Socceroo News - 2003 Archive

Note:

All Oceania news has been shifted to the "Obsolete" editorial in "Features" section

For the 2003 Under-17 and World Youth Cup results, check the "Action" section

01 December 2003: OFC WC/ONC merge, Basil's truth, New Fifa rules, Houllier, No 4-Way, Winter football?

First, apologies for such a delay in updates. With a couple weeks leave, and then just being ultra busy, I've not had the time. Of course, nothing major has happened in the sport anyway, but in what will probably be the way of the future, I will cover anything noteworthy in a monthly update. Of course, for major, compelling events, these will be covered as immediately as possible.

Oceania does something right for a change

Alarm bells rang when news of this broke, that Oceania will be merging the World Cup qualifiers and next year's Obsolete Nations Cup competition. While a totally sound option in principle, fear was that the endeavour to reduce costs and an ever cluttered football calendar, the OFC team to progress through to the World Cup playoff against a yet to be determined confederation would be decided by a one-off match (the ONC final). But rest assured that while the winner of the ONC will become ONC champions and therefore gain a place to represent the region in the Confederations Cup and the AFC-OFC Challenge, the two finalists from the ONC will playoff later in the year for the right to progress in the World Cup qualifiers.

Credit too for the OFC for producing a viable format that will see the end to those ridiculously lopsided scores that have been seen in recent years. And given the fixturing in the early off season and the significant impact of winning the tournament, there's no doubt that Australia will treat this tournament with the respect in now deserves.

The new format:

* The top ranking OFC countries, Australia and New Zealand, will receive a bye for the first stage with the remaining ten countries playing off in two group tournaments for four places to the second stage.
* The second stage will see Australia, New Zealand and the four qualifying teams involved in a round robin tournament played at a yet to be determined venue.
* The winner and runner up from the second stage will meet in the OFC Nations Cup final in late 2004. The winner of the OFC Nations Cup final will represent Oceania at both the FIFA Confederations Cup and AFC-OFC Challenge Cup in 2005.
* The winner and runner up from the second stage will meet again in late 2005 to decide the Oceania champion to playoff in the final stage of the 2006 World Cup qualifying process.

Basil and the truth behind Oceania losing its World Cup spot

Refer to Oceania Obsolete editorial

Fifa clarifies passive offside

Finally, Fifa has done something to remove the confusion regarding passive offside. That is a player who is in an offside position, but is not interfering with play. The query has always been about the term passive, and how much interference is allowed for someone to be active. For instance, standing around the goal mouth, even though not blocking the view of the goalie, could be regarded by some as active because it's a distraction. There's also the case of players becoming active.

First the "interfering with an opponent". That's now defined as "preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball, for example, by clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision or movements", or "making a gesture or movement while standing in the path of the ball to deceive or distract an opponent". Clear enough.

With players being passively offside but then becoming active is explained away easily. Firstly there's the law that states an offside is only judged when the ball is played. So if you're passively offside when the ball is played, it's case closed. However, there is the situation when you can subsequently gain an advantage from being in this passive offside position, to which an offside will be called. And that's when "playing a ball that rebounds off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position" or "playing a ball that rebounds off an opponent having been in an offside position". In these instances, the lineman's flags will stay down when the original passive call is made, but raised once the player touches the ball.

Of course, the thing with any of these Fifa rules is the referees actually enforcing them. Penalty-kick goalie movement, tackles from behind, offsides - rarely enforced properly. But this offside clarification is a good directive because the flaw with the old rule was that what constituted interference was too subjective. Same could be said about the reason for the tackle from behind rule being introduced. Pity it's not enforced. Hopefully this offside rule directive does not go the same way. While it's doubtful more goals will be scored, it should allow for attacking and open play - the intention of almost all of Fifa's new laws and directives.

Interestingly, after Korea/Japan World Cup, I suggested such a rule in the "Big Problems" editorial. There was also a suggestion of a rescinded-offside whereby if the player is warned offside, he can play himself back onside with the ball, and therefore cancel the warning and play continues. Doubt the referees could cope with that one!

Fifa's new country eligibility rule

Fifa also introduced a new rule that removes the restriction of players changing countries once they've already represented another any official level of the game. Therefore, playing for the U17 team - which is an official match, especially if it's a qualifier or similar - meant that a player was stuck with that country for life. Now, the restriction is only for appearances that have been played at A-International level - that generally being any game involving the senior national team against another.

The means of eligibility has been further clarified too. You must be a national citizen of the country you wish to represent, and to change countries, you must have also been a citizen of that country at the time of your A-international debut.

While this new directive could encourage disloyalty against the original country of the player's choice, conversely, the positive comes in the form that it will remove the pressure of young players picking countries. There was the classic case of Dylan McCallister, whose chosen to represent England under pressure from his club Leeds. He played for the U17s, but since then, his career has stalled, and is doubtful he'll ever play for England. Now, he's not tied to that country and can still represent Australia if he chooses and Australia wants him. Of course, once he makes is A-international debut, he's fixed. Sure that sounds treacherous, but with this rule, Leeds would have not have the lever to force him to play for England because it guaranteed nothing.

Then there was also the not too commonly known dilemma that faced John Aloisi. He actually "retired" from representing Australia totally at youth level to save himself for Italy. Of course, Italy never picked him, and he's now allowed Australia the indulgence to pick him now. Had this rule been in place then, he could happily of played for Australia at youth level, and then switched later on. A similar dilemma faced Josip Simunic. Difference being is that Croatia did end up picking and he played in the last World Cup.

Some may see this as a condemnation on the integrity of the national team uniform, but we must face the reality these days that some players are not imbued with patriotism that many of us would expect. And for all intents and purposes, the case of country switching is only a reality for a handful of players. Even for them, they can mistakes, and mature in time. Had Aloisi played for Australia at youth level and then been called for Italy later on, would he have switched? Many had doubts over Mark Viduka's allegiance, but now see him as 100% committed and patriotic to Australia. Often, as in the case of Dukes, it takes an experience of playing for your country, playing or living in your second country, to make you realise where your true home lies.

Blatter says no to the 4-way option

Refer to Oceania Obsolete editorial

Gerrard Houllier as technical director?

Hell no! Safe to say that I nearly choked on my weetbix when I heard this rumour. Liverpool's current coach is nothing short of an inveterate con-man. During his five-or-so years at the helm of the once great Liverpool, the observation clearly gleaned is of an inept coach that's a master of self-promoting rhetoric. Never does he take responsibility for his team losing; always does he gloat self-profusely when his team wins. Since being deluded by the ho-hum success of the Fluky (FA) Cup, the Second Rate (UEFA) Cup the Worthless (Worthington) Cup and the Crap (Charity) Shield in that season years ago, Liverpool's fans are now settling for mediocrity. Once the league and Euro Cup was the bare minimum for Liverpool, but not any more. Fluking another Worthless Cup (last year) has kept the wolves at bay for another season. The only time Liverpool has played anything resembling a championship contending team is when Houllier was holed-up with a heart attack. Liverpool put through a run of sustained, professional football, and finished second in the league. They probably would have won had Houllier not returned.

And no, a Liverpool fan I am not. I actually hate them. They're the AFL Collingwood of the Premier League.

Some may look to his record in France where he won the league and cup with Paris St Germain. Well, facts are that PSG are owned by a huge pay-TV company and were the richest club in the league. They effectively bought the title. A drover's dog's pup could have coached them to that success.

As for his period as technical director of France, quite to the contrary of what many believe, Houllier's record is appalling to say the least. France actually failed to qualify for two successive World Cups whilst Houllier was in charge. Sure they were unlucky for 1994 (only needed a draw at home to either Bulgaria or Israel, but lost to both in injury time after leading - and you call Iran heartbreaking) and there could have been some legacy towards the 1998 winning team, but for the cold hearted truth, Houllier should be shunned at all cost if we ever want to see Australian football progress. Those in France don't even rate him, and probably find the fact that he's plying his dubious trade in their arch-rivals country of England, ironically amusing, and hope he stays there permanently.

Besides those galling facts, I question the need for a technical director. A TD is only required for country that has a full international program. Australia has nothing other than a two serious games every four years. But those two games - a fluky playoff - an investment in a genie or witch doctor would be more judicious move for all the good a TD would do.

Winter football, two divisions and the Australian Premier League?

Another "what the f***?" suggestion. How can this be contemplated? Thing is, everyone's talking about a harmonised football calendar, but returning to winter will put Australia out of kilter with the world. It's not as if other southern hemisphere leagues like South America play in winter - they don't. And Socceroo coach Frank Farina's suggestion that a winter season would allow overseas based players to return for guest appearances is ludicrous. What - come play in the NSL during their leave after a hard European season? Absurd. Heat was raised as a concern, but truth is that the players can - and do - cope. Plus there's the obvious factors like media, crowds and crowd preference - all of greater benefit in summer.

There's been talk of introducing two divisions into the mooted Australian Premier League when that's introduced. While the concept is sound, the principle of relegating and promoting from the state leagues is absurd. The entire reason the NSL never took off is because state league teams with small support could never survive long enough or were too marginal with their support base to garner support. For two divisions, all clubs must be permanent members of the entire competition. While it's obvious that the NSL has insufficient teams for a proper two division league, a 12 team league could be tweaked into a semi-two-division league that would allow for live games for as long as possible during the season even better than what a standard two-division league could ever offer, whilst also extending the season to a more suitable number of games. Example:

With 12 teams, there are two division of six.

Each division plays each team in their division four times for a total of 20 games.

Each division plays each team in the other division two times for a total of 12 games.

That's a 32 game season.

The top four in each division qualify for playoffs with 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3.

In division one, the two winners meet in the Grand Final.

For a two-team promotion/relegation

In division two, the two winners are promoted to division one and play off to determine division 2 champions.

The teams finishing fifth and sixth in division one are demoted to division 2.

For a one-team promotion/relegation

In division one, teams fifth and sixth play off with the loser relegated to division two.

In division two, only the champion is promoted to division one.

The beauty of playing teams from the other division is that it does not marginalise the lower division as second rate compared to how a traditional second division is regarded. There's also the fact that the opportunity for promotion (in a two-team scenario) is so great that the divisions are so inexorably linked that they are almost one division. The only thing that hinders that reality is that any team in the bottom six of the competition would need two seasons to become competition champions. In all practical sense, that's almost the reality within a single division scenario anyway.

To alleviate that dilemma, however, there could be a case of including the top two teams from division two into the playoffs for division one (especially because they already will be promoted). Although, with division two having to complete their playoffs first, that would be difficult to fixture in. You'd probably have to abandon division two playoffs and throw them straight into a six-team final series - which the NSL has now - with the top four teams from division one. But that would defeat the purpose of two divisions, leaving the only thing is this scenario's favour is the extended league season.

Of course, with such small numbers, two divisions is not that favourable. You'd need at least 7, or preferably 8 teams per division for it to really work. And that's of course dependent on the clubs even wanting it. The introduction of a nationwide FA Cup-style competition (early rounds could be restricted to within the state to save on travel costs) would be far preferable to messing about with an extra division. But if they are serious about two divisions, then the above scenario is the only way to go.

