The Asian Cup is under way, and Australia finds themselves in the unbelievable position of needing a win against Thailand in their final game to progress to the next phase. Even that is not guaranteed if the win is by less than two goals. Any result other than a win by Iraq over Oman in the group's other game, will see Australia through with any win. But after two dreadful performances so far, a victory over the Thais seems far from certain.
Australia started on Sunday with 1-1 draw against Oman. Concerned about the heat all week, it seemed they psyched them out of the game and approached it with a total lack of intensity. Oman controlled most of the game, and quite easily could have had 2 or 3 goals more. Australia was saved by a couple of outstanding stops by goal-keeper Schwarzer, with one of the chances typifying the entire situation of the game. Unmarked in the box and waiting for a header, you could literally count the seconds for the ball to crossed to the Omani forward - 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds. It seemed the Omani player about to cross was as confused as anyone, waiting for a player to make a run. Instead, the player still free, the ball was crossed, bang, header on goal. Thankfully close enough for Schwarzer to save.
Then we see on replay the same Australian players still stuck firmly to the ground with no effort made for a challenge. One of those players being Lucas Neill - standing with arms on knees. If it wasn't for Tim Cahill's injury time goal, Australia's blushes would have been worse.
Obviously the 35 degree heat and 80% humidity did cause problems. But for the match against Iraq five days later, a different approach to the game was expected, and commensurately, a much better result.
However, inconceivable that the team could play worse, a whole new nightmare eventuated. Instead of fitness and intensity letting the team down, this time it was an appalling display of ill-discipline, and, seemingly, non-interest in the game. Iraq scored from a floating free kick that found itself straight into goal after an Iraqi player's run for the header was enough to put Schwarzer off. An ugly goal, one that for which Schwarzer really should have really come out, the real villain was Vince Grella's dangerous play that caused the free kick. With an Iraqi player heading a bobbling ball away, any high kick towards the wayward ball would always be a foul. Later on, Grella was lucky not to get a second yellow card and be sent off after tangling with another player and pushing him over. The Iraqi player's histrionics in falling to the ground is probably all that saved Grella. It was only a minor push, but these retaliations are usually dealt with very hard.
One-nil at the break, and it was deja-vu of another Oman, late-goal, scenario. Or at least hope. Miraculously, within 2 minutes of resumption, Australia played a direct attack through midfield, then onto Emerton out wide, who, instead of his usual piss-fart around with the ball or trying to take on defenders only to lose possession or pass backwards, crossed first time for Viduka to rise high and score with an outstanding header. Was this the moment the team would switch on? Was this the moment the team would acquire focus? It seemed so, with the response of players like Cahill in celebration, and especially Viduka and Kewell who showed a real level of both joy and intensity in their embrace to get this show back on the road. It was a great moment.
Unfortunately, this new found intensity only lasted 5 minutes. Soon they were back to old their ways of losing possession and sloppy passes. Most frustrating was the consistent poor options in passing. A player would be in acres in space, yet the pass would be made nearby to a player tightly marked or with an Iraqi in range of an interception. Indeed, this is the mechanism that led to the second goal, despite the team generally making the play. The villain being Tim Cahill, and compounded by Patrick Kisnorbo, who, floundering in defense, had no idea about the basic principle of tracking your man. If that wasn't a hair-pulling infuriating moment enough, with 5 minutes to go, Lucas Neill thought he'd just pass the ball straight to an Iraqi player. Not just one in free play, but one in free play and open on goal. Mahdi Karim's shot then comically deflecting off a scrambling Luke Wilkshire, to set up an easy tap in for Jassim Muhamed. Oh, and to top it, Neill managed to get himself a second yellow card in the dying stages of the match and be sent off.
No one can really begrudge a 3-1 loss in a general sense. Teams lose all the time, and those with greater favouritism to win than Australia ever did over Iraq. It was just the manner of the loss, and the appalling response by the players after the terrible first game. Then when you thought the moment came that would see everything click, it all fell apart.
