World Cup Qualifier - Japan vs. Australia, 11th February, 9.20pm EDT

[Sacko]

Good result job done - now for Friday....

 

[David Votoupal]

Point well-earned, much better than our game against Bahrain.

 

[marconigirl]

just saw Serious14 on the tele lol.

Haha.. I was watching this in the One World Sports bar in Parramatta with some friends, and I was like "Hey there's Serious" and they said "what?" and I said "The one with the serious face is called Serious... "

(I thought it was funny, but maybe that was just me.. )

Serious didn't look impressed when he flashed up on the tv...

 

[FFC Mariner]

That was his happy face

 

[midfielder]

Serious is now a mega star ....

Defense was great ... Pim is impressive just get results played a defensive game all night closed down their options... we are SSSOOOOOOOOoooooo close now to being a sure thing just don't wanta put a jix on us and say we are in...

Back five all had good games .... center mids strong ... over all a great result should have been on FTA but the clubs and pubs got their crowds.

 

[serious14]

Serious didn't look impressed when he flashed up on the tv...

IT.  WAS.  FARKING.  FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEZING!!!!!   

I was more than happy with the end result - my only gripe about the game was Holman.  His inclusion in the squad, let alone the starting lineup was nothing short of a travesty.  Hence the happy face (if he wasn't on when I was on the TV, then I still maintain it was farking freeeeeeeeezing.  Which it was.  True story.  )  That, and Kennedy was amazing for the 8 or so minutes he got.  Hence, he should have been on a lot sooner - the Japanese defenders were shit scared of him.

Keensy - you know about the whole Australian Home End/Green and Gold Army debacle??  That had a lot to do with it....... there were many non-GGA there who shared my sentiments, but I sang about 2/3rd's of the time.  The other third was spent abusing the ref (honestly, Middle Eastern refs _hate_ us) and trying to stay warm.

Whoever said something about the crowd was spot on.  _Deafening_ amounts of noise, and the two times the crowd had thought they'd scored I honestly thought my eardrums were about to go.  Unbelieveable.  Beatufiul stadium as well - I don't know what it is with the photo's that make out the pitch is a million miles away from the stand, but I had a great view.

The pre-game walk from the pub to the stadium was immense as well.  A lot of people got a lot of photo's, so I'm sure they will surface around the various forums over the next few days.  I didn't take my proper camera, but I did get a disposable in Yokohama, so they'll be developed once I get home.

The best part of all??  A win in Sydney now guarantees us top two.  Bring on April 1.

 

[David Votoupal]

Yep, we beat Uzbekistan at home and Japan beat Bahrain, it'll secure Australia's qualification. Australia and Japan have what is the easier of the two groups, whereas Group B could shape up as a Group of Death.

 

[serious14]

P.S.  Could we be heard on TV at all??

 

[midfielder]

P.S.   Could we be heard on TV at all??

Yes a few times .. the Ole Ole Ole Aussie was what we heard

 

[dibo]

if we can keep the clean sheets coming then i don't care about the result really.

i'm more concerned about us being unbeatable than us winning every match. teams in the AFC should fear playing us or being in our groups becausewe're difficult to break down. the fact that we're yet to concede in this stage is something that the team and manager should be proud of and protective of.

tomorrow night it all begins with defence, and i'm perfectly happy for us to sit and soak up pressure away from home and hit on the break. better countries than us do it as a matter of course.

called it. not that it was a difficult prediction...

EDIT - and just before the match i was *sure* we were going to go down 1-0 or 2-0.

 

[bulldogmariner]

Solid result away from home and with 3 home games to come we are surely on that plane to South Africa. Dont think anyone can stop us bar ourselves. Pim played a defensive formation and got the result. Well Done Pim.

 

[From the dug out]

Anyone else see the look of disappointment on Cahill's face when subbed.

Get him back into the middle Pim.....PLEASE!

 

[The Umina Whiner]

To my uneducated little mind a 0 - 0 result was disappointing. I thought we were lucky not to go down 1 -  0. Anything less than a 5 - 0 win and I am unhappy lol.

 

[scottmac]

Anyone else see the look of disappointment on Cahill's face when subbed.

Get him back into the middle Pim.....PLEASE!

Disapointment may have been that Pim didn't send on Kennedy or McDonald with him. IMO he probably thought he could have scored with a bit of help up there.

Then again it was a very frustrating night for him as a striker, but fark me he did a great job to keep going up and back all night. At one stage he was behind Schwarzer!!!! Dedicated much?

 

[ryan]

Good result.I would like us to start with at least one proper striker next game. Cahill tried hard but was far too isolated. We would have been more effective with him in midfield and Kennedy up front but the result puts us in a commanding position. Can't wait for our next match with Uzbekistan who are now surely gone after losing to Bahrain.

 

[Bear]

EDIT - and just before the match i was *sure* we were going to go down 1-0 or 2-0.

Also thought that, as did a few people in the cclc. Was not confident at all when I saw lolman starting, and with the rumours about Chippers and Grella being injured, seeing them start made me think "oh shit".

 

[Bear]

Lets play a game

Its like "where's Wally" but we will call it "where's Keensy"

You have 1 minute to find him

GO

 

[Bear]

Also, we have another game called "where's Craig"

1 minute, GO

 

[Part_Timer]

tbh to much official merch to be me...

 

[dibo]

tbh to much official merch to be me...

i remember when you'd always be wearing your jersey, before you grew up to be a big strong ultra. awww, mem'ries...