28 September 2003: Finally, a new dawn for Australian Soccer

In the most telling move since Frank Lowy's new board was installed to govern the sport in this country, Soccer Australia will ceased to exist come the end of September. The company - effectively broke - will be replaced by a body known as the Australian Soccer Association after the SA board negotiated a $15m rescue plan with the federal government. Nine of that is a direct payment, while the rest is a loan. As part of the deal, the new company will be structured in accordance with recommendations from the Crawford report - the federal government's inquiry into the sport that was released last April. Replacing the company controlling the sport is designed primarily to legitimately end all existing deals and contracts, including sponsorship and most significantly, the maligned media deal with Channel 7 that actually allowed for no NSL club football to be shown on TV. While SBS can't offer the same sort of money that Ch7 did (ostensibly just to show Socceroo matches), it's expected that SBS will resume its historical role of covering domestic soccer in this country, which will fill the void in its already expansive coverage of the game.

So it's a true rebirth for Australian soccer in every sense of the word. As Frank Lowy pointed out, it's so much more than the next World Cup path, nor even Oceania's woes. In fact, there's no symbiotic relationship between the two. Fixing the game in this country will not affect the current dire status of Oceania. What this decision will do is lay a foundation where the game can finally build a real and sustainable future that won't be mired by self-absorbed politicians and selfish stakeholders. The only niggle is that a perfect opportunity has been missed to introduce the word "football" into the name of the company - something like the Football Association of Australia would be more apt. Of course, a trading name can be changed at any time, so it's not something that's a totally lost opportunity.

Refer to Soccer Australia's website for full details on this paradoxical announcement.

08 September 2003: Jamaica out-classed

Australia's experiment of a home match at Reading's Madejski Stadium in outer London last night proved an overwhelming success with a quality performance against the Reggae Boyz. The 2-1 victory could have been much higher, but for the efforts of Jamaica's goalie, Rickards, and some near misses. 21 shots to 6, and 10 corners to 0, says it all. Pity so many chances were missed. It would be nice for an Australian team to take all their chances once in a while. Other than that, and given the quality of players, a predictable result. If the likes of Jamaica do turn out to be the fourth best Concacaf team in the mooted four-way confederational playoff for the next World Cup, then they'd hold minimal fears. Even Concacaf's best team - Mexico - Australia's had their measure in recent years.

Much of the interest in this match was therefore on how the injury-forced revamped line-up would cope. Jamaica was unable to really test the defence, but  Ricardo Fuller's size and speed did cause trouble early, which led to Jamaica's goal. There were no real bad occasions where the defence was caught static. The recalled Steve Laybutt started lackadaisically - and picked up a yellow - but improved as the match progressed. None of the Olympic team players received a run, with the recalled Vidmar and Muscat filling the injury-created holes. While that sufficed against Jamaica, the pedigree of the defence is still a concern - even at full strength. The team really needs a world class stopper in the form of Uruguay's Montero or Holland's Jaap Stam.

In midfield, Bresciano's outstanding performance and excellent corners (never have I seen so many near-misses from so many corners in a match) in midfield suggests a permanent spot for him. That maybe at the expense of Skoko. Kewell had a picnic and scored the second goal from a crunch one-on-one situation with the goalie that Viduka failed to do against Ireland. Okon's performance - which included the threaded pass for Kewell's goal - was quite impressive with many openings created with his incisive passing. Of a concern was that he was caught in possession occasionally, and did enjoy the liberties of much space that crack international teams would not allow. Schwarzer and Kalac played a half each, but did virtually nothing. Both made just one save, though, Schwarzer's did rebound for Jamaica's goal. Nothing really learned in that area other than Kalac requires an opportunity to start a match against a higher quality opponent.

The question now is - what next? No matches are scheduled for the team, let alone anything serious. Starved for matches at present, friendlies will suffice. But that won't last long as the low-key and inconsequential nature of these sorts of games will soon become apparent. Jamaica's players seemed to lose interest just after Kewell's goal, and even Australia showed some disinterest with the endless pot-shots on goal. At times it looked like glory-seeking kids having a kick-around in the park rather than concerted football build-up. Yet, in South America, they've started their World Cup qualifiers. What a contrast.

Match report courtesy of the Jamaican Observer http://www.jamaicaobserver.com

Slick Socceroos silence Boyz
SEAN A WILLIAMS, Observer staff reporter Monday, September 08, 2003

READING, England -- It was the goalkeeping heroics of Donovan Ricketts that spared Jamaica's Reggae Boyz from a more embarrassing defeat against Australia and kept the score to a conservative 2-1 in favour of the Socceroos at the Madejski Stadium here yesterday.

Marco Bresciano nudged Australia into the lead in the 19th minute, with Charlton Athletic's Kevin Lisbie putting Jamaica on even terms in the 22nd. The irrepressible Liverpool frontman, Harry Kewell, put the icing on the cake in the 58th and was only kept from adding to that strike by the brilliance of Ricketts.

Before the kick-off, technical director, Carl Brown, was faced with a huge dilemma as he was missing key midfielders Theodore Whitmore, Richard Langley and Micah Hyde, and had to improvise. His plans were working for the first 45 minutes, but collapsed when the slick, fast moving Aussies roamed the middle of the pitch with little or no resistance.

Forwards, Trevor Benjamin and Lisbie, had to be converted into midfield men to join regulars Omar Daley and Ricardo Gardner.

There was a bit of disjoint in the defence as well as with anchorman, Claude Davis, who was out through injury. Frank Sinclair, Craig Ziadie, Tyrone Marshall and Michael Johnson formed a back four that struggled -- especially towards the end -- to keep Kewell, Mark Viduka, Bresciano and Scott Chipperfield away from their bombarded goalie.

Despite all of this, Brown believed the effort of the Reggae Boyz was a good one. "It was a fairly good game, one in which we expected them to be as strong as they were out there ... but then again we took a long time to settle down, but when we did we played well and did that for the rest of the first half," Brown said.

It was Bresciano who threatened first in the seventh minute when he was found open, but his scorching grounder skipped dangerously wide. Three minutes later, Gardner took up the gauntlet and ploughed his way into the heart of the Australian defence, but failed to get a shot off. And in the 16th, Gardner was at it again when he dispossessed Australia captain, Paul Okon, but his driven left-foot shot sailed marginally high.

While Sinclair did a fairly good job to keep Leeds' Viduka quiet for the most part, he could not stop the bulky forward from setting up the opening goal of the contest. Viduka, unmarked on the edge of Jamaica's goal area, chipped a delightful ball for Kewell, whose left-footed blast rebounded for Bresciano to drive home from 17 yards.

But in what seemed less than a heartbeat later, Ricardo Fuller -- full of pace, magic and determination -- demolished the Australian left flank, leaving an army of trailing defenders in his wake before forcing Mark Schwarzer to parry his low drive onto the boot of an onrushing Lisbie, who made no mistake from six yards. A few minutes later Fuller repeated the dance down the right side, but his delicate, well-measured pass to Trevor Benjamin was skied from just inside the penalty area.

Kewell -- smooth, crafty and speedy -- nearly push his team ahead, but Ricketts acrobatically steered his left-foot drive over the horizontal to the relief of the thousands of cheering Jamaican spectators who greatly outnumbered their Aussie counterparts.

When Fuller was substituted at half-time for Jermaine Johnson, Jamaica's attacking zest went with him, which totally switched all the goalmouth action in front of the Jamaican frame. Brown declared later that Fuller was withdrawn because the Preston North End frontman was feeling a niggling pain in his troublesome knee.

With 57 minutes on the clock, the Australians began to rip to shreds not only Jamaica's struggling midfield, but the defensive unit as well. An eye-catching combination involving Josip Skoko, Chipperfield and Viduka put the tormenting Kewell alone with Ricketts, but his well-struck volley from 17-yards was cuddled by the outstanding Jamaican 'keeper. Towards the end, Ricketts was there to deny Kewell yet again from close range and minutes later, he brilliantly saved Bresciano's blistering right-foot drive from inside the 18-yard box. The Australians made sure of the win when Kewell was played a through ball from the middle of the park. The Liverpool striker outsped Frank Sinclair, Tyrone Marshall and Ziadie before expertly slotting past an advancing Ricketts.

Australia's coach, Frank Farina, said he was satisfied "the boys did enough to win", and that he was impressed with the Reggae Boyz, "I think they are a good side ... they have a lot of good individual players who are very quick, very strong. They are learning as we are and if they keep playing together, they will be a better side," Farina said.

Jamaica-- Donovan Ricketts, Craig Ziadie, Frank Sinclair, Tyrone Marshall (Onandi Lowe 77th), Michael Johnson, Omar Daley, Ricardo Gardner, Ricardo Fuller (Jermaine Johnson - 46th), Barry Hayles (Fabian Taylor 69th), Trevor Benjamin (Damion Stewart 59th) and Kevin Lisbie (Jamal Campbell-Ryce 79th).

Booked: Gardner (73rd)

Australia -- Mark Schwarzer (Zeljko Kalac - 46th), Kevin Muscatt, Tony Vidmar, Lucas Neill, Paul Okon, Harry Kewell, Josip Skoko, Marco Bresciano, Steve Laybutt, Scott Chipperfield and Mark Viduka (Mile Sterjovski 85th).

Booked: Laybutt (23rd)

06 September 2003: Australia without a significant seven

Australia enters the match against Jamaica - its first home match in England - decimated by injuries to its first choice squad. Seven first choice players will be missing, including three key defenders. Those missing will be Craig Moore (hamstring), John Aloisi (hamstring), Hayden Foxe (calf), Tony Popovic (calf), Stan Lazaridis (groin), Brett Emerton (calf) and Danny Tiatto (abductor). Into the team come a swag of recalled players and Olyroos. Olyroo Jon McKain is a virtual no-name and plays club football in Romania, whilst Ljubo Milicevic also comes into defence. Brett Holman will help out up front. Of the recalled players - Mile Sterjovski, Steve Laybutt and Steve Corica - Laybutt has been the most surprising. He burst onto the scene in the two matches against Brazil's predominantly Olympic team several years ago, but then inexplicable lost the plot. His efforts in matches against Colombia and Japan were terrible: seemed lazy, disinterested and even disillusioned. He even struggled in the NSL. But now he's playing well in Belgium and seems to be back on track. He'll be the most interesting player to follow on Sunday night.

Up front, things are strong again with Harry Kewell back in the team after injury, and Mark Viduka looking to add to his goal tally after scoring against Ireland. Goalkeepers present no worries, though, surely it's time Kalac had a run. Skoko will return to the team too, with Bresciano - his replacement against Ireland - likely to replace the recently disappointing Brett Emerton on the right wing. Sterjovski may also get a run. Scott Chipperfield should retain the left side, whilst it looks like coach Farina will reshuffle the defence with Muscat and/or Vidmar to play as a stopper.

For Jamaica, they've lost one of their key strikers with Theodore Whitmore sustaining a knee injury.