It's not fair to pick out individual players, either. The entire team was bad. Although, it certainly is time to question some players, and certainly the decisions to play them out of position. Luke Wilkshire is not a left back. Even Brett Emerton is wasted as a right back. His best games for Australia have always in the front line or in midfield. Why you would try and convert Wilkshire into a left-back, when you have dedicated and far more attuned players like Mark Milligan on the bench, is a mystery. It might have worked under the Hiddink era, but in hindsight, Australia were lucky at times to get away with it. Now, we must accept that we don't the players with the required versatility that can play anywhere.
We also need show more respect for the competition and more respect for the opponents. While possibly speaking out of disappointment and frustration after the game, coach Graham Arnold said some players didn't want to be there. Viduka scoffed at the remarks and said it's not true. There does seem some truth to with some players - especially with Grella and Neill. Or maybe they subconsciously thought it would not be as difficult as it has proved - that they could just grab a couple of lazy wins in the early stages and then build up for the knockout games? The timing of the tournament certainly hasn't helped, with players coming after several weeks holiday. In that respect, the preparation of just one game against Singapore was not enough. While it could be suggested that Australia has underestimated its opponents, there's also the even more real scenario that Australia's opponents have over-estimated them, and made it very difficult.
Bizarre as it seems, Australia still has full control of its destiny. As said initially, a good win on Monday night against Thailand, and they are almost certain of going through. If they then go on and win the tournament, it might be time to start writing about another sport. Because this would become the most wackiest moment ever.
Australia did it tough, but they are through to the quarter finals of the Asian Cup after a 4-0 victory over Thailand. Thanks to the "weak of hell", the match was set-up beautifully with Australia needing a win to progress. It proved one of the most exciting matches ever, with Australia scoring mid-way through the first half thanks to a header off a Luke Wilkshire free-kick from Michael Beauchamp. Australia had 55% of the possession for the first half, and while playing much better than the previous games against Iraq and Oman, were largely restricted to half-chances and still gave away too much possession with silly close-in one-touch passing to players under pressure.
The critical moment of the match game soon after the break when Luke Wilkshire was played through on the right with a clear sight on goal, would have done better with a harder shot or, better still, slip it through to Viduka, but could only manage a weak shot at the goalie. While Wilkshire had another similar attempt not long later, it was all Thailand from here. They equalised the possession count to 50% within 20 minutes, and had Australia's defence constantly under pressure. Some good defending, some good goal-keeping, and some good luck, helped keep the Thais at bay. Not that some of the trouble was brought on by Australia themselves. Still intent on these crazy little passes to players nearby and tightly market, Thailand would would capitalise with swift passing to players in space.
One such instance gave Thailand their best chance when a break from midfield saw substitute Pipat Thonkanya's open shot on goal scuffed slightly making for an easy save by Schwarzer. On the 80 minute mark, when Australia finally dared to make a longer pass into space, substitute Tim Cahill ran on to it, lobbed into Viduka, goal. His strength proved too much for his Thai markers. From there, two more quick goals, and it was over. The Thais, needing just a draw, had crumbled. It just emphasised the critical nature of that Wilkshire shot early in the half. Australia scores, and they probably just ride out the remainder of the game comfortably.
The four changes coach Arnold made to the team also worked out well. Milligan, long overdue for a start, proved to have great awareness and made crucial tackles in defence. Beauchamp scored the vital first goal and let little through in defence. Carney was good on the wing, while Aloisi did ok up front. Cahill and Kewell, as substitutes, proved crucial in opening up the goal-scoring avenues.
Japan on Saturday will obviously be tougher. It's just great that Australia is there and that there's a huge game for which to look forward. As well as all the drama experienced so far. Something sadly missed when stuck in Oceania.
Australia is out of the Asian Cup after a penalty shoot-out loss to Japan on Saturday night. Score was 1-1 after extra time, after an engaging and enthralling match that saw Australia take the lead on 70 minutes, only for Japan to equalise two minutes later. In oppressive heat and humidity, neither team pushed hard, content on holding possession and waiting for opportunities. However, it was Japan that proved the more dangerous, with a more patient emphasis on their passing, compared to Australia's inclination for close in passing and quick flicks to players quite often tightly marked. As has been the bane of the entire tournament, this strategy caused too many turnovers, constantly seeing Australia's defence scrambling and under pressure. Compared to Japan and, in the previous game, Thailand, both teams were intent on waiting for players making good runs, and then play them directly with deliberate passing or after a minor interchange. The ability to switch play to players in open space seemed to be banned from the Australian play-book, while Japan saw it as a staple.
