Socceroos draw 1-1 with Netherlands

dutch closed us down well and we will need to be better equiped to handle tighter situations. I think we initially took it as a freindly and the dutch took it very serious. In the end it was almost the other way around.

Yeah, what was with the Dutch diving all the time. The replays were clearly showing no impact and then the Dutch just fall down hoping for the free. They did suck the ref in a few times but why do the Dutch have to resort to these tactics. They are beter than that!

Viduka missing again. I guess come WC time if we have a penalty Harry will be taking it.

I thought Grella did ok. He had to do a lot of donkey work. Wilkshire, yeah, why was he playing. Surely Skoko would’ve been a better choice or even Stan.

The game looked very one-sided to me. Didn’t Holland have a total of 18 shots? They just had poor finishing (what some might call unlucky). And it’s too bad they had 3 of their players nearly bludgeoned, and 2 injured. Hopefully they can recover just in time for the World Cup. I must say that their defensive flank is very suspect. Australia did a good job keeping goals out, but as you said, they were awful at marking.

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guss hiddin declared after the match that he was very satisfied to see the progress the australian team has made.
“we are getting better and that gives confidence for the future”he said.
hiddink did not apologize for the mean play by some aussie footballers but refused to answer questions re the dutch team saying he was here as coach of the australians.

Interesting perspectives. Not having followed it myself, especially not having seen it, I can only try and gleen things from reviews. It sounds to me like the Dutch were the better side and the Australians played a fairly rough game. I’m not going to say there wasn’t any acting going on, but reviews are rather pointed about the ferocity of some of the Australian tackles.

[...] Australia 1 – Netherlands 1 A very physical affair between both sides ended in a draw. Australia brought their kicking game with them for this one, kicking every Dutch player in sight. As a result, three Dutch players limped off and the Aussies were forced to play the last 30 minutes a man down. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Tim Cahill are your goal scorers. [...]

Having seen this and also the Brazil/NZ affair, I think our concerns should be the marking and defence against the counter. (Pace)

I really didn’t like the reckless approach at times but having said that…it’s nice to know that we can take that route if needed.

As you guys mentioned…good confidence boost for the world cup. I don’t think Brazil will be underestimating us (especially as they were only 2 nil up against NZ till the dying minutes) Dida looked uneasy with a couple of corners which got me excited.

Oh and Croatia lost 1 nil.

Anyway, it all begins with 1 game against Japan. We’ll take it from there…

Aussie Aussie Aussie…oi oi oi

The Dutch were fantastic, creating numerous chances, and Mark Schwarzer was equally magnificent. It goes to show, you need a great keeper to go far in the world cup, luckily we have one. Croatia cannot say the same.
Also on Wilkshire, why was he playing? He seems totally out of his class, why wasnt Skoko playing instead? Anyway, I’m sure that once Harry is fully fit, he and Cahill will start so that should improve things.

The socceroos played really well against the Dutch. I think we will do well in the World Cup!
Bring on Japan

ok heres my point of view .. if you look at it just from the result, 1-1 is good … but for the poeple that watched the game you can really see that australia is no good when playen against good teams, and was very lucky as holland missed many chances. Also in the second half you could see that holland didnt care much any more up until australia scored … Reality is that whne australia play brazil expect to lose 4 or 5 nil. Oh and we will see australia rack up a few red cards in geramany as well .. i mean whne they cant win the ball they gotta hack the opposition.As for mark, hes not to bad, but lets not goet to over our heads about him .. coz australia wont be so lucky next time .. so i think australias gotta stop talking its self up coz in the end the entire nation will be upset if we finish bottom of the group .. call me what u want but i am honest and see tings straight, even possetion was around 70 to 30%

v Basten said after the match he was happy with the way Oz played, he didn’t think it was too tough, he said: soccer is a man’s game, if you can’t handle that now, what are you going to do at the WC? All were convinced that Sneijder did it to himself. I think the socceroos did well and will do well in Germany. They can perform as a team, they can fight, and they’ve got a lot of real football in the team with Harry and Tim on board. It’ll be tough to go thru the groups stage, but the same applies to Holland. I think Grella did well, if you take the whole match into account. The first 20 minutes were shocking (awe?) but the rest of the match, the socceroos were eally a factor. Good stuff!