While the loss of so many players reduces the expectation and pedigree of the match, it should provide for more action. You'd think Kewell and Viduka will prove a real handful for Jamaica, whilst Australia's knock-about defence could be exploited at the other end. Obviously we should be disappointed if there's no win, but a good, cohesive performance with plenty of goals will be sufficient.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Zeljko Kalac, Mark Schwarzer
Defenders: Steve Laybutt, Jon McKain, Ljubo Milicevic, Kevin Muscat, Lucas Neill, Tony Vidmar
Midfielders: Marco Bresciano, Steve Corica, Scott Chipperfield, Vince Grella, Paul Okon, Josip Skoko, Mile Sterjovski
Strikers: Brett Holman, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka

20 August 2003: Stupidity of the Australians sees Ireland win

For something different, this email to the Socceroo Realm asks all the right questions, so here are the answers.

Sean wrote:

I only saw the first half, because, believe it or not, I had to be in at school by 8am to hand in a SAC and I couldnt watch all of it. Set the VCR to tape the 2nd half though.

I could say tough luck, but it turned out to be the right choice.

I'm still pissed off about it. I originally was going to Federation Square with friends again in just about every piece of clothing I own, but had to watch the game in the lounge room. You weren't at Fed Square were you?

Well, to be honest, I'm digusted (about the match, that is). I thought the team lost the plot, and got too comfortable, or even cocky. And no, I struggle to awake and hit the remote control for the TV at that hour of the morning, let alone arising even earlier to stand out in the cold.

So what was the 2nd half like? Viduka scored, so happy for him. Did we play OK? What about them?

Dukes missed a one-on-one chance to take us 2-0 up, and it's the sort of crunch goal that bites us back that we always miss. He took an extra dribble, which allowed the goalie to close him down too much. While I was also rapt he finally scored a goal after six years, that miss more than undid his effort. At the 60min mark of the game, it would have almost wrapped it up. Unfortunately, his poor international goal scoring credentials are back to square one. He badly needed that goal to gain some status. But really, he needs a hat-trick against a quality opponent in a crunch match and situation to really shake the monkey off his back. Something like the winning goal in a World Cup qualifier that sees us qualify would be ideal.

Viduka's miss actually proved the turning point, and Ireland took control for a period. Especially when Ian Harte was brought on for Ireland. However, we were blocking them out with ease until a free kick was awarded near the corner flag for some stupid reason. There was a bit of holding on by Lazar, but nothing untoward. And Duff instigated it. However, the goal was superbly taken and almost undefendable against the quality of the free kick from Harte. No complaints there, but their second goal was a disgrace. After a sloppy short pass was intercepted by Harte, he diagonally lobbed over the top and Morrison burst through the static defence of Tony Vidmar and Popovic and chased the ball as it travelled to the point of the penalty box. Did not seem too harmful, but Vidmar raised his hand claiming offside and stopped running in the process, whilst Schwarzer tentatively came out to meet the ball. But Morrison reached it first and poked it past Schwarzer. However, with poor contact, it only dribbled slowly towards goal, so Vidmar resumed his run and chased hard. But his stupid offside claim and subsequent pause cost him as he despairingly arrived too late. Why try play offside? His actions probably also forced Schwarzer to charge out because suddenly there was no defensive cover. Calamity all-round. When there's a turnover, how about dropping back instead? It's just so galling to concede such a goal that should have been prevented, or at least defended more intelligently. I'm just so sick of offside traps and players then trying to referee the game themselves. I've never seen a referee respond to players' offside calls. It's a ridiculous ploy. Play the ball first, and worry about decisions later.

Thought we were OK in the first half...I cant believe Tiatto missed that chance. Kewell not playing was disappointing, but I dont really doubt his commitment any more, although theres students around me at the moment who are bagging him.

Tiatto's miss was a shocker, must worst than Viduka's. With the goalie stranded, he should have been easily beaten. Of course, Tiatto's was no where near as pivotal or crunch as Dukes' proved to be. Tiatto had another shot eariler, but that was a tough angle. It came just after Bresciano's nice take-down and snap volley that hit the bar. Really, we had three great chances in the first half whilst Ireland had just that late Robbie Keane chance that was easily saved.

I was surprised at the choice of Chipperfield as Viduka's off-striker. He did OK in the first half...what was he like in the 2nd? I wouldve played Aloisi I reckon. Bresciano was good (in what I saw again)...keep playing him definitely. Okon has had his day. I like him and have much respect for him, but he's not suited to our style of play any more and he looked a bit slow as well. For next game, put Grella in his place and give the captaincy to Dukes or Moore. Kewell has to earn the captaincy....he hasnt yet.

Chipperfield was fine, and one of the better players. Yes, quite a surprise the selection, but Farina was looking to replace Kewell, and Chipperfield is more in Kewell's style than Aloisi. I've never been a fan of Aloisi anyway. He's only scored one decent goal (against Mexico in the 1997 Confederations Cup), and just seems a tryer, rather than an out and out clinical goal scorer.

Bresciano played in fits, but showed more than enough to suggest another go. Certainly he proved the most dangerous. Set-up Dukes for his lamentable miss.

Okon did a few nice things, but seems on the wane. Grella must be given a try. While I've never been a fan of him, he'd do at least as well as Okon.

Of the others, Emerton failed to impress. Lazar did nothing other than supply Duke's cross when under little pressure. The cross surprised all - had huge swerve, but quite easily could have been cleared instead of luckily landing in front of Dukes. In saying that, his defensive efforts were excellent. Obviously important when playing mostly as a defender.

Overall, the defence did their job, with Neill the pick of all the players. Schwarzer should have done better with the second goal, I'd suggest, and probably he'd suggest. I'd have preferred to see Kalac given a run.

Yes, and I think Dukes or Moore should be captain. Thing is, Dukes' is never mentioned in that regard. Yet he's captained teams at all other levels. The captaincy may kill off his goal scoring lethargy.

Oh, and yes...Ch7 are a disgrace. Showing ads during goal kicks is one thing....the amount that they showed is another.  It was unbelievably galling, to say the least. Anything can happen in a minute of a game of soccer. 

The ads were bad, but it is a commercial channel, that's the reality. The game was not live anyway - on a slight delay. I noticed this at the end of the first ad break when the game clock had barely moved. So the ads actually did not cut any of the game out. But they are annoying, but what's the solution? Playing the game over four quarters, instead of two halves, is probably the only way to go. It should be allowed for friendlies, which also gives natural breaks for all the substitutions. In fact, I don't even know why the game has to pause for subs. It does not happen in the AFL. I think what offended about the ads so much was that they were so obtrusive by coming at such irregular times and lasting for so long. I really hate the sporadic breaks in play. Maybe the best solution is to delay the game slightly (as they did), but just put in one batch of ads midway through each half, creating pseudo quarters. That would at least preserve the game whilst allowing the commercial channel to the pay the bills. I would not mind a slight delay for such a compromise, just as long as we're aware of it.

Someone is just telling me as I write that they could afford to because the game was delayed. Not sure if thats true, but it doesnt make it OK. They just dont have a clue. Give the rights to SBS.

Yes, the game was delayed. Pity it was not delayed further. Waking at 6am was insane. As someone whose bedtime is 1am at the earliest, 6am is like the middle of the night for me. The match against Jamaica on September 7 will be 11pm on a Sunday night - much more sensible time.

Anyway, disappointing to see that we lost, but we'll bounce back.

Yes, a huge disappointment. One that got away. The performance was fine, it was just the way we lost - the dumb defending. Two goals, late in the game, and in a matter of minutes. One a dubious free kick; the other a mis-kick that just sneaked in. And it had to be against Ireland. Just sick of the stupid luck of the Irish and all their happy-go-lucky nature. It was more like the stupidity of the Australians. It makes me sick. I'd rather we lose to Jamaica than dumb Ireland. No doubt they'll be gloating about doing something that England couldn't. They really give me the shits. I rate it as our worst loss since the Iran game.

A report on the game, courtesy of socceraustralia.com.au

A late surge from the Republic of Ireland has saw the Commonwealth of Australia go down 2-1 in what was a very entertaining match at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Substitute striker Clinton Morrison scored the winner for the Irish in the 81st minute, when he raced onto a long ball from Ian Harte and was able to squeeze the ball past the advancing Mark Schwarzer from the edge of the box, the ball just dribbling inside the near post ahead of defender Tony Vidmar.

Australia had taken the lead early in the second half with Mark Viduka breaking his goal drought for the national team, bringing the ball down with his knee before slamming home from inside the six-yard box. Stan Lazaridis made the goal with a surging run down the left and his dangerous cross could not be cleared by Andy O’Brien. The goal was just Viduka's third in his 23rd appearance for the National Team and first since the 1997 Confederation's Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Viduka then had a great chance to put his side two up when brilliantly put through by Marco Bresciano, but with only the Irish keeper to beat, Viduka was unable to place his shot past him. From that moment on, the Irish dominated continually pushing forward as the Australian’s became tired.

Ireland got their deserved equaliser in the 72nd minute after Australia gave a way a needless free kick on the right edge of the penalty box. Harte’s free kick was perfectly placed at the near post for John O’Shea to head home.

Australia had the better of the first half, with Bresciano, in for Josip Skoko, particularly impressive. In the 12th minute, he showed great skill to flick the ball past Steve Finnan and unleash a fierce volley at goal only to see it strike the crossbar. Scott Chipperfield, moved just in behind Mark Viduka up front after Harry Kewell’s withdrawal because of injury, was unable to keep his header down from the rebound. A minute later Bresciano fed Kewell’s replacement in the starting side Danny Tiatto inside the penalty box and his powerful shot was blocked by Coglan. On 20 minutes, Tiatto had another great chance when he raced onto a long clearance by Schwarzer and with only Coglan to beat rushed his shot and sliced it wide.

Ireland’s best chance of the first half came late on, when Robbie Keane was denied by Schwarzer at the near post and to add to his woe he looked to land on a sliding Tony Popovic and turned his ankle, forcing him off the park.

“I thought we played reasonably well,” said coach Frank Farina after the match.

“We created a lot of chances and if Mark Viduka had put that second chance away we would have been two in front and it would have been difficult for Ireland to come back.”

“I thought the two teams were very evenly matched.”

Farina had high praise for Bresciano’s performance after stepping in for incumbent Josip Skoko, whose late arrival and some knocks from the weekend forced him to start on the bench.

“I thought Bresciano did very well and was unlucky not to score in the first half.”

Republic of Ireland: Colgan; Carr (Harte 57), Breen (O'Brien 46), Cunningham, O'Shea; Finnan (Kilbane 67), Holland (Healy 20), Kinsella, Duff; Keane (Connolly 43), Doherty (Morrison 57).

Commonwealth of Australia: Schwarzer; Neill, Popovic, Foxe, Lazaridis; Emerton, Okon (Grella 67), Bresciano, Tiatto (Vidmar 69); Chipperfield, Viduka (Aloisi 78).

This is what Farina had to say after the game.

Asked first about Viduka's first goal since the 1997 Confederations Cup.

"Mark is disappointed we lost and is obviously happy scoring but he would have even been happier not scoring had we won," Farina responded, in reference to Viduka ending his six-year goal drought.

"He did very well for us and I've always maintained that whether Mark Viduka scores for us or not, what he brings to this team is invaluable. I suggest he is one of the top centre-forwards or strikers in the world."