Despite all this, Australia did score first after John Aloisi scored at the far post from a low corner swung in by Harry Kewell. Unfortunately, that joy quickly evaporated when Japan scored on a defensive error less than two minutes later. Mark Milligan, who proved a great selection to both the games against Thailand and Japan, could not quite clear the ball after it was headed back across the face of goal. Takahara managed to retrieve the ball, turn Milligan, and then blast the shot in from close range. While Milligan may have done better, another culprit was Vince Grella, loitering on the edge of the box, leaving it too late to intercede. Another body in the area and there'd be no goal. If that ill-discipline wasn't it enough, it was compounded a few minutes later with a forearm to Takahara in a challenge for a header saw an instant red card. While commentators remarked the red card was harsh, reality is that Fifa has been strict on players keeping arms down, and Grella did swing his arm high and did connect flush straight in the face. If Fifa's regulations do state a red card for such an offence, then a red card it was.
From there, Australia played a greater conservative game, relying on fast breaks out of defence. Japan, while hardly pressing themselves in the conditions, continued with the momentum. They had a great chance in the dying stages of extra time, however, goal-keeper Schwarzer managed to stop the point-blank shot brilliantly.
The shootout proved an anti-climax, when heroes of the shootout victory over Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers in 2005, Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill, missed Australia's first two kicks. Kewell's was an especially bad penalty, scuffing his shot and hitting it too close to the goalie. Neill executed the same penalty as against Uruguay. If not predictable, it wasn't close to being as good. Australia had a hope later on when Takahara over-hit his shot, but Japan converted their last chance to win 4-3.
The early elimination has seen a huge focus on performance, much of it outrageous and, quite honestly, treacherous. Most of it led by the usual suspects - SBS and their "The World Game" program, which may as well be renamed "The Negative Game" for all the harsh criticism and negativity they provide, and journalists of other sports quick to rubbish the sport at any time they get - and much of full of hypocrisy and contradiction. On one hand they convey the difficulty of Asia and that the matches won't be easy, yet on the other hand rubbish the team for their poor performance. Effectively these spite-filled commentators are saying "yes, it will be more difficult in Asia, but we still expect you to win". Yes, the team did under-perform, with some of the ill-discipline quite dreadful, but maybe one quite sizeable factor in the equation is that the team were out-played by a better team on the day.
If that's not bad enough, this ugly sentiment also extends to within the sport, with the appalling treatment of coach Graham Arnold the shining example. It's as though some people have been waiting and wanting and hoping him to fail, so they can unleash their ugly, venomous agenda. Let's consider that it is his first gig as an international coach, and that he was hardly given ideal circumstances to prepare the team with only one warm-up match, and that the FFA, ultimately, is the one that appointed him, despite their procrastination of hiring an experienced international coach that they are clearly seeking, and that Arnold's status only ever being interim, hardly commanded authority with the players. The FFA are the ones prepared to send the team to the Asian Cup with an inexperienced, temporary coach yet escape all the criticism? Yes, Arnold did make mistakes, not just on the field but in his approach to the media, but the fact that he managed to turn it around, make some bold calls, and almost get a clearly under-prepared and low-confidence Australian team to the semi finals deserves some credit. Or, do we still have that mentality that Australia should have waltzed through?
With the preparation, some players (belatedly) even remarked that it was not quite good enough. However, the FFA was largely tied with demands for players to have some holiday before the tournament. Would the players have sacrificed another week in their holidays? The tournament's positioning was not ideal. These are things that are uncontrollable and will form part of lessons to be learnt for future tournaments. So too the players' attitude. While they constantly remarked that Asia would not be easy, there seemed some indifference and a slight lack of respect to the cause. However, that was soon restored and their pride showed out with committed and strong performances against Thailand and Japan.
