Fans Interview

Recently I caught up with two of the blog’s most avid and frequent users, Enzo and Matilda. No doubt most of you will recognise them from the comment’s discussion area. To get a fellow fan’s perspective of things, I asked them a number of questions regarding Australia, their World Cup experience, who should take over from Hiddink, and their views on the Croatia game.

Here is what they had to say.

1. Where are you from?

Matilda: Sydney
Enzo: I was born in Italy many years ago and arrived in Australia at the
age of 6. Consider myself Australian but am proud of my Italian roots, but will scream until my voice is hoarse barracking for Australia. To demonstrate my preference to Australia, I taped the Italy-US match, but watched all Australian matches and will continue no matter what the hour.

2. Where have you been watching matches?

Matilda: Home. I can’t really make an occasion of it because of work. If we go further in the competition (and it stops raining here) I’d like to hit one of the outdoor sites with friends, food and beer.
Enzo: I have been watching all the matches at home. Having a fulltime job
it is very difficult to watch them outside the home and be fresh for work in the morning.

3. What other football teams do you support?

Matilda: None fervently. Keep an eye on Sydney F.C here and the Serie A competition because I partly grew up in Italy. Poor old Torino were my team!
Enzo: I did support Apia Leichhardt many years ago, but now enjoy watching
any game and not a particular team. I just enjoy watching football. I follow the Italian league, English league, Spanish league and am interested to know how most of the teams are progressing in leagues all round the world. Follow nearly all international encounters and with SBS it is now
easy to get the results of practically all matches played overseas.

4. What is your opinion of the Australian team thus far?

Matilda: The Socceroos have been very impressive and I’m proud of them. But can we stop complaining about the refereeing now?
Enzo: The Australian team so far has impressed me far more than any Australian team in the past. It is the best Australian team I have ever seen, and I can go back before 1974. It now plays a style that can be regarded as truly international. The passing of the ball between the players is a joy to see, but it still lacks firepower up front. Australia has always lacked a great striker. If this team had one, and I am talking about a striker who is consistent with striking the ball with power and accuracy, Brazil would have been losing by 3 goals at half-time. Australia has a great defence and midfield and hopefully, one day, a few forwards to
match.

5. How far do you think we can go in the tournament?

Matilda: Technically we could win but realistically I’d say the quarter-finals.
Enzo: I think Australia can beat Croatia, and with a bit of luck another
round, then I really don’t know, the nations at this stage will not give an inch and will be the best. Can Australia cope playing against so many great teams is the question.

6. Who is the most pivotal player in the side who we could afford to lose the least, why?

Matilda: It’s tough to pick just one. Just based on current form I’ll go for Lucas Neill, who has been outstanding in defence and very disciplined.
Enzo: I cannot think of one player who is so pivotal that Australia cannot
afford to lose, and I say this because Australia has a great squad where the loss of any player can be replaced by another who is equal in calibre. So I return to my suggestion that Australia lacks a great striker. If we had one, then that would be the player who would be pivotal.

7. Who would you be supporting if Australia wasn’t a participant?

Matilda: Holland and then any of the minnows/underdogs. I’m a sucker for a lost cause.
Enzo: If Australia was not participating I would support Italy, even though
they, more than occasionally, persist with a defensive style of play that can be annoying and nerve-racking to watch.

8. Should Mark Viduka be given a rest due to his poor record in front of goal?

Matilda: Our current striking problem doesn’t just come down to him. Sure Cahill and Aloisi scored against Japan and Viduka didn’t, but he’s still an integral part of our
team. Keep him away from penalty kicks though.
Enzo: I have been disappointed with Mark Viduka, but I have a suspicion
that Hiddink has ordered Viduka to play in a manner that is not his normal fashion, which is to play in a central role and hold the ball (which he doing very well) and then distribute it to whoever is coming forward. If you look at the Australia-Japan match, Aloisi in the last fifteen minutes played as Viduku should be playing. Aloisi hit the freekick with so much force than led to the throw-in which result in the first goal. He also passed the ball to Cahill who scored the second, and then he rammed through Japan’s defence to score the third goal.

9. Do you think the huge media coverage of the national side at the World Cup will make a difference to the state of football in this country?

Matilda: It’s got to. A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon and a lot of people will jump off again the minute we get knocked out. However, I think some of these newly converted fans will stick (especially the kids) and I expect a flow-on effect to the A-league.
Free to air TV access is a problem though and the FFA’s big bucks deal with Foxtel was, in my opinion, a short-sighted mistake. While football is still in a fragile state, as many people as possible need to see it.
Enzo: The huge media coverage of the national side at the World Cup will
end with the World Cup, unfortunately, and with this we will return to the old days where preferential coverage will be given to league, union and aussie rules. But, this huge media coverage has been one massive boost for football in Australia. I have never seen such interest in the past and for many diehard rugby league and union journalists to come out with some of the
most bias and despicable reporting denouncing football can only mean one thing. They are worried, but for the wrong reason. They think football will wipe out their sports. There is room for all codes in this country. The problem is that football has been deliberately suppressed and vilified, but the Australia-Uruguay match, and I was there, was a moment that non-football supporters had attended could not believe a sport could generate such emotion and enthusiasm.

10. Who would you like to see appointed as Hiddink’s successor following the World Cup?

Matilda: Not Houllier and not Scolari! I thought letting Neeskens go was a mistake and I quite like the loony idea of a “Guus tax” to lure Hiddink away from that dodgy Russian oil baron.
Enzo: The successor to Hiddink must be a coach who has a similar approach. Who is a great reader of the game and our players, who can unify the squad and
have the complete respect of the players. Who that could be, I really don’t know, I don’t know who is available in the world, there is definitely no one in Australia who can equal Hiddink.

11. Who is going to win the World Cup?

Matilda: If I knew, I’d put a buck on it. My guess is Germany or Argentina.
Enzo: That’s more than a $64,000 question. At this early stage anyone who reaches the final sixteen is capable of winning. There is not one team that I have seen up to this stage that I could say deserves to win. Brazil definitely did not impress me as world champions against Australia. England is playing their normal boring style of play and I cannot see them go past the quarter finals. Argentina has yet to be truly tested. Italy is unpredictable – hot one day, cold for the next three. But I would love to see a final of deserving teams where not one is either, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina France and England. It would be great for football for someone new to win.

12. Who is your most hated player/team at the World Cup?

Matilda: I don’t hate anyone. Crouch’s robot dance is pretty annoying though and I find the idea of Brazil winning the WC again strangely depressing.
Enzo: I don’t “hate” any player or team in the World Cup, but I have in the
past hated some referees for denying legitimate goals to some teams who deserved to win. Referees have too much power during a match. Nations have been playing for four years to reach the finals and then some nitwit referee could destroy their chances with some of the most bias and idiotic refereeing, and what does FIFA do about it? Nothing. The record stands.
There is technology available today, not to review every foul, but a goal that can decide a match and is questionably offside should be reviewed by a panel of three referees, just as in cricket. If this was the case in the last world cup, Spain and Italy would not have lost to Korea.

13. Can we beat Croatia and qualify for the round of 16? What is your predicted score for the match?

Matilda: I feel really positive about this game. Croatia looked ominous against Brazil but they seem to have lost momentum. I was surprised by the draw with Japan and
by their lack of goals. We’ve got a few problems finishing too but our striking potential is in better
health. Australia to win 2-0.
Enzo: I have full confidence that Australia can defeat Croatia and I predict it
will win 2-0.