About missing so many chances

"I'm very disappointed with the result but I thought we played very well. Especially for the first 70 minutes. I felt we deserved better. With the limited chances Ireland had they took them and that was it. Overall I was pretty pleased with the performance.

"I thought we dominated in the first half but unfortunately we didn't score. There were a couple of little things I was concerned about but nothing major.

"We went out and scored in the second half and probably should have scored the second with the chances we had but that's football."

"The ones we had in the first half were clear cut. I think we had Tiatto through two times in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper, Marco Bresciano hit the post with a great strike from distance. We came in at nil-all when we deserved to come in at least a goal up."

On the team changes caused by Kewell and Moore's injuries, and Skoko's ommission.

"That is why we play these games. You may lose players through injury before important games and its vital to give other players a chance. We didn't have Harry but I felt Chipperfield played exceptionally well. Skoko got in late and was tired after travelling all day. Moore was injured. That gives the opportunity for others and I thought all the players that came in played well and as much as I'm disappointed with the loss, the positives that came out are enormous."

On the midfield, and Okon's substitution and yellow card.

"Paul Okon played exceptionally well and Bresciano had a great game. Viduka up front was also very good. I think everyone that played can hold his head up high and the effort can't be questioned. He got a yellow card but he was a bit eager. I was a bit worried if he kept going in as he was, if he got another, we might have been down to 10 men. I was very pleased with the input he made. I think he silenced a lot of critics and certainly his use by date is not up just yet."

On the team for the game against Jamaica.

"Because we don't play enough games in a 12-month period we won't change our team for the sake of changing the team. Whilst it's doing well we will continue on. We saw Bresciano, Foxe and Tiatto come in and do well and I can't see to many major changes for that game."

18 August 2003: Ireland - time to experiment? Bosnich on drugs?

The build-up between the Republic of Ireland and the Commonwealth of Australia (may as well be consistent and use official country names for both countries, not just Ireland) scheduled for 6am Wednesday morning AET has seen the focus on whether coach Farina will experiment with the starting line-up. While Craig Moore's injury means Hayden Foxe looks set to gain a start, the most intriguing decision will be in midfield. With incumbent Paul Okon struggling somewhat in recent performances with the national team and now restricted to reserves football at his club Leeds, young guns Vince Grella and Marco Bresciano - starring in Italy - seem primed to take over. Especially Grella, who plays similar roles to Okon, but seems far more advanced. However, there seems some resistance to tamper with what's been successful, and Okon seems to be favoured. But surely it's time for some experimentation. If Farina's to uphold his mantra of playing players that are regular first-team footballers, then surely it's the perfect time to start with Grella. After all, it is only a friendly, and against a team that lacks class but is highly competitive. It's a perfect arena for a player with the class of Grella to show his wares.

The other quandary is in goals. While Mark Schwarzer has been incumbent, his club - Middlesborough - has yet to start their season. Whereas Zelko Kalac has been in excellent form playing in Italy's premier division, which started several weeks ago. Again, it's a perfect time to give the form player a start, especially so in Kalac's case, whereby his loyalty - even as perennial number two - to Australia has been impeccable. He deserves some reward. And it's not as if playing Kalac and Grella will adversely affect the team. In fact, the team could excel further, and continue on their quest to sweep the British Isles after the recent victories over Scotland and England. With Duff and Keane the livewires for Ireland - who have virtually been unbeatable at their Lansdowne Road home - it should be an interesting game.

Bosnich on drugs?

If not actually, then surely figuratively, especially when you hear his recent confession. He's finally come clean, but insisted the $5000-a-week cocaine habit only started after he was suspended from testing positive to the drug. He maintained that if the insistence was that he was on cocaine, then he may as well be. Not only that, he felt that taking the drug would be the best way to help his girlfriend kick her habit. By taking double her intake whenever she had a snort, he hoped the hurt she would feel for him would dissuade her herself. Stunning excuses, especially since they're supposed to be legitimate. If it had not come from an official press release, it would be even more laughable.  Makes one wonder whether he's on something hallucinogenic as well.

29 July 2003: It's Harry that was betrayed, not Leeds, whilst three World Cups approach.

The Harry Kewell saga continues with weekend newspapers reporting that Kewell was prepared to quit the national team if Soccer Australia does not come to his assistance over a Fifa enquiry requested by the English FA into his recent transfer to Liverpool. The enquiry was prompted at the request of local Fifa approved agent Chris Tanner, who claims that Kewell's transfer was made by a non-approved agent - in this instance, Kewell's commercial manager Bernie Mandic. Quite what the transfer has to do with Tanner is the exact problem Kewell and Mandic have. They believe his interference is solely about big-noting himself at the expense of Harry Kewell. They also maintain the transfer was totally above board with the actual deal completed by Mandic's brother, Nicola, who represents the same company as Mandic and who is indeed their official Fifa approved agent. It seems that Kewell is totally justified with his calls, but quite what SA can do about it is uncertain. (18/08/2003, footnote: SA investigated the transfer and advised the English FA that it found nothing untoward with it, hence, the Fifa enquiry has been dropped.)

As for the transfer itself, well, Harry again seems to have done nothing wrong. It was Leeds that instigated Kewell's departure as they've been combing the market for a potential sale - behind Kewell's back - for six months. All the publicity against Harry has been Leeds-driven, but it's they that are the disloyal ones. Realising they could not keep to afford him, they wanted to sell Harry whilst he was worth something. Naturally, Harry simply wants to go to a club of his choosing.

However, where the bad publicity has been generated is that Leeds wanted him to go to a club of their choosing - because more money was offered. Sure the combined power of the expiration of Harry's Leeds contract next year and Harry-Liverpool connection seemed a pseudo ultimatum and therefore reduced the potential transfer fee, all Leeds had to do was offer him a new contract to tie him up much earlier on. But they never did. Their ambition was to sell, sell, sell, before Harry could walk free.

Leeds should actually count themselves lucky that Harry even agreed to leave. He could have been spiteful and just waited until the contract expired and got heaps more, while Leeds would have been left with nothing. But no, he's actually been more loyal than Leeds could ever claim to be and done absolutely nothing wrong.

As for conjecture about walking free at the end of a contract, which means the club gains no transfer fee, so what. Join the real world. Players are not commodities, they are merely employees. In no other profession are there transfer fees for the investment employers place into their employees, so why football? From my own perspective, I started out as nothing at my job, and command double my original salary now. But when my time's up, I walk.

Up-coming World Cups - Draws

13 Aug to 30 Aug 2003, Finland, U17: Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Nigeria.

A result - even a draw - against Argentina, whom the play first up, should set them up. African teams are often dangerous for Australia in the past. Always been a good record over CONCACAF teams at all levels.

20 Sep to 12 Oct 2003, USA, Women: China, Ghana, Australia, Russia.

China will be too strong, but the other two are well within Australia's reach. The Matildas should improve on their terrible performances of the last Olympics and World Cup and qualify for the second phase.

27 Nov to 19 Dec 2003, United Arab Emirates, U20: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic.

Toughest of the lot, and will have to beat Canada. Play the Czechs first and generally perform well against European teams. The Czech's only qualified through the back door, so a chance to steal a win, especially first-up.

0030 GMT, 19 July 2003: The dawn of a new future?

This was the exact time, at 10.30 am local time, that Frank Lowy took control of the Soccer Australia board. This was the key recommendation out of the recent Crawford government enquiry, but the implementation of the board had been blocked for almost 3 months after three renegade directors exploited every possible loophole available to remain in control. This was in spite of an overwhelming majority of stakeholders endorsing Lowy to take control immediately. But this time, they had no choice. Their time was up. And to three cheers, the renegade board was out by unanimous decision.

Joining Lowy - Australia's second richest man - on the board will be advertising and broadcasting tycoon John Singleton, Ernst & Young chief Brian Schwartz, Melbourne Commonwealth Games president Ron Walker, real estate developer Phillip Wolanski and former SOCOG lawyer Suzanne Williams. Lowy's first action was to appoint Walker as Australia's representative to Oceania. And holidaying in Europe at the time, he met with Fifa president Sepp Blatter to discuss Oceania's World Cup path.

Taking control was not something Lowy was that eager to do, but felt he simply must. His tenure finishes late 2006 with his major goal being to revitalise the local national league in the hope of attracting many of Australia's professional players back home so as to build the strength of the national team and the game as a whole in this country. He's also committed to obtaining a fair World Cup path and for Australia to take a more active role in developing Oceania to be more stronger and relevant in the international football community. If he can pull that one off, he truly will be a miracle man.

29 June 2003: Outrage as Fifa strips Oceania of World Cup spot.

Refer to the feature, "The OFC - the Obsolete Football Confederation" for all news on this event.

28 May 2003: Australia snubbed again with Women's World Cup; Oceania World Cup Draw; Kiwis hold Scotland.
With the outbreak of the SARS virus in China forcing the transfer of the Women's World Cup, the USA has been selected as the substitute country to host the event to be held between September 23 and October 11 - the original dates planned for China. While Australia, Canada, Italy and Sweden were other countries to offer their services, it was felt the USA was most capable to host the tournament at such short notice. Despite hosting the previous occasion, no real surprise there. But anyone who remembers the circumstances in which China was awarded the Cup in the first place, would have realised that Australia's offer had no hope. That's because when bids were originally sought for the World Cup, Australia was, in fact, the only applicant. However, Fifa, in their perverse wisdom and to the dismay of Australian authorities, delayed the deadline for applications and actively encouraged China to apply. Several months later, snap, crackle, pop, China's awarded the World Cup.

Note above Oceania's planned World Cup qualifying dates. These are Fifa "double dates", which mean the designated international window encompasses a weekend whereby no club games are played. Obviously there's no excuse for anyone reneging a call up. As previously noted, Australia will play 10 games in a group of six teams home and away. Australia and New Zealand are automatically seeded into this final group, with the other four spots being filled after a pre-qualifications series involving Oceania's other nations. It's expected that next year's Oceania Nations Cup will double as not only qualification of the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany, but also for the final phase of the Oceania World Cup qualifying series. The actual match itinerary for this series is yet to be determined, but rest assured the games against New Zealand will be over the final double date so as to keep the series alive for as long as possible. As for the other dates, suggestions are that they'll also involve a home and an away leg against one particular country, but in reality, especially with travel considerations, playing two home matches in Australia or two away matches over the double dates is just as probable.

Speaking of New Zealand and Confederation Cups, in their preparation for this year's version, the Kiwis managed to complete a nice undefeated Anzac sequence over the hapless Scots in Tynecastle overnight. After Australia defeated Scotland, 2-0, two and a half years ago, the Kiwis drew 1-1. Here's the intro of what Glasgow's Herald (http://www.theherald.co.uk/) had to say:

"KIWIS CLIP WINGS OF TIRED SCOTS
by ROB ROBERTSON
Scotland 1 - New Zealand 1

A win has been a rare commodity in the Berti Vogts era and what was supposed to be a morale-boosting 90 minutes last night turned out to be nothing of the sort. Granted Scotland had most of the play against New Zealand but a draw against a country much better known for its rugby than its football satisfied nobody. With Germany waiting in the vital Euro 2004 qualifier at Hampden next Saturday there were no last-minute surprises in team selection or formation that would have caused Rudi Völler sleepless nights.