Was the Asian Cup a success? Yes. Yes in the sense that we got to see our team play at a major tournament. When stuck in Oceania, we never had that opportunity. Where is the respect for even having this opportunity? The public could equally be attributed to having a lack of respect for the tournament.
From a footballing point of view, the tournament was thoroughly engrossing. Had Australia swept through 3-0, 1-0, 4-0 and 4-0 against Oman, Iraq, Thailand and Vietnam, respectively, on their way to the semi final, had their been such excitement, discussion and drama before each game? Australia's troubles, right from the time they fell behind to Oman, made each impending game and moment more and more interesting. The tension in the game against Thailand was reminiscent of that in the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. Had the team conceded late against Thailand, therefore putting them out of the tournament right then and there, that is success. That is success for being in Asia. We all said it would be difficult, yet so few believe in their words. Let's embrace this new, though phase we have encountered instead of being ungrateful, self-righteous, hypocrites.
Goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi was the hero as two-time defending champion Japan secured a place in the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup after edging out Australia 4-3 in a penalty shootout.
John Aloisi handed the Aussies the lead from Harry Kewell's inviting corner with 20 minutes remaining but Naohiro Takahara capitalised on a defensive error from Mark Milligan to respond almost instantly for the defending champions.
Vince Grella was then dismissed after clashing with Takahara, but Japan failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage with the scores level at 1-1 after both regular and extra time.
After Kawaguchi saved from Kewell and Lucas Neill in the shootout, Yuji Nakazawa stepped up to convert the crucial spot-kick and maintain Japan's charge for a third straight continental crown.
Japan coach Ivica Osim kept faith with the side that cruised to a 4-1 victory over Vietnam in the last Group B outing, while Socceroos chief Graham Arnold was without the banned Like Wilkshire.
Seiichiro Maki flashed a header wide from Yasuhito Endo's cross inside the opening 10 minutes as the game began at a slow pace with both side's content to retain possession in their own half.
Japan centre-back Nakazawa made a last-gasp intervention midway through the first half as Mark Viduka showed expert control at the near post and looked to pull the trigger from close range.
Endo found open space on the edge of Australia's area seven minutes before the break, but could only scuff his shot from Kengo Nakamura's cut-back and keeper Mark Schwarzer was able to turn the ball away for a corner.
Takahara almost broke the deadlock two minutes later, but he blazed over from close range while under pressure from Milligan.
Japan came out firing two minutes after the break as Schwarzer was forced to produce a smart save low to his left when Kengo Nakamura shot from the edge of the area.
Schwarzer almost handed Japan the lead just before the hour mark as he failed to hold Takahara's well-struck shot, but Maki failed to tap in from close range.
Australia then took the lead as a corner from substitute Kewell, who replaced Viduka on the hour mark, evaded everyone inside the area and found Aloisi at the far post and the Alaves man made no mistake from under the crossbar.
But Japan were back on level terms within two minutes as Milligan failed to clear after Shunsuke Nakamura's cross was headed back across the face of goal by Maki, and Takahara stole in to beat Schwarzer.
Australia were reduced to 10 men with 14 minutes remaining as Grella received a straight red card after catching Takahara in the face with his arm as the pair challenged for the ball in the air.
The match then headed in to extra time, and Schwarzer saved Australia in the last minute as the Middlesbrough custodian beat away Shunsuke Nakamura's acrobatic volley from point blank range in the only real attacking threat in 30 tense minutes.
