The Soccer thread

[Macca 17,016]

Just now, Diamond_Jim said:

Had to go out this morning so I only caught snippets on the radio. Hopefully can find a replay.

The trouble is Macca in most of the qualifying games we have been better than the opposition but we are where we are because we cannot score goals.

Looking forward to Wednesday but hell I hope we score first.

Big news re Italy possibly missing out. That return match will be one for the ages.

The pitch in Honduras was horrendous so goal scoring opportunities were scarce.  Juric had 2 big chances but that was about it. 

Honduras were just poor ... they couldn't penetrate our back 3 or 4.  I would be surprised if they even scored in Sydney.  I expect us to score at least twice if we go by this morning's game.  Cahill may not start but you'd reckon he will play.

And I don't feel like I'm being optimistic either ... however,  I'm aware that poor sides can win games of soccer so there's that. 

As for Italy,  they've a habit of leaving things to the last moment so that will probably happen again. 

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

NZ v Peru in Wellington.

No score after 24 minutes.

Memories of past Australian qualifications in the Oceania Group

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

8 hours ago, Macca said:

We had the better of the first half but the opposition are not very good at all ... Honduras are rated 69 in the world for a reason. 

Juric should have scored but the pitch is not a good one.  Ball bobbling quite a bit.  Aaron Mooy has been great. 

Need to run out the game and hopefully score a goal or 2 ... and keep them goalless.  The conditions are in the home team's favour though.  You'd take a 0 - 0 scoreline,  all things considered. 

Yes well i definately over rated Honduras, they were bog ordinary. 0-0 great result.

[Macca 17,016]

1 minute ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Yes well i definately over rated Honduras, they were bog ordinary. 0-0 great result.

And their record suggests that they are not a good team on the road either. 

It's ours to lose now (a spot in the world cup)  The players & the coaching staff will know that too.  We should be aiming at scoring at least 2 or 3 times and winning the game. 

We do need Cahill starting the game ... we score early and they'll have to come at us.  I'm reasonably confident that we'll prevail Wadda.

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

1 hour ago, Macca said:

And their record suggests that they are not a good team on the road either. 

It's ours to lose now (a spot in the world cup)  The players & the coaching staff will know that too.  We should be aiming at scoring at least 2 or 3 times and winning the game. 

We do need Cahill starting the game ... we score early and they'll have to come at us.  I'm reasonably confident that we'll prevail Wadda.

Yep i agree. We were the superior team and should get the job done in Sydney. My only question is, why didnt they play like that against Syria and Thailand? We wouldnt be in this position. Like i said, they're a lot like the Dees this time around! Hope you had a good carnival.

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

Wanted to watch the Melbourne City game tonight....does anyone know of any live streams?

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

On 11/11/2017 at 2:51 PM, Diamond_Jim said:

NZ v Peru in Wellington.

No score after 24 minutes.

Memories of past Australian qualifications in the Oceania Group

Ended in a draw of course. Remember when NZ went through an entire World Cup undefeated because they drew every match!?

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

Coming to grips with the ticketing system for the forthcoming World Cup. Next round opens on Thursday our time.

I will never complain about the complications of the AFL ticketing system again.

It seems that the GWS membership twist is well alive in Russia. The equivalent is you apply to follow Saudi Arabia and thus maximise your chances of getting semi final and finals tickets. You then don't bother going to the Saudi games. The system works because individual countries are given an allocation to all games and of course the demand from Saudi is apparently low. Ends up  costing an extra US$800 or so for the tickets in the foregone early matches but I suppose that for one of the hottest tickets in sport it's not a bad idea.

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

Italy misses out..... wow

Will be interested to read the analysis. Understand that many of the team were aged in their 30's.

Perhaps the Italian League is not much better than the EPL for bringing through the local talent.

[Macca 17,016]

28 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Italy misses out..... wow

Will be interested to read the analysis. Understand that many of the team were aged in their 30's.

Perhaps the Italian League is not much better than the EPL for bringing through the local talent.

Huge story ... on a par with England missing out in 1974.   Italy lack quality experienced strikers according to the pundits

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

1 hour ago, Macca said:

Huge story ... on a par with England missing out in 1974.   Italy lack quality experienced strikers according to the pundits

11 shots to one in the first half ..... sounds very familiar

[Macca 17,016]

3 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

11 shots to one in the first half ..... sounds very familiar

Yep,  if we had the likes of Viduka,  Kewell & a 26 year old Cahill,  we wouldn't have to concern ourselves with a do or die clash with Honduras. 

Italy have just found out the hard way that in order to win,  you have to score goals.  To be kept goalless for 2 games against Sweden is unacceptable for a powerhouse like the Azzurri.

And we need to score early tomorrow night ... the good news is that that is entirely possible with the way the team is coached and with Cahill back.  Leckie returning is a huge plus as well. 

It's all to play for DJ.  I want to see the team go at Honduras,  especially early.  If we don't, we're asking for trouble. 

[Grapeviney 9,734]

I caught some of the Switzerland - Nth Ireland match in Basel the other night and the pitch there was as bad as the one in Honduras. Hard to fathom in this day and age, especially in Europe.

The North London Derby is on this weekend at the very respectable time of 11.30pm Saturday night on SBS. Incredibly, Optus have got yet another free trial going, which means at least half of the season to date has been a give-away. 