In the new world order of football the men from New Zealand were never going to be pushovers and only those with their minds still locked in the past would have thought otherwise. Scotland may have beaten them 5-2 in the 1982 World Cup but that was with a team including players like Gordon Strachan, Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish.

Many a Crowded House recording has been murdered on karaoke nights since then and, while the Scottish game has stagnated somewhat, the New Zealand soccer scene, unlike its music, has improved no end. At present the men from the land of Jonah Lomu and John Walker are 51st in the world rankings, 13 places above Scotland. An indication of their worth is the fact they have won a place in next month's Confederations Cup, in which they will take on host nation France, Japan and Colombia in their group games.

Even so, they are certainly not world-beaters by any stretch of the imagination, which put them in good company with Scotland."

As for the match, after Stevie Crawford's header from virtually on the goalline following a James McFadden's inswinging corner after 11 minutes to present Berti Vogts' side with the perfect start, Scotland went to sleep and created little. And what they did create, NZ's goalie, Mike Utting, was able to save. It was not until Ryan Nelson's equaliser - a low shot of an Aaron Lines' free kick - did Scotland awake. But even then, their only decent chance was fortuitously cleared from the goalline with 5 minutes to go.

Scotland played several fringe players, and whilst it taught their coach Berti Vogts little, it proved a worthwhile hit-out for them leading into a Euro qualifier against Germany. Of course, a win would have rounded things off nicely! As for New Zealand, they would be well pleased with their performance heading into a friendly against the USA, and then the Confederations Cup.

Scorers: Scotland - Crawford (11); New Zealand - Nelsen (47)

02 May 2003: Nigeria off, Uruguay off, Ireland on.
When will the Socceroos ever have a stable itinerary? The long-confirmed match in England against Nigeria on August 19 is off. However, the Irish FA have confirmed a match against Ireland for the next day. The Nigerian match was cancelled apparently because it clashed with an England U21 match, which invoked a broadcasting conflict clause, similar to that that scuttled the Australia versus Argentina match in Spain recently. Thankfully all is not lost, with Ireland definitely a more interesting match. Australia has already conquered England and Scotland, so may as well try for the rest of the British Isles. Bring on Wales next.

However, on a sadder note, it looks like the Australian public won't see the national team at all during our winter. The proposed two match series against Uruguay is off and no other opposition has been lined up. Unfortunately promoters could not find dates that could accommodate Australia's best players, who would have to encroach on their holidays to play for Australia. Ideally the match would have been played late May, but the stumbling to that is that the Spanish league continues until then, meaning many of Uruguay's best players would be unavailable. So much for Fifa's "harmonised" calendar.

Part of the press release from the Irish FA

The Republic of Ireland will play Australia in a friendly international on Wednesday August 20 at Lansdowne Road in what will be preparation for the final two games of qualification for the European Championships against Russia and Switzerland. Australia are sure to be stern opposition and have a good track record in recent years having beaten both Scotland and England and with players like Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton in their side, they will pose a big threat in attack for Brian Kerr's men.

13 April 2003: Australian Premier League unveiled.
Hot on the heals of the Crawford Report, the Players Football Association released the result of it's $750,000 research project that aimed to provide a new national soccer league format and business model that could finally launch domestic soccer in this country. The Australian Premier League - a great name to start with - has proposed a 10 team competition, spread over 36 rounds, whereby each team plays each other four times. Three teams would be based in Sydney, two in Melbourne, one each in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, with two others (New Zealand or regional teams like Newcastle or Wollongong), and all would have to conform to what the PFA calls the "5 Pillars" of the APL. They being quality (world class standard of play), atmosphere (at stadiums), community (awareness with grass roots), local brands (building a fan following) and visibility (marketing). The idea of a world class standard of play is optimistic to say the least, and could only be realistically achieved if all other four pillars are in place.

Ten teams, however, does seem to be the right number at present. It will concentrate the quality, whilst also providing an optimum number of rounds with equal home and away games. The biggest hindrance to the league launching is the capitalisation required. Ten million is required for the league, whilst each club would require a budget of 4 million to participate each year. Without huge investment or sponsorship, launching the league with that sort of capitalisation is a pipe dream. Currently only Perth Glory could even remotely meet those four pillars and financial demands, so where and how the APL will find nine other equally equipped clubs, remains moot. However, there's still no reason for Soccer Australia, as part of the Crawford Report reformation process, to not tweak the financial requirements, and still launch such a league with the basic 10-team format. So long as the 5 Pillars are adhered to, the PFA would be content with such a compromise.

08 April 2003: Crawford's report - Soccer Australia must play ball.
The much anticipated Crawford Report, the federal government's inquiry into the running of soccer in Australia, was released yesterday, and produced only one major surprise. That being that an interim board, to be headed by shopping center entrepreneur and National Soccer League founder, Frank Lowy, be immediately installed to implement the reform process as detailed in the Crawfored Report over the next two years. Apparently at the request of Lowy, Australian Grand Prix and Commonwealth Games chairman Ron Walker, and advertising guru John Singleton, are also to form part of this proposed six-man board. Soccer Australia has been mostly quiet in response to the report, though, there have been expressions of dissatisfaction that there's no confidence in the current board to preside over the reformation process. The current board maybe pro-reform, but they were elected for the interim until the release of the Crawford Report. Their job is over.

Two other key elements that were revealed came as no surprise: the NSL competition to be run by a an independent commission; and, Soccer Australia's constitution to be scrapped so as to implement a voting structure that's more representative and less political. Soccer Australia want to at least mull over the report and put it to the stakeholders first - a process that will take a month, and whereby implementation of any or all of the reforms can actually be vetoed. But after that, SA will be expected to comply immediately and hand over control of the board to allow the reformation process to proceed unfettered, or risk losing government grants. For the sake of the sport, it has no choice.

Interestingly, the controversial levy imposed on all registered soccer players, which Soccer Australia introduced 18 months ago to prevent it going into liquidation, will remain according to one of Crawford's recommendations. Considering the fee was quite nominal ($6 for juniors), the reaction to its introduction belied the good it was intended to achieve. It was poured into funding the national teams, and as a constant financial stream, Crawford's obviously seen how beneficial such a small sacrifice can be.

The big question is of whether these reforms will do anything for the sport other than perception. Little can really be expected in the short term. The national teams are strong enough, however, the NSL is a lame duck, and really needs to be shot. Only a super-league like takeover will see any sort of quick fix in that area.

The New Voting Structure

Old: NSL Clubs -16 ; NSW Soccer Federation, Vic SF - 7; SA SF, NT SF, Tas SF - 5; QLD SF, WA SF - 4; ACT SF - 3; NSW Amateurs, QLD Junior Soccer Council, WA Juniors, NT Soccer Federation, Aus Soccer Referees - 1. Total: 61

New: Soccer NSW (ex-NSW SF) - 3, QLD - 2; Vic, SA, WA, Tas, ACT, NT, NSL, Coaches, Futsal, Player, Referees, Women - 1. Total 17.

23 March 2003: World Cup and Olympic qualifying draw. Argentina match off.
The new era of direct qualifying for Oceania's teams to the Olympics and World Cup is now a stark reality with the Oceania Football Confederation releasing the respective qualifying formats. The World Cup format sees Australia and New Zealand seeded into the final 10-team home and away round robin series, with the remaining four places filled by the top two teams from two preliminary qualifying groups involving Oceania's other nations. The Olympic format features a two-team home and away final series, to be contested by the winners of two preliminary groups that will feature Australia and New Zealand.

In both formats, the preliminary round robins will be contested in the one country. The World Cup home and away matches will be scheduled on designated international match double-dates. Double-dates are those that encompass a weekend when club games are not scheduled, allowing for two matches to be played. Presumably they'd involve the same pairing of countries, and obviously the Australia vs New Zealand clash would be the final match-up to keep the series alive as possible for all teams.

However, there's still a few concerns regarding overseas clubs being reluctant to release players, but since the qualifying will be spread over the off-season in 2005, more matches could be scheduled then. Australia and New Zealand will only play 10 matches in total, so playing four in that off-season will see the players called away only three times during the season. And realistically, coach Farina won't be picking the best possible team for every match. He'll need to experiment and trial other players, so that will reduce call-ups ever further. It would be surprising if the likes of Harry Kewell is called up more than twice during the season

Tentative scheduling for the Olympic qualifiers is for January 2004, when it will be wholly contested. The preliminary qualifying for the World Cup is scheduled for June 2004, while the home-and-away series to start in September 2004, and ending November 2005.

OFC Qualification Path for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany

Preliminary Competition - Stage 1

Group A: Tahiti, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, American Samoa
Group B: Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Islands

Venues for each group yet to be decided.

Preliminary Competition - Stage II

Australia, New Zealand and the Winner and Runner Up of Group A and Group B play  6 team play off series home and away.

Australia, New Zealand, Winner Group A, Winner Group B, Runner up Group A, Runner up Group B

The winner of the Playoff Series will be the OFC Qualifier for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Proposed Dates

* Preliminary Competition - Stage I in June 2004 in two venues (venues/dates to be confirmed in May 2003)
* Preliminary Competition - Stage II on 5 FIFA fixed double dates to be chosen from the following dates:
2004: 4/8 Sept, 9/13 Oct.
2005: 26/30 March, 4/8 June, 3/7 Sept, 12/16 Nov (dates to be confirmed in May 2003)

The 2004 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Group A: Australia, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji
Group B: New Zealand, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu

Group A is to be hosted by Australia and Group B is to be hosted by New Zealand. The winner of each group will play off home and away to determine the qualifier for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

* The Argentina vs Australia match, scheduled to be played in Spain on April 1, is now off. An Under-21 international match has caused a conflict with the host TV broadcaster in Spain, which prevented the Spanish FA to sanction the match.

16 March 2003: World Cup - 36 teams? Australia to play Argentina?
After all the hoopla surrounding Oceania's World Cup spot, the supposed posturing required to achieve it, and the the grievances of South America and Europe in losing a spot, it's now almost certain that the 2006 World Cup will be increased to 36 teams. South America felt most aggrieved at losing a spot, especially with champions Brazil also now having to qualify, so Julio Grondona, Argentine Football president and a Fifa vice-president, pushed for the increase. The initial request was for 40 teams to be split into 8 groups of 5 (instead of the 8 groups of 4 under the present 32 team scenario) with the top two teams from each group progressing. However, concerns that the tournament would to be extended to cater for the extra round of matches has meant nine groups of four teams being the preferred option. Germany, hosts for the next World Cup, has spare cities eager to host the extra group, and the tournament's duration would remain unchanged. However, the extra group will mean that only the best seven second placegetters of each of the nine groups will progress, along with each group winner.

With this new group, South America and Europe will definitely gain an extra spot. Asia and Concacaf will almost certainly gain an extra half spot to take them to 5 and 4 spots respectively. That leaves Africa to take the final spot, for a total allocation of 6.