Jan the man .. i dont think you know anything about football … just read thios article http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=65105

The game was a frendlie and coz the australians could not win the ball they had to hack the opposition .. shows how unprofesional they are .. in the WC watch that australia will pick up a couple red cards (even thought they will not make it past the group stage)

Marco,

I see your point, but there was really only one bad tackle in the game and Wilkshire was sent off for it. The other two injuries were just part & parcel of a hard but fair game. Australia started off playing soft with slack marking, and the Dutch played all over them. Once the Aussies lifted their intensity the game became more even.
Do you think the Dutch would have been a happy with a draw? No-bloody-way! The Dutch tried their hardest to score and couldn’t even do it while we were down to 10 men. Give the Aussie’s some credit mate, they played a solid game from about the 25min mark.
And the remark about losing to Brazil 4 or 5-0? Brazil beat NZ 4-0, but the score was only 2-0 at the 85th minute. The Aussie’s are a much better side than NZ so I think the score will be close.
Holland is as good as Brazil so I dont know how you come to the conclusion that Brazil will flog us. Once the friendlies finish and the real games start it will be a completely different story.

Oh dear, do we have a troll?

Wilkshire’s tackle deserved a send off. So stupid of him…grrr. However, the only potentially serious injury came when Schneijder clumsily collided with an Australian player. Freak accident. Very bad luck for the poor Dutch so close to the WC.

Overall the game was aggressive but not dirty. The players and local fans seemed rather shocked by the physicality and by the fact that the #3 team in the world didn’t get a morale-boosting whitewash over team #42. Frankly, so was I!

As for not making it through the group stage. No guarantees of course, but after the game Van Nistelrooy said he thought we were a strong team with a good chance of getting through. The signs are positive.

Yes I agree late tackles are unprofessional… but so is diving. Robben is the next Greg Louganis!

Bigone
ok clearly you have not watches much soccer this yr .. i dont rate brazil that highly this yr, but there better than holland and who care when you socore, its doing it that counts — Ac milan always socre the winner in the 80th plus minute and there regarded as one of the greatests football teams ever. oh and just recently australia beat NZ 1-0 so there goes ur theory .. tha aussies played a solid game thats why shots on goal was like 18 to 4 haha .. basicallly Bigone you ate the dumbest man alive

Bingo! That last post just confirmed it. Semi-literate troll alert on marco.

Viduka is the weakest link on the team. He is a has-been. The only thing that keeps him in the starting line up is his (past) reputation only.

Hiddink should consider Thompson or Aloisi as the starting striker.

Marco,

You said…. “I dont rate brazil that highly this yr, but there better than holland.”

So you don’t rate Brazil or Holland then? What sport are YOU watching, it certainly isn’t football then!

wilkishire had a poor game but is one of the more underated aussie players. and Viduka is most certainly not the weakest link in the team, that honour would definetly go to the backline and their ability to mark (or emerton for just being rubbish) The Aussies are much more likeyly to get a result against brazil than lesser teams such as croatia because of the pressure brazil will be facing and the fact that the Aussies go into the world cup as almost an unknown quantity.

Hehe. Quite a bit of controversy going on here.
Generally I think the Aussies did play an overly aggressive game. Not necessarily dirty, but very aggressive. And it is questionable if that is appropriate one week before the WC starts!? Yes, that did lift their game an yes, it’s a valid method (and one they will have to rely on) DURING the cup. But it hasn’t started yet, guys! Friendlies before a cup are there to test tacticts, fieldings, give players game practice and let them get used to eachother on the pitch (as they usually don’t play with eachother otherwise). A friendly is not there to test if you can be physical. If your players are fit, you can ALWAYS go physical. No need to risk injuries before the most important tournament in 4 years!

This ain’t AFL/NRL/and-such – it’s football. Plus, don’t claim replays as proof of a non-foul. Everybody who ever has played football on a competitive stage knows, if you’re in full run with the ball, little touch will get you off the feet. And it’s a foul. In slow motion, few touches/fouls look strong. You need to re-watch them in normal speed! Then you see (and yesterday even hear!) how much impact there actually was!

