Exactly. Look where everyone was playing in 06 when we progressed into the knockout stage.

06' still hurts and is the perfect example of needing to take your opportunity when it presents .. We're not a football factory like many of the heavyweights, so next time our cycle is decent and we have a few guns, we need to take our chances.

I'm not sure if Australian soccer has any cycles left lad, I think it's officially undergone menopause.

[Jimmy_041]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

[carey]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

Every World Cup I cash in on Australia games.

[Jim05]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

The experts all said African nations would dominate the game and 40 years later they are still a joke.

[Jimmy_041]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

Every World Cup I cash in on Australia games.

Can you “short” Australia?

[Jim05]

On yer bike Krauts!
Great to see them finish bottom of their group

[Bully]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

lol never will be when it has to compete with AFL and rugby and us having such a small population compared to other countries

football in this country will never be as big as say europe countries , never

we were lucky to scrape through the quals to make it to the finals really....

[Bully]

On yer bike Krauts!
Great to see them finish bottom of their group

shocked at that . well away from their 2014 status really

Can see croatia going all the way at the moment ..

Croatia vs England final is what im hoping for

[am Bays]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

lol never will be when it has to compete with AFL and rugby and us having such a small population compared to other countries

football in this country will never be as big as say europe countries , never

we were lucky to scrape through the quals to make it to the finals really....

There is an argument that soccer isn't even the top five most popular sports in this country if you look at combined participation and viewing numbers. Yes it has a lot of junior participants but it's viewing numbers rival that Mick Molloys ill fated talk show on Channel 9.

Chuck in golf and the modern niche sport of cycling as competitors for the #5 ranking.

Footy, League, Cricket, Rugby and Netball then maybe soccer

Discuss....

[tigerpie]

True Australian culture doesn't lend itself to the diving theatrical antics that soccer seems to accept.
Personally I like the athleticism and skill but the theatre makes me turn off.

[whufc]

Every World Cup I hope that Australian soccer comes of age.....

lol never will be when it has to compete with AFL and rugby and us having such a small population compared to other countries

football in this country will never be as big as say europe countries , never

we were lucky to scrape through the quals to make it to the finals really....

There is an argument that soccer isn't even the top five most popular sports in this country if you look at combined participation and viewing numbers. Yes it has a lot of junior participants but it's viewing numbers rival that Mick Molloys ill fated talk show on Channel 9.

Chuck in golf and the modern niche sport of cycling as competitors for the #5 ranking.

Footy, League, Cricket, Rugby and Netball then maybe soccer

Discuss....

Your probably right, personally I hold participation as a bigger factor than viewing when it comes to 'popularity'.

Clearly if I was to try and place in order (without having any numbers infront of me) it would be something like:

Winter
1. Aussie Rules
2. DAYLIGHT
3. Splitting hairs between Rugby League / Rugby Union
4. Cycling / Golf / Tennis

Summer
1. Cricket
2. DAYLIGHT
3. Basketball / Soccer / Netball
4. Swimming / Cycling / Golf / Tennis

[whufc]

True Australian culture doesn't lend itself to the diving theatrical antics that soccer seems to accept.
Personally I like the athleticism and skill but the theatre makes me turn off.

While I think your doing a tad of fishing I would actually agree with that. Soccer has traditionally been a win at all costs War with your rival religion/town/family

Australian culture is very much based on bravado and larrikinism. Top dog is who is the strongest/toughest not who is the trickiest/quickest (you see this a lot in African culture where there soccer players are more interested in being the most skillful rather than the best player)

While their has been some changes in soccer over time the game is still very much what it was XXXXXX amount of years ago. Soccer are proud of their history and that reflects in a soccer game in 20-30 years ago looks very much like a soccer game played now. Australian sport on the other hand is more open to change, always looking to be dynamic, move forward etc.

We live in a tough and harsh environment and expect our people to be the same.

I 100% agree Australian culture doesn't lend itself to soccer.