Australia were always behind in the shootout after Kewell and Neill saw their efforts saved by Kawaguchi, and after Takahara was the only Japan player to miss from the spot, veteran defender Nakazawa stepped up to calmly secure the win.
| Group A | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Iraq | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 |
| Thailand | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| Oman | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 2 |
Thailand 1 (Sutee Suksomkit 6-pen) - Iraq 1 (Younis Mahmoud 32)
Australia 1 (Tim Cahill 90) - Oman 1 (Badar Mubarak 32)
Oman 0 - Thailand 2 (Pipat Thonkanya 70, 78)
Iraq 3 (N Akram 23, H Mohammed 60, K Jassim 86) - 1 Australia (Mark Viduka 47)
Oman 0 - Iraq 0
Thailand 0 - Australia 4 (Michael Beauchamp 21 Mark Viduka 80, 83 Harry Kewell 90)
| Group B | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 7 |
| Vietnam | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| UAE | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
| Qatar | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 2 |
Vietnam 2 (Huynh Quang Thanh 63, Le Cong Vinh 73) - UAE 0
Japan 1 (Naohiro Takahara 61) - Qatar 1 (Sebastian Quintana 88)
Qatar 1 (Sebastian Quintana 79) - Vietnam 1 (Phan Thanh Binh 32)
UAE 1 (Saeed Alkas 66) - Japan 3 (Naohiro Takahara 22,27, Shunsuke Nakamura 41)
Vietnam 1 (Keita Suzuki 8) - Japan 4 (Yasuhito Endo 32, Shunsuke Nakamura 53, Seiichiro Maki 12, 59)
Qatar 1 (Sebastian Quintana 42) - UAE 2 (Saeed Alkas 59, Faisal Khalil 90)
| Group C | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Iran | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 |
| Uzbekistan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 |
| China | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 |
| Malaysia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | -11 | 0 |
Malaysia 1 (Indra Putra Mahayuddin 72) - China 5 (Han Peng 15, 55, Shao Jiayi 36, Wang Dong 51, 90)
Iran 2 (Seyed Jalal Hosseini 55, Javed Kazemian 78) - Uzbekistan 1 (Rahman Rezaei 16 og)
Uzbekistan 5 (Maksim Shatskikh 10, 89, Timur Kapadze 30, Ulugbek Bakaev 45+2 pen, Aziz Ibragimov 85 - Malaysia 0
China 2 (Shao Jiayi 7, Mao Jianqing 33) - Iran 2 (Fereydoon Zandi 45, Javad Nekounam 74)
Malaysia 0 - Iran 2 (Javad Nekounam 29 pen, Andranik Teymourian 79)
Uzbekistan 3 (Maksim Shatskikh 72, Timur Kapadze 86, Aleksandr Geynrikh 90) China 0
| Group D | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Saudi Arabia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7 |
| Korea Republic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 3 |
| Bahrain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 3 |
Indonesia 2 (Budi Sudarsono 14, Bambang Pamungkas 64) - Bahrain 1 (Sayed Mahmood Jalal 27)
Korea Republic 1 (Choi Sung-kuk 66) - Saudi Arabia 1 (Yasser Al Qahtani 77 pen)
Saudi Arabia 2 (Yasser Al Qahtani 12, Saad Al Harthi 90+2) - Indonesia 1 (Elie Aiboy 20)
Bahrain 2 (Salman Isa 43, Ismaeel Abdullatif 85) - Korea Republic 1 (Kim Do-heon 4)
Indonesia 0 - Korea Republic 1 (Kim Jung-woo 33)
Saudi Arabia 4 (Ahmed Al Mousa 18, Abdulrahman Al Qahtani 45, Taiseer Al Jassam 68,79) - Bahrain 0
Iraq 2 (Younis Mahmoud 2,66) - Vietnam 0
Iran 0 - Korea Republic 0, Korea Republic win 4-2 on penalties
Japan 1 (Naohiro Takahara 72) - Australia 1 (John Aloisi 69), Japan win 4-3 on penalties
Saudi Arabia 2 (Yasser Al Qahtani 3, Ahmed Al Mousa 75) - Uzbekistan 1 (Pavel Solomin 82)
Iraq 0 - Korea Republic 0, Iraq win 4-3 on penalties
Japan 2 (Yuji Nakazawa 37, Yuki Abe 53) - Saudi Arabia 3 (Yasser Al Qahtani 35, Malek Maaz 47, 57)
Korea Republic 0 - Japan 0, Korea win 6-5 on penalties
Iraq 1 (Younis Mahmoud 71) - Saudi Arabia 0