As for Australia’s chances. I think the Socceroos (argh) have a fairly decent team. They are motivated and physically and mentally strong. Yes, they generally lack the class of an excellent team – but if your well organized and willing to fight till the end, you can make up for that a bit. In my opinion they stand a chance to go through the group stage. Brazil is gonna be tough – Brazil is gonna be tough for anybody facing them. On the paper, I’d say that both Japan and Croatia are somewhat more talented. But especially the Croatians are a team that can be demoralised if you don’t give them a chance to dominate you. Hold them for 60-70 minutes and they often start to get impatient. And that’s your chance. Japan – didn’t really impress in the last few games and have some serious injury problems.

Generally stated: it wouldn’t be THAT surprising if Australia would progress to the next round. However, what awaits you there is probably gonna be too much (Italy or the Czech; and if the USA gets past one of them, then the USA is probably too strong for the Socceroos as well). So, look forward to an interesting first round. And be happy if they happen to get to the first knock-out stage!

Oh, and what I forgot. Don’t let the 1-1 fool you into believing that as a team Australia was even to the Dutch. Another keeper than Schwarzer, and yesterday could easily have ended 5-1.

I really don’t understand your comment elAdi “Another keeper than Schwarzer, and yesterday could easily have ended 5-1″. One could also say that another keeper than Schwarzer could have saved the first goal, and Australia would have won 1-0. If this, if that, if this and that – never counts. One could also say if Viduka’s header had gone in it would have been 2-0. Again, if this, if that, just doesn’t count. What counts is the final score. I have seen many games where the better team lost. Accept it.

From the games I’ve seen.. I want to know how exactly do we plan on scoring? It seems that there is no game plan.. everyone in the team is so static, no one makes runs, it all seems so random to me. They were really outclassed last night … =(

Well done Kangaroos. Don’t mind all the whining about hard play. Tough play is part and parcel of the beautiful game, and is nothing short of a tactic within itself. If the team is ready to sacrifice a few cards, nothing is stopping them from going for it, and in fact, if they are professional enough to play hard without actually fouling the opposition, even better.

Like enzo said, the ifs and buts really don’t matter.

Realistically speaking, the projected score for Brazil-Australia would be something like 2-0. But we haven’t discussed tactics yet.

New Zealand managed to put in reasonable defending against the Seleçao. The problem with most teams vs Brazil is possession, simply because Brazil take it, command it, and are probably the best passing team in the world.

What Oz are looking for is counter-attacking, and possession of the ball. Brazil’s defence really isn’t great, and the aim is to constantly challenge it. It helps that Brazil don’t boast the best keeper of the tournament, either.

The defenders need to be particularly careful of the wings. When you face Brazil, you’re basically facing 10 attacking midfielders and a goalkeeper. The crosses come from everywhere, and there’s always someone running down the wing, as well as a nice crowd all around the box.

Carlos Alberto Perreira said that the best team would be the one that can go up and down the pitch the fastest. He probably let slip Brazil’s strongest tactic. This piece of advice is to be taken seriously.

Everyone has to be down to face Brazil’s attack, and everyone has to be able to rush up to fly through their usually inexistant defence (if you’re fast enough).

You got me wrong, enzo. I’m not talking about the result – yes, eventually it was 1-1 and that’s it. The result is what is gonna count in the cup. But there are some comments in the newspaper and here that now talk about how good the Socceroos are and blablabla. That’s not what I’ve seen yesterday. It’s a great result, but any other day, this match is gonna end 5-1 or something the like. I think the last Shots on Goal statistics I’ve seen was 18-4. And of the 18 about 5 or 6 were fantastic shots/tries that took everything out of Schwarzer. And you must be kidding if you say he had anything to do with the goal they conceded!

All I’m saying is, there was still a difference of class visible between the Dutch and Australia. Yesterday it didn’t show in the result. But that was yesterday. Just remember the the Confederations Cup! The Socceroos played an as ‘gutsy’ tournament as they did yesterday against the Dutch. And what did they get?