I'm actually weighing up a quick, bucket list soccer trip to Europe in the new year. I figure with Spurs playing at Wembley this season, it will never be so easy to see them live again. Would try to go to matches at San Siro and the Camp Nou while I'm over there. Anyone done such a trip and have any advice?  

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

Milan is a wonderful city and the stadium has tours and a museum.

I was there in August but it was just too hot.

The club websites are well used to foreign ticket enquiries so that could be a good place to start.

You may find the big clubs have a local supporters club in Australia which could also be a great source of leads.

Sounds like a great trip. Don't forget the Lords cricket museum. Not very big but some very special exhibits.

[Macca 17,016]

We score and go to a 1-0 lead and then the tension increases!

[Macca 17,016]

3-0!

All over bar the shouting. 

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

18 minutes ago, Macca said:

3-0!

All over bar the shouting. 

one could say never in doubt but of course it wasn't.

At last the Aussies got the rub of the green but they deserved it as they made their own luck.

Well predicted Macca.

Now all I need is some tickets to Russia in tomorrow night's draw

[Macca 17,016]

15 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

one could say never in doubt but of course it wasn't.

At last the Aussies got the rub of the green but they deserved it as they made their own luck.

Well predicted Macca.

Now all I need is some tickets to Russia in tomorrow night's draw

I thought we played really well ... our passing game is really coming on and we won the disputed ball all night.

We'll acquit ourselves well in Russia although we need to get stronger up front.  To advance out of our group we'll need a kind draw. 

Although .... we won't have to concern ourselves with Italy, the Netherlands,  Chile or the USA!

Edited November 15, 2017 by Macca

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

Wow.........

I now have tickets for Russia for the Group stage and the round of 16 for myself and my son.

Over the moon.

My tickets are venue specific and are for the city of Kazan which is the Tartar capital of Russia.

Never know I may be able to get to a Australian match as well.

Now for the airlines and accomodation. Airbnb apartments in Russia are a little basic by the looks of things but hell the vodka is cheap.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Diamond_Jim

[Macca 17,016]

On 11/14/2017 at 5:16 PM, Grapeviney said:

I caught some of the Switzerland - Nth Ireland match in Basel the other night and the pitch there was as bad as the one in Honduras. Hard to fathom in this day and age, especially in Europe.

The North London Derby is on this weekend at the very respectable time of 11.30pm Saturday night on SBS. Incredibly, Optus have got yet another free trial going, which means at least half of the season to date has been a give-away. 

I'm actually weighing up a quick, bucket list soccer trip to Europe in the new year. I figure with Spurs playing at Wembley this season, it will never be so easy to see them live again. Would try to go to matches at San Siro and the Camp Nou while I'm over there. Anyone done such a trip and have any advice?  

I generally take note and record about 6 games on any given weekend.  Finding the time to watch all the recorded games is always an issue though GV!

The North London derby is high on the list this weekend but beIN sports coverage of the other league's is first rate.  Other games to look out for this weekend ...

Sat 7.00am Stuttgart vs Dortmund

Sun 2.00am Leicester vs Man City

       4.00am Roma vs Lazio

       6.45am Napoli vs AC Milan

       6.45am Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid

West Ham are away to Watford (3am Monday morning) and it will be interesting to see how the team performs first up for Moyes.  Unfortunately for Bilic,  things started going pear-shaped as soon as Payet left.  The change, when it came, was inevitable.  

Man Utd vs Newcastle (Sun 4.30am) is a must win for Man United too (in order for them to keep in touch)

 

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by Macca

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

Some more great news.

I booked for Kazan simply because it looked like a nice relatively small city and it has direct flights to Dubai.

Being reported today that the Socceroos will be based in Kazan so we are odds on to see at least one of their matches.

All I need is the Dees to do well next year and 2018 could be a very good year

PS On closer reading they picked Kazan before qualifying so it will be just luck if they play there.  Fingers crossed.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Diamond_Jim

[Diamond_Jim 12,600]

So Ange has gone..... love him or hate him his tenure must be rated a success if for no other reason than his willingness to utilise A League players.

Left field .... what about the coach of either the Italians or the Dutch

Not sure what to expect at this WC but even though I like the attacking style of Ange's game plan we just don't have the players to pull it off at the WC level.

 

[Macca 17,016]

3 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

So Ange has gone..... love him or hate him his tenure must be rated a success if for no other reason than his willingness to utilise A League players.

Left field .... what about the coach of either the Italians or the Dutch

Not sure what to expect at this WC but even though I like the attacking style of Ange's game plan we just don't have the players to pull it off at the WC level.

 

I'm still quite surprised with the departure of Ange despite all the murmurings.

There's any number of likely replacements but much will depend on availability and how much we're prepared to spend.  We may well go for a coach formally from the Dutch or Italian systems but who knows DJ?

[hardtack 10,556]

What the "beautiful" game has come to... even the ball boys are diving!

[Macca 17,016]

We could end up in not-so-hard group if things fall our way ... the draw is on Dec 1st.

Here's a few combo's that might suit ...

Poland,  Peru,  Senegal,  Australia

Russia,  Switzerland,  Tunisia,  Australia

Portugal,  Colombia,  Egypt,  Australia

We don't want ...

Germany,  Spain,  Costa Rica,  Australia

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by Macca