The Uruguay reaction

Well, what can I say, there are so many conflicting emotions. I was proud that we scored so early, and kept Uruguay at bay. Some of the young guns played well, and others not so well. I thought Kisnorbo and Thwiate were good at the back. McDonald didn’t live up to expectations. Jones made an excellent save during the match, and then we all know what happened.

Both of the goals came down to experience. The first goal was a free kick, but Australia gave the ball to the opposition too quickly and didn’t allow themselves to regroup. As a result there were holes in the defence, and Recoba, being the class player that he is, managed to thread the needle and set up Forlan. Brad Jones can only learn from his howler. It was encouraging to see Australia create many chances. Although the first goal was messy, I think we deserved it. I think a draw would have been a fair result, Uruguay lacked the killer blow it seemed, but Jones gave them a free hit, and that was that definitive blow. I think many of these youngsters have put up their hand for Asian Cup selection, it’ll be interesting to see what Graham Arnold does.