Not every team can be a WC contender. And while supporting your team is certainly the right thing to do, you also should try to stay realistic on what is going on. I’m Swiss. We’re about in the same position: solid team, CAN pull off a few good games – but it can easy go into the other direction as well. Just because we drew Italy (and qualified with France, Ireland and Israel in one group and against Turkey in a play-off) doesn’t make me go running around and expecting wonders! Yes, we’re not ‘bad’ – but we’re not great either. It’s the same with the Aussies….

@Marco

You gotta be kidding?? So I know nothing about football?? Now, for your info: even Marco van Basten – the Great Marco, that is – said after the match that he didn’t think Oz played to tough, that the Dutch players needed to cope with that and that it’s better to prepare on the edge than with summer evening football ( as we call it)…

May I remind you, Marco, that:

1) I am Dutch (football is in my genes)
2. I played along side the great Willem van Hanegem and Wim Jansen
3) I personally know v Basten. Gullit, Adriaanse, van Gaal and Richard Witschge (to name a few)
4) I organized the AD tournament in the Kuip in Rotterdam for Feyenoord
5) I trained/coached the ASWH amateur team (first division amateurs in Holland)

The fact of the matter is, that Sneijder was responsible for his own injury (no one els), Cocu’s injury was a collision, not a faul and if the team couldn’t stand the heat the Socceroos put upon the team, they shouldn’t go to the WC in the first place… Man…

Do not attack me personally on my football know-how ever again, dear boy. You may have another opinion than me, that’s fine… But I expect you to respect my opinion.

Other than that: HUP HOLLAND HUP (etc)

Marco, I have noticed that you have made alot of posts on this site and your opinion on topics is welcome. However, please refrain from instigating unnecessary arguments and bickering, as well as the constant putting down and dismissal of other people’s opinions.

If Holland didn’t have Van der sar…
If we didn’t have Schwarzer…

Surely the point is that both teams DID have those keepers?? Hence 1-1.

I kind of agree with maark1 though. When Cahill took the initiative and scored it just highlighted how stodgy we’d been up to that point. For all the talk of increased tactical nous under Hiddink, I get the feeling we still fly by the seat of our pants and rely on grit and determination to squeak through. Which is fine… up to a point… but where’s the plan?

Thanks for the analysis Akbar. Brazil apparently picked NZ for a friendly because of their similarity to Australia. Mmmm, okay…

p.s Our national Rugby League team is the Kangaroos. Football is the Socceroos. Very dorky name, I know, but it’s too late to change it now!

australia had never played someone to the caliber of the dutch side before. i think we were just overwhelmed. who wouldnt feel like bowing to the mistro that is nistlerooy. australia is better that what they played. when hiddink layed down the law at half time and the players realised they are worthy of mixing it with teams like the dutch. we almost beat them with 10 men. if that doesnt say watch out world i dont know what does. comming from an aussie rules back ground, why did the ducth seem to feel the need in a trial match to con the ref with girlie screams and diving. if the rumours are true about the world cup refs carding diving, the dutch will be in trouble from the start. it was disgusting. grown men acting like girls.

haha ill drink to that Troy!

Pat, Viduka is a striker. His job is to score goals. If he can’t even manage to score from the penalty spot, why should he be in the starting line up?

Thompson and Aloisi need to be given more chance as the starting striker. Maybe even Culina.

The defence wasn’t very good but at least they only conceded one goal. Schwarzer should be made captain, instead of Viduka.

Some of the people on this site really just need to chill out!!!!! okay, its just football.

The point at which you begin to scream the words you are typing and when you can’t just disagree with someone’s point of view but actually have to trash it too…..this is the point at which you to take a step back (literally…away from the computer) and have a look at yourself….becasue your acting like a dick.

….despite all this i thought there was some good analysis in this blog.

Cheers

JUST FOOTBALL??????

J-U-S-T FOOTBALL?

I’m gonna have nightmares tonight!

Jan the Man, Don’t worry mate. I’ve been reading your comments on the blogs for a while and I take your comments with respect. I know you understand football and have a great footballing knoweledge.