Thirty-six is a good balance between appeasing everyone and keeping the tournament competitive as a whole. Only promoting seven second placegetters will give extra impetus for teams to win during the group stage. However, it's disappointing that all the conjecture and supposed work and lobbying regarding Oceania's spot has gone to waste. Oceania suffered for so long, and it will disappointing if Fifa submit to South America's whingeing so easily. Despite Grondona claiming South America's reduced allocation is financially motivated and not football motivated, facts are that South America's performance at the 2002 World Cup was sub-par and five spots is not deserved. For the integrity of Fifa's decision making processes and for the equality of each confederation within Fifa's executive, it would be preferable, and certainly more preferable, to hold off until 2010 for a 36 team World Cup.

The on-again, off-again, friendly against Argentina seems to be back on, and set for April 1. Soccer Australia cancelled the proposed match because there was not enough time to find a sponsor to underwrite the match to be played in London. There was also time constraints preventing the Argentines to gain visas. But Argentina wants the game just as much as Australia does and has arranged for it to be playing in Spain in just over two weeks time. Amazing if it does get off the ground.

* The Oceania Football Confederation's website is now online: http://www.oceaniafootball.com/

05 March 2003: Steve "the Blur" Horvat retires.
Anyone that saw the SBS TV special "The Mourning After" on the three year anniversary of the Iran Game would no doubt have been keen for some special insight from one of the "nuggets", as Robbie Slater so eloquently called them, in defence about the goals conceded. Well, all Steve Horvat could offer was that it was a "blur" and a "mystery". If I was not already angry with Horvat's performance in those Iran games, then those comments certainly pushed me off the edge. Since then, amongst friends, he's been referred to as "The Blur". At the time of the Iran debacle, I recall making comments in one of the editorials that he should never be picked for Australia again. And while the Blur's performances in recent years, like the 2001 Confederations Cup, have tempered my angst somewhat, his decision to retire this week brings no remorse.

It's probably a bit unfair to blame the Blur entirely. He should never have been picked. Him and Tobin lacked the experience and cohesion to marshal the defence in such high pressure games. Venables should have stuck with Ivanovic, who'd marshalled the defence for just about every game since, and including, the games against Argentina. As we saw, it all went wrong against Iran. Horvat solely played off-side on a throw-in, which opened the door for the goal conceded in Teheran. He was then no where to be seen for the first goal in Melbourne, and then totally at sea with the second. While the Blur should be remembered for his 1994/95 championship winning man of the match performance with the Melbourne Knights and his distinguished international career that saw him represent Australia at all age groups from the Under-17 Joeys to the 32 appearances for the Socceroos, those errors against Iran have unfortunately left an indelible mark in my mind and will forever exemplify the career of Steve "the Blur" Horvat.

Briefly, the Young Socceroos team to play in World Youth Cup in the Unite Arab Emirates has been announced. There's been talk that the tournament maybe postponed or even moved given the UAE's proximity to Iraq and the potential war there, but the players have expressed no real fears in attending. And according to Saddam Hussein and the UN inspectors, Iraq has no missiles that can even remotely reach that far anyway!  Terrorists would be the real concern, but then, we're not safe anywhere these days. At this stage, it is going ahead and Australia is due to play its first match on March 26 against the Czech Republic. Canada follows on the 29th, with Brazil on April 1. Soccer Australia's website carries all the team news and latest tournament information.

03 March 2003: Fear ends friendlies.
Two friendlies, tentatively scheduled for late March and early April against Portugal and Serbia & Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia) respectively, have been abandoned. New Portuguese coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, after losing his first game against Italy and possibly losing the game against Brazil (whom he coached to the 2002 World Cup) four days before the proposed friendly with Australia on the 2nd of April, was hoping for easier opposition in order to prevent a potential hat-trick of losses in his first three games as coach. After viewing Australia's performance against England, he's had second thoughts and Portugal are now looking for another opponent. It's ironic how Australia's performance against England is actually worked against it on this occasion.

For the match against Serbia & Montenegro, it's security concerns that have seen it abandoned. Apparently the players of Croatian descent in the Australian team expressed fears of playing in a country of their ancient enemy. Seems a fairly flimsy excuse considering the actual Croatian national team played European qualifiers a few years ago and Slovenia played World qualifiers there recently without troubles. So it's difficult to imagine how a few Australians of Croatian heritage could provoke anything riotous.

On a positive note, the English FA have approved Australia playing home games in London, with a match already locked in. That will be against Nigeria, most like at Queens Park Rangers' home ground, Loftus Road. Given that there's also a large Nigeria expatriate population in London, the atmosphere should be good. Soccer Australia has suggested that these London matches would be kicking off around midday so live telecast can be viewed in Australia around 9pm. Excluding daylight savings, Australia's east coast is 10 hours ahead of London, which just happens to be the GMT referred to on the frontpage.

23 February 2003: New TV rights deal sees some hope for the NSL. Zelic quits permanently.
Soccer Australia has finally come to terms with its media partner Channel 7. The much maligned channel, which has totally snubbed the NSL competition this season, has agreed to a four year deal that primarily focuses on the Socceroos and the NSL finals series. SA has agreed for the Socceroos to play at least 21 games over this period of time, with 9 to be played in Australia. In return, Ch7 has relinquished the pay-TV rights to NSL matches back to Soccer Australia. Presumably these will be sold to the only existing pay-TV operator in existence, Foxtel. Until then, the only exposure for the NSL will be a one hour highlights program that Ch7 has agreed to show each week. At least that's a step up from the present situation. With $6 million over the next four years, financial details are just a touch lower than the previous deal (1.37 million per year). Ch7 have also managed to secure the first and last option over the rights for a further four years when they expire in 2007.

Unfortunately for those hoping the rights would move to SBS, or at least a channel that will to show the sport, this deal is not a new one, but a re-working of the existing 10-year deal that SA was locked into until 2007.  The collapse of Channel 7's pay-TV arm has seen them relinquish the NSL pay-TV rights, seemingly in return for the first and last right options to renew their rights in 2007. This is when it will be crunch time for SA, when a decision has to made of whether money or exposure is the priority. Soccer is still a minor sport, especially at NSL level, and no commercial network will show it until it develops into a viable product. And that can only be done via exposure. While SBS may not have the glamour of Ch7, any form of free-TV exposure is better than no exposure at all. Better still, there'd be none of those annoying ad-breaks during the action that were the bane of those watching Ch7 telecasts.

In an interview on SBS's World Sports, former star player Ned Zelic has confirmed his decision to quit the national team is now permanent. He toyed with the idea of a return last year, but now there's no going back. For those unaware, Zelic had a fallout with coach Farina during the Brazillian U23 tour in November 1999 when Zelic was named on the bench for the second match. After a shoddy performance in the first match in Sydney, Farina was trying his new 4-4-2 formation for the first time in the Melbourne match and could not find room for both Zelic and Okon - both similar types of players - in the team. Farina maintained that it was experimental decision and that Zelic would get his turn. However, apparently there was a deep-seeded enmity between the Zelic and Okon as well, and when Okon was made captain for that match, Zelic became further incensed and walked out. He had a point too, given that Zelic's loyalty to the Australian team had been far more greater than Okon's. Okon even retired from the national team at one stage - when he put club versus country during the 1993 World Cup qualifiers against Canada.

22 February 2002: Eddie Thomson succumbs to cancer.
Often the word "legend" is applied too readily to those that pass away suddenly, but for former Australian national team coach Eddie Thomson, it is a most apt description for someone that will leave behind a true legacy. For me, personally, I succumbed to the magic of the world game and the Socceroos at the time when "Thommo" was wielding his wand during an era when Australia's national teams really came of age in terms of posting world class results in serious matches. That included the victory over Holland to qualify for the 1992 Olympics, the fourth-placed Olympic result itself and the epic 1993 World Cup playoff against Argentina. While slated at the time by many media for only playing one striker in the first leg in Sydney and actually agreeing to play the first leg at home, the 2-1 aggregate (1-1 if you ignore the fluky deflected goal Argentina scored in Buenos Aires) was a phenomenal result against a team like Argentina - a team that many of those same media pundits thought would thrash Australia before the playoff started. (More can be read about this era in my biography in the lower portion of the "Features" page.)
<- Eddie Thomson the player, inaugural NSL season, 1977. This is one of my own cards.

Of course, Thommo never shied away from any such heavy cross-examination that the TV interviewers of the time put him through. In fact, he excelled at it. His ability to maintain his stance with honesty and a sense of humour showed a strength of character that I appreciated most. But that was only second to his coaching his ability. I could never understand why he was so heavily criticised given that when it became clear that Argentina would be our opponents, most were predicting of how great the victory for Argentina. Yet his decision to play home first and his tactics were integral in Australia getting so close. Compare that playoff with 2001's against Uruguay, which saw a much superior Australian team statistically lose more greatly to a much inferior South American team, and it's not difficult to see how well Thommo did in retrospect.

But the true lasting legacy that Thommo left, actually did not involve Thommo at all. That was the 1997 qualifiers against Iran. Thommo, sensing he was about to be pushed out by then Soccer Australia chairman David Hill, to whom he was feuding with, took up a post in Japan's J-League with Hiroshima. His vacancy brought in Terry Venables, and the rest is history. As mentioned many times in these pages, especially in the various editorials based on that failure to qualify, had Thommo still been in charge, I have absolutely no doubt Australia would have qualified. He had more faith in the local players, especially the likes of Milan Ivanovic, whom, with Tobin and Durakovic, formed the defensive triangle of terror that combatted Argentina in 1993. Some of the players of the time, notably Aurelio Vidmar, felt similarly too, and now it's the popularly accepted view by most commentators of the game.

While Durakovic was gone from the national team by 1997, Ivanovic and Tobin were still omnipresent in Venables' teams right until the Iran games. But Ivanovic was inexplicably replaced by Horvat for the series, who just happened to be overseas based at the time, even if it was with the lowly Croatian league. Worst, like many other players in that team, he was returning from injury. To say the defence was calamitous at the time is a gross understatement. Horvat was directly responsible for the goal conceded in Iran, whilst both he and Tobin were totally out of sync for both goals conceded in Melbourne. "Bring back Thommo" was my immediately reaction once the dust settled.

Then came the legitimate failure to qualify for the 2002 Cup, and the little voice in my head saying "bring back Thommo" echoed once again. Not for the Uruguay series, which really only inspired emotions of anger, but the failure to qualify brought an even greater retrospective onto the Iran debacle, and simply made it even more galling and hurtful. As the lowest point in the history of Australian sport, it would never have happened had Eddie Thomson been around.

Courtesy of The World Game and Soccer Australia websites:

21 February 2003
The Australian soccer community is mourning the passing overnight of former Socceroos coach Eddie Thomson, who lost his battle with cancer at the age of 55. Thomson made a major contribution to soccer in Australia, including guiding the national team through the 1994 World Cup campaign and two Olympics. The affable Scot was a tireless servant of the game he loved and was instrumental in nurturing many talented players, including Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill.

As well as his six years as Australian coach (1990-96), he guided Sydney City to three consecutive NSL Championships and was named Australian Coach of the Year on three occasions. His status was recognised by Soccer Australia when he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000.

Born in Rosewell, Scotland, on February 25, 1947, Thomson was a Scottish Under 23 international and played 253 games over 10 seasons in the Scottish First Division – 162 in seven years at Heart of Midlothian (from 1966) and the remainder in three seasons with Aberdeen.