Saying that, we all should know by now that Marco is just the complete opposite. His comments are pro-Italian and just trying to put down everyone else who does not see his point of view. We all know that you can put your opinion across without putting down others. Until Marco understands this, we all should just skip over his thoughts.

Jan, I was on the Dutch blog straight after the game and the comments were about the physical nature of the game. Then when I read VB comments it made me feel better. BV said it straight. It’s a mans game and they will see this pressure in the WC. If you don’t deal with it then you won’t survive. It’s probably good for the Dutch to see this just prior to the WC so VB can sort this out. But I still don’t know why Robben and Landzaat need to dive?

Let’s look forward to our last warm-up game then the big one against Japan.

@Jan, I think your Dutch team will have a great WC!

Bigone, from your argument about brazil as good as holland, i definately take that as a compliment, but no way in hell are as good as brazil. we stand a fair chance, but it will be very, very, very hard to beat them. Aussie’s, dont expect to much of the football team in germnay this summer. I love rugby and play it alot, and you guys rule at it. But for now, Aussies are no good in Football. Dont forget, this is only the second time you guys qualified for the world cup. Brazil will steam over you with 4-0, maybe 4-1. No one in friendlies gives everything. Remember that. Holland will go far in Germany this summer, even with you aussies tackling and hacking our players. shows the difference in quality. But then again. I thank you guys for showing us what teams can be like, and what they will do to piss off other teams. But anyways, alot of compliment to your goal keeper. Brilliant saves, n verduka was dangerous at some points.

It would be nice if people could have logical and thoughtful comments. We have beaten top teams such as Brazil. May i remind you, Croatia and Japan have never achieved this.

Yes, the Australian team does not have the vision and skills of the south americans (and some of the european teams)…but we have teamwork and a lot of heart.

Don’t forget, the squad consists of players playing in a range of leagues worldwide. They play against european, south american, asian opposition week in week out.

We may not be up there with them yet, but this is the world cup. If you have any knowledge about football (and about Australian’s in general)…you’ll see that we are capable of more than a few surprises.

hey Martin, yeah everyone is entitled to their own opinion so here’s mine farkwit!

yeah soccer is a mans game but it also a game of skill…something the soccerwhos are lacking big time…Craig Foster even admits this haha…if you want to play argy bargy football (shiiet can you believe they are calling it football now…farkin bandwagoners) go play rugby or league…something ozzies are actually good at…cut the BS about tough this and wuss that…play with skill…thats what football/soccer is all about…keep the argy bargy shiiet with all the over-weight weekend soccer heros haha

@Martin
Thanks for your kind words , I sould’ve thought twice before shooting at the hi to Marco II…

The diving… I don’t like it. In HOlland we used to say the Zjermans invented it… I really don’t know. It’s hopefully an expression of people who’d do anything to win? That would be a new one for Dutch players . But it does ruin the game and refs can’t read that stuff. I am always very frustrated with linesman who miss handdballs in the box or can’t see who last touched the ball…

@sickemrex…

You know I wanted to like you and listen to what you had to say. I liked your name but then as soon as I started to read, I am thinking, is this Marco’s long lost brother here.

You can have your opinion mate but no need to bring that negativity crap here. Speak your mind but speak it with class.

I haven’t listen to a thing Craig Foster has said in a long time and taken him seriously. I don’t know who does?

The socceroos have a ton of skill. You can’t play for big clubs like Liverpool, Parma, AC Milan, PSV and to a lesser extent Blackburn, Boro, Newcastle etc without any skill. The Aussies have skill but they have been more renowned over the years for their physical tough game. Now we have skill to go along with it and this is why we are in the WC with a shot at making the second round.

And, mate, we have been calling it football for a while now, just the FFA took a while to catch up. There is no problem calling it soccer or football (or remember wogball mate), it’s all the same game. Does it make you better just cause you call if football?

And mate, make-up your mind….is the argy bargy stuff for rugby or league or for over-weight weekend soccer heros. I just got to know!!!!

sickemrex I have warned Marco about putting people down on here and now I am warning you. Please refrain from trashing other peoples opinions on topics. This is a dicussion area so debate/disagreement on topics is fine but there is no need to put down other people on here. If you fail to do this I will be forced to ban you from this site. Thanks.

The posters on this Ozzie fansite remind me of the Dutch team in ‘96, when Hiddink was just appointed as team manager…

Martin. Not really sure if I’d call Viduka ’skilled’. He has other qualities. Additionally, I don’t regard the EPL as high as other do as the difference in talent between top teams (Chelsea, ManU, Liverpool, Arsenal) and the big rest of the league is quite astonishing. Just because you play in England, doesn’t mean you’re a good player (I know, I saw Bernt Haas play for an English club. Hehe.). Additionally, some of your players play in bloody Switzerland. Man, even our national team doesn’t use players working for Swiss clubs. (More or less. And the ones who do are usually a worry in the team.)

Like I said before: you have a solid team (otherwise you wouldn’t be there). But you don’t have a great team. Don’t get over-excited for the WC. Second round: yes, maybe, if all goes well (as it did against the Dutch).

Whose interest is Viduka thinking of? Can one imagine the horror of 0-0 against Japan, and Australia is awarded a penalty in the last minute and Viduka wants to take because “I’ll take another 100 if that’s what it takes for me to score.” and he misses. So what, right, Viduka? You’ve got another 99 penalties to take before it sinks in that the team comes first rather than your desire to rid yourself of the nervousness when taking penalties.

Oi matt you talk about banning me and sickemrex yet you say nothing to martin who i says insulting things about me … now lets talk about his post …
So Australian players play for big clubs i dont think you can say kalac starts for Ac so it dont count.. Kewel barley gets a run at Liverpool and cullina barley ever starts for PSV .. and lets not even talk about Archie Thompson … Viduca grella and bresciano are the only consistent starting players Australia has (and if you want to look at it from this point of view .. you say Australia can beat brazil yet there’s not one player from Australia who could go into the brazil team!!!!). With regard to physical play Australia has already dug it self into a hole with the Holland game .. i can bet that even if they dont go past group stage they will rack up a ton of yellow and a couple red cards!!

VIVA L’ITALIAN AND FORZA LUCA TONI!!!!!!

To all Aussie supporters, go the US site, ie, click on its flag and then go to “Guardian Optimistic About US Future” ,and then read wthe derogatory comments that a person called Mike makes of Australia. The Americans think the US will be the next soccer superpower. I am still laughing.

I think that too many of you guys are reading in to this result far too much. It annoys me how the media now portray the Roos as an almost certainty to make it out of the group stage just beause we (very luckily) drew with The Netherlands. On 9/10 days that result would have been at the very least 2-1. If the Aust. public or the Aust. team think that this is the level of intensity which the Dutch would be playing come the WC then they are in for a huge surprise. After their goal on 9 mins. you can see that they sat back and playd keep-ball and pass-back in order to rest and smply maintain posession. If that was the WC the Dutch would be peppering the Aust. goal with their hit-men while their runners off the ball cause havoc to the Aust. defence. They WOULD NOT sit deep, they would maintain pressure higher up the park making constant attacks at goal as the physical and psychological effects of the first 10 minutes sinks in.

I am a HUGE fan of both the Socceroos and the Oranje and i am completely unbiased when i say that the Dutch are, and were, a far superior team, and this 1-1 draw is in no way an indicator as to how the Aust. will fare should they face the Oranje again, or any other attack and posession minded team.

enxo .. if america wanted to they prob could .. They have produced joe rossi who si 17 (althugth i think wants to play for italy) is only 17, is already signed up with man U and is the next huge thing in football … and as for ayl18 i totally agree with you on ur comments

Marco,

Mark Schwarzer is superior to Dida. If he was Brazilian, he would be their starting goalie.

Regarding Australia beating Brazil, I think it’s possible. We didn’t deserve a draw against Holland but we got it. We don’t deserve a draw (or even a victory) against Brazil, but we may get it. The better team don’t always win. It’s the result that matters.

Firstly, Dida is better then Schwarzer, thats why hes at milan and in 2003-2004 dida was the best or on par with buffon, with regard to top goal keeper.. .. the result does count .. but dont tell me you can fluke 6 or 7 games in a row tho