After a year with San Antonio Thunder in the North American League, he arrived in Australia in 1977 and joined Hakoah Eastern Suburbs in the NSW Federation as a centre back. Thomson was a vital part of the team which took out the inaugural NSL Championship in 1977 and finished in the top three in the following two seasons.

In 1980 he became a fulltime coach and his talent was immediately apparent, as he took out three consecutive NSL Championships in his first three years at the helm. This was an era in which the NSL Champion team was that team which finished on top of the competition table, and Sydney City's 1982 final margin of nine points ahead of second placed St George stands as the national league’s record Championship-winning margin. With Sydney City he also finished at the top of the northern division ladder in 1984 and 1985, and won the National Cup in 1986.

In 1987 he moved to the Olympic Sharks, taking the club to the 1989 Grand Final before departing early in the 1989/90 season to concentrate on his national role.

Thomson’s record in his ten years as NSL coach was phenomenal, with a record three Coach of the Year awards (1981, 1984 and 1985) as well as the three championships. His win-draw-loss tally in 272 games coached stands at 139-73-60. No other NSL coach with 100 or more games in the national league has come close to winning more than twice as many games as he lost.

His national coaching duties commenced in 1984 when he took charge of the Australia B team in a tournament against prominent overseas clubs. His first game at the helm of Australia B was a 0-0 draw against Glasgow Rangers in Melbourne. In 1985 he became assistant to head coach Frank Arok, and in 1990 he took full charge of the national team following Arok’s departure.

Thomson’s first match as national coach was against South Korea in Seoul on 6 September 1990, a 1-0 loss. Leading in to the 1994 World Cup qualifiers he gained some impressive results, including wins over 1992 European Championship semi-finalists Sweden, and a memorable 1-0 victory over the USA in Florida.

In the 1994 World Cup qualifiers Australia breezed through the Oceania qualifiers and won a gruelling two-legged play-off against Canada, only to meet to the might of Argentina in the final play-off. Argentina, who had made the final of the previous World Cup, was inspired by the highly publicised return of Maradona for the confrontation with the Aussies. Watched by millions around the world, Thomson’s Socceroos drew the first match 1-1 in Sydney and lost the away leg with an own goal 1-0. Despite not qualifying for WC94, Australia had shown that it could well and truly match it with the world’s most powerful nations - thanks largely to the coach who had been part of the team for the previous ten years.

Thomson also assumed the coaching role of the 1992 and 1996 Australian Olympic teams. To reach the Olympics, Australia needed to win Oceania and then play-off against a team from another confederation. Thomson’s Olyroos reached the semi finals in Barcelona ’92 in one of the best performances ever by an Australian team in a major finals tournament.

He left the national coach post in 1996 but not before setting the foundations for the future crop of Socceroos. In his last few games he raised eyebrows by bringing little known youngsters Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill into the senior team. He returned to the club level and coached Japanese team Sanfrecce Hiroshima for four years before returning home to Australia in 2000.

Eddie Thomson is survived by wife Pauline, son Steven and daughter Claire.

EDDIE THOMSON - 35 YEARS AT THE TOP

Playing career

1966-1973 Heart of Midlothian (Scotland First Division) - 162 games 1973-1976 Aberdeen (Scotland First Division) - 91 games 1976 San Antonio Thunder (North American Soccer League) - 19 games 1977-1980 Sydney City (National Soccer League) - 66 games

Club coaching career

1980-1986 Sydney City (National Soccer League) 1987-1989 Olympic Sharks (National Soccer League) 1996-2000 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J-league)

National coaching career

1984 Australian B team 1985-1989 Australian senior team assistant 1990-1996 Australian senior team 1990-1996 Australian Olympic team

National Soccer League honours

As a player: two Championships (Sydney City 1977 and 1980)

As a coach: three Championships (Sydney City 1980, 1981, 1982), three times Coach of the Year (Sydney City 1981, 1984 and 1985), one National Cup (Sydney City 1986), two Grand Finals (Sydney City 1985, Olympic Sharks 1989)

16 February 2002: Time for a reality check as Oceania's best take on France.
Even in the after glow of Australia's victory against England in the friendly international during the week, it does not take long for reality to set in that Australia's short term itinerary is not only spartan, but spartan of serious matches. There's no escaping the fact that few other teams in the world could command the glamour status to that of England for a friendly. Maybe only Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Holland and Argentina could. Other than these glamour match-ups, friendlies are only useful for preparation for serious matches. Since Australia has no serious matches soon, it's difficult to envision how the excitement generated from the English result can continue for both fans and players by playing endless nondescript friendlies. For example, how interesting does the possible friendly against Serbia & Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia) in March sound? Will a similar win to that over England deliver the same high? Will anyone even bother caring about the result? While Soccer Australia's push to set-up a London base is meritorious in the current circumstances of a congested footballing calendar, unless Australia can attract glamour opposition, the novelty of playing friendlies will soon wear thin, and fans will yet again be craving serious football.

That leads us to the Confederations Cup, whose pool groups were announced overnight. Oceania's champions, New Zealand, have been drawn in Group A with the hosts France, as well as Japan and Colombia. Group B contains Brazil, Turkey, Cameroon and the USA. Given the rivalry generated with France that involved spitting allegations at the 2001 Confederations Cup when France were defeated by Australia, and during the international friendly in Melbourne where the two teams drew, it's disappointing Australia has missed this opportunity for third match, especially with it being in France. Japan's had a couple of recent wins over Australia too, and it would also have been nice to get some South American revenge in light of the failed World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay. Remember that Colombia were the sixth-placed team in South America, and also defeated Australia 3-2 in a friendly in Colombia early in 2001. Oh, and there's also the small matter of that Asia/Oceania challenge versus Iran that we're missing out on too.

13 February 2002: The Ultimate Humiliation?
With chants of "just like the cricket" and "we want four" emanating from the Australian fans at Upton Park this morning, England's nightmare of a horror loss in the sport they felt Australia could never beat them at, soon became reality. A more hungry and dedicated Australian team rightfully punished England for their haphazard approach to this controversial international friendly.  As intimated before the match, England's coach, Sven Goran-Eriksson did change his entire team at half to a predominantly under-26 B team, but by that stage, Australia had already established a lead of 2-0 over Eriksson's "A" team. For Australia, they had the hinderance of absolute inactivity for almost 15 months and only one proper day of preparation to combat anyway. Regardless of circumstances of the match, England 1 - Australia 3, is a staggering result which ever way you look at it.

Australia started with four positional changes from the Uruguay series. Murphy was replaced by Popovic, Neill came in for Muscat, Lazaridis moved to left-back whilst Chipperfield played left-midfield. A very attacking line-up, which, with Lazaridis not noted for his defensive skills, would be a sound test for Australia's overall defensive stability. Occasionally Australia were caught out with Lazaridis' raids up-field, but thankfully, England never made the most of their breaks. The most pleasing aspect of the game was that two goals came from quick mid-field breaks. That's the hallmark of all crack international teams, and is something Australia's traditionally been unable to manage. What a time to start perfecting it.

Harry Kewell and his much-talked about hamstring injury, did start the game. He had his usual free role up front, but spent it mostly on the right flank, seemingly to terrorise his former Leeds teammate, Rio Ferdinand. Farina's tactics worked, as Kewell was clearly the most dangerous player on the pitch, and created many chances with his speed and skill. On the right, cutting inside gave Kewell an extra dimension by opening up his dangerous left-footed shots. You don't get that on the left, meaning he's more likely to stick to the line and is easier to cover. In support, Lazaridis's and Chipperfield's speed proved lethal. Laza just kept on running all match. At the other end, the defence held up superbly and were impenetrable through the air, with Popovic particularly excelling. Schwarzer never had to make a save. For England, Beckham proved dangerous at times with several lobs and free kicks landing dangerously in the penalty box, whilst Scholes' passing was a constant menace. Their defence never looked settled, with Neville often out-paced by Lazaridis and Campbell out of synch with his opponents' runs. Ferdinand simply failed to control Kewell, completing a defensive shambles. Owen's badly out of form, while new-boy Beattie received no worthwile service.

However, England settled quicker, as a clearly nervous Australian team under-hit many passes. Beckham soon lobbed in one of his dangerous free kicks, whilst at the other end, Kewell created  a huge chance when he skipped past England's defence and crossed dangerously towards Chipperfield. But England's Neville just managed to keep ahead of Chippers and head the ball away.

The first shot on either goal came from an Australian error, when Emerton lost control near the by-line and conceded a corner. Sol Campbell's header, however, was blocked by Neill in a crowded box. Immediately after that, Kewell broke forward, cut inside on his left boot, and launched a 30-metre shot that was well saved by James.

If Australia weren't settled yet, the 16th minute goal would do that. After Emerton was fouled, Lazaridis sent in an in-swinging free kick from the right flank, reminiscent of the winning kick against Brazil at the 2001 Confederations Cup, and Popovic rose above Neville at the back post to head the goal in. A simple, but well-executed goal, and one that England's lack of respect for Australia helped conjure. A bit of homework should have seen a taller defender marking Popa. Anyway, England's response was frantic. With just half an hour left for their "best" team to gain a half-time win, they wasted no time playing the ball.

First response came with a break from Dyer, who'd received a lovely long cross-field pass by Beckham, which caught Australia's full-backs out after an attack. The ensuing low cross was finally poked into the net by Scholes after a minor goal-mouth scrimmage, but was rightfully disallowed for a clear shove by Beattie on Popovic when he attempted to originally clear it, and not for offside, as many commentators have suggested. Schwarzer then made a mistake in trying to get pass Owen after receiving a back-pass. Owen stole the ball off him, but saved the goalie's blushes by sending his shot into the side netting from the very acute angle.

Owen had two other great chances, but his poor form for Liverpool transferred to his country. While Moore's pressure on Owen may have affected his shot that went just wide from a headed knock-down, towards the end of the half, his total mishit after a nice run through a channel and receiving a lovely lob-pass from Scholes was simply dreadful.

In between those two instances, Australia still looked dangerous and managed to double their lead. After a Kewell-inspired move, Chipperfield dinked nicely over the English defence towards Viduka. He managed to get a good looped header on it, but the shot was just tipped over the bar by James. Then, in the best move of the match, Kewell, Viduka and Emerton and tore up the right wing with a series of one-touch passes, which resulted in Neville's out-stretched leg deny Chipperfield from scoring off Emerton's low cross. The resulting corner saw another great chance when Kewell gained a free header after leading to the near-post. Unfortunately for the green and gold, he failed to direct it accurately enough. Then on 42 minutes, Lampard was stripped of possession in midfield near the right side-line by Neill, whom played a beautiful and, more importantly, swift pass down the wing for Kewell to run onto. He won the race and barging contest with Ferdinand, whom then fell over, leaving Kewell clear on goal. Rounding the goalie, he stroked the ball into the open net. Eriksson looked decidedly sick - his face telling a thousand words - and the English fans booed like hell.

The commentators felt that England may have been hard done by with the goal. They felt Ferdinand may have been tripped, and deserved a free kick. In reality, it was a 50/50 go at the ball, and any clipping of his heel could almost have been self-induced. Replays showed nothing untoward. And there were no complaints about the goal from England's players anyway.

At 2-0 up, whatever team Erikson put on the pitch in the second half, you just knew Australia would be in for a torrid time. He stuck with his pre-match "Young Lions" policy, and as you'd expect with a fresh team, they started the second half very lively. For Australia, Bresciano replaced for Skoko. The the team looked to contain the early onslaught. Kewell, with his Leeds coach Terry Venables watching on in the stands, was substituted after 10 minutes too - for Aloisi. But not before he had another great chance on goal - this time, a glancing header off a free kick that went narrowly wide. But it was England's youngster's that did the real damage, when they scored with a lovely break out of midfield, and firmly put the pressure back on Australia in the process. The much-hyped Rooney played a nice lob out wide to Jenas, whose whippy cross was greeted crisply by Jeffers. The crowd sensed an English revival, but Australia consolidated in defence, slowly took over possession, and leaving England chasing shadows for significant periods of the game.

Australia made more changes to restore some freshness to their team, with Vidmar and Grella, who was making his debut, coming on for Popovic and Chipperfield respectively. Bresciano moved out left to cover Chipperfield, whilst Grella moved into Bresciano's position. This provided the team with some more spark - lost when Kewell was subbed - as their breaks became notably more dangerous. With England still attacking, though, another goal was required to quell Australian fans' nerves. It came perfectly timed in the 82nd minute when Emerton played Aloisi through with a quick ball from midfield. Unable to shake off his marker, Aloisi played the ball back to Emerton, who was charging through a vacant middle chanel, to slot the ball between Robinson's legs. Eriksson slumped yet again with that sick look on his face again.

While the resounding result sent shockwaves throughout the world (well, at least Australia and England), it really is a pity the match could not have been played out in accordance with a normal football match. It seems Fifa's decision to incorporate their fairplay ethos into the very name of this form of international match, seems to have been taken way too literally. Had Australia not taken this match as seriously as it did, one cannot imagine just how farcical it could have become. And really, for England's approach to the game, it would have been a grave injustice had they not lost.

As with most of these "big problems", there are "simple solutions". Fifa must put a cap on the number of substitutions for such matches and remove the word "friendly" altogether. Or simply don't class them as "A" internationals. In fact, instead of Friendlies, call them A-Internationals. Five substitutions seems a good compromise (normally it's three), but only allow three per transpiration of a half so there's no time wasting. For other matches, like the likes of this morning's match and nation versus club matches, call them B-Internationals. Whatever, there must be a better description than a Friendly.

Is this match the first real new dawn for football in this country? Considering the extra sponsorships already generated for the national body, plus new found respect for the team and for Oceania, it really does seem likely. The trick will be to convert this success into more matches. There's been so much talk that Oceania's World Cup spot will generate more of these matches, but it's more likely that results like this will count more.

As for England, "this is the ultimate humiliation" was the sombre summation from England's Sky Sports reporter after the match. No doubt the English newspapers will go even further and make that comment look like a St Valentines Day love greeting. While being the ultimate maybe stretching it, it is a significant impact on England's sporting psyche, and especially the rivalry against Australia. And truthfully, whilst England's cricket team is a mess, football's the only sport to be serious about now. Hopefully this result will see the establishment of a legitimate sporting rivalry that will transcend that of even cricket's Ashes.

It's been a great start, however, and amazing that it only took one match for Australia to so easily dent England's last bastion of supremacy over their former colony. I say dent in that while Australia's win was outstanding and deserving of wide-spread praise, it was only a friendly after all. It really needs to be done in something more serious, something worthwhile - something like the World Cup - before that bastion comes tumbling down. Until then, look for a possible match-up in the World Youth Cup in March. England's qualified for that.

Australia 3 (Popovic 16', Kewell 42', Emerton 83') - England 1 (Jeffers 67')

Yellow Cards: Stan Lazaridis

England: James (Robinson 45), Neville (Mills 45), Ferdinand (Brown 45), Campbell (King 45), Ashley Cole (Konchesky 45), Beckham (Hargreaves 45), Lampard (Murphy 45), Scholes (Jenas 45), Dyer (Vassell 45), Beattie (Jeffers 45), Owen (Rooney 45). Subs Not Used: Wright, Joe Cole, Upson, Parker, Davis.

Australia: Schwarzer, Neill, Moore, Popovic (Vidmar 72), Lazaridis, Emerton, Okon (Muscat 87), Skoko (Bresciano 45), Chipperfield (Grella 76), Viduka (Sterjovski 85), Kewell (Aloisi 56). Subs Not Used: Kalac, Tiatto.

11 February 2002: England Friendly to become an Angry.
It's amazing what some clout can do. A few years ago, Harry Kewell may have relented and heeded his club's wishes to not join the Australian team after missing two club games, including last weekend, through a hamstring strain. Despite it being club policy of Leeds that any player that misses a club match on the weekend prior must miss any mid-week international game, Kewell simply hopped in his car and drove to London. As he correctly stated at the press conference, he has no choice, under Fifa regulations, anyway. Whilst the hamstring strain is a concern, latest reports suggest he will be ok for the game.

Kewell's attitude has been indicative of that of all of the Australians - fired up and ready to go. That's in contrast to England's approach, whereby its coach, Sven Goran-Eriksson, has suggested he might make 11 substitutions at half time. That seems farcical for a supposed serious international match, but he's done it before, most recently against Portugal. For this game, Eriksson has picked a squad of 27 players, compared to Australia's 18, so it seems huge changes are on the cards, and rendering the match as nothing more than a training session for England as it prepares for Euro 2004 qualifying matches.

That's disappointing, but understandable given the heavy workload of players during the club season. In order to appease the Premier League clubs that have applied enormous pressure on him not to even bother selecting them, Eriksson's compromised by selecting a large squad to spread the workload. Such pressure from clubs is becoming just as significant a problem as travel has traditionally been for countries like Australia. Australia's looking to set up a home base in London to circumvent the travel problems, but that won't ease the problem of clubs not wanting to release their players for international matches in the midst of a hectic schedule.

Now this has all been said before in these pages, notably in the "Big Problems, Simple Solutions" editorial, but the only solution is to create a designated international season by compressing the club season. Do this by removing the crazy designated mid-week and weekend international dates and simply play club games at these times instead.  All tournaments, qualifiers and friendlies would be played during this international season. There'd be no club versus country problems because the club season would be over. It would also provide continuity to both club and international games. I personally hate the way international matches are buried during the club season, almost rendering them as nuisances to the club games. I also hate that the club season is disrupted with frivolous international matches.  Other sports, like the rugby codes in this country, have designated seasons for club, state of origin and international matches, and it really is time football did the common sense thing and followed suit.

Anyway, whatever the circumstances of this match, England versus Australia will be big, especially this being the first instance ever of the teams meeting in England. Australia, for their part, will disregard the "friendly" status of the match, and approach it with full force. England, for their part, seem likely to at least start the match at full strength, and duly reciprocate. Australia really have nothing to lose regardless anyway. They're at long odds (around 8/1) with both Australian and English betting agencies, and most English people would think their youth team would whip Australia's butt. So it's a time for respect, and maybe even time to go for a double win. If Eriksson does replace his team at half time, look at it like this: why beat one team, when you can beat two?

31 January 2002: Australia's team to face England; Youth Cup draw; Johnny's cancer threat; Sponsors aboard.
Coach Frank Farina released a predictable squad for the glamour friendly against England next month. The only player missing from Australia's last match will a full strength team, the ill-fated World Cup qualifying against Uruguay over a year ago, is defender Shaun Murphy. Some media supports mentioned he was blamed for conceding the first goal in Montevideo, and by inference, that was a possible reason for his omission. Truth is, while he could have been cynical and shoved Dario Silva over, the cause of the goal was tactical and he should never have been left one on one. More likely, he's simply been squeezed out. Blackburn Rovers' Lucas Neill has been in outstanding form this season and simply had to be picked in the 18 man squad. Striker Paul Agostino can count himself unlucky for similar reasons. Danny Tiatto, out through injury, is the only other notable frequent first choice to be missing.

In to the team comes outstanding Italian based midfielders Vince Grella, who's the only uncapped player, and Marco Bresciano. At least one should get a run during the game, even if there seems no obvious room in the incumbent midfield of Okon, Skoko, Emerton and Lazaridis. While Harry Kewell has been picked as one of only three strikers, he's more of a midfielder/forward, same with French-based Mile Sterjovski. Viduka and Aloisi are the only two out and out strikers selected so it seems likely that Kewell'll play off-striker with Mark Viduka as the out and out.

Really, considering that this will be the team's first match in almost 14 months, and there'll be only two days' preparation, Farina's playing safe with the team. There's no doubt that he's out to win the match, which given the fact that World Cup qualifiers are at least 18 months away, is how it should be.

The more pertinent issue now is of how England will treat the match. The English FA has hit back at reports suggesting their coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will treat this game in accordance with recent history - making up to nine substitutions at half time, which is a farcical attitude to a game that Australia's treating as serious. Given that Australia's restricted itself to 18 players, that would suggest England would have to do the same meaning huge substitutions would therefore be impossible. That should be in accordance with the contracts signed governing the conditions of the friendly. Despite such contracts, Farina was still unsure of England's intentions regarding the match at his press conference. If he had to guess, he felt that Eriksson would more likely go down the mass-substitution road rather than treat it as a serious match. That's not good, and suggests England's obligations, at least player number-wise and substitution limits, might be unrestricted. For the integrity of the match, hopefully that's not the case.

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer, Zeljko Kalac.
Defenders: Stan Lazaridis, Craig Moore, Kevin Muscat, Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic, Tony Vidmar.
Midfielders: Marco Bresciano, Scott Chipperfield, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Paul Okon, Josip Skoko, Mile Sterjovski.
Strikers: John Aloisi, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka.

Australia has drawn the Czech Republic, Canada and Brazil for March's World Youth Cup in the United Arab Emirates. While it seems a tough draw on paper, in this 24-team tournament, the top two teams from each of the six groups and the four best third placed teams qualify for the second phase. A victory over Canada would most likely be enough to progress, while a win and a draw would guarantee it.

Johnny Warren, former Socceroo captain and captain of the 1974 World Cup team, has revealed he's about to undergo the biggest fight of his life - beating cancer. Obviously the football world in this country wishes him well. He plans to continue living life as normal, which includes his various roles on SBS TV and with the government enquiry into the sport. He's always felt that soccer could explode in this country into something big, and just on the precipice of what looks like the first real efforts for reform of the game, it would be unfortunate if he failed to see his vision materialise. Keep punching, Johnny.

Speaking of reform, the flow-on effects from Fifa's announcement of Oceania's direct World Cup spot are already materialising with three key sponsorships already announced. Adidas has signed up for four years to kit-out all Australia's national teams from senior to women's under 19. Qantas has signed as a sponsor of Soccer Australia, whilst XXXX Beer are sponsoring the Australian team for its clash against England on February 12. While SA is still not out of the financial woods yet, these sponsorships have seen any threat of liquidation thwarted.

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