July 15 and 18, 1999 saw "Australia" play two games against he mighty ManU, and a month earlier, one game against a so-called World Stars team. Below are the match reports from the "news" section and some issues that question the value of these games.
12 June 1999: Australia were the real stars
Australia dominated the World Stars to win 3-2 after going down 1-0 after an early dubious
corner was scored by unmarked Swiss defender Yakin to leave Bosnich helpless. The
World Stars - with some even arriving on the day - understandably lacked the cohesion of a
full strength Australia and had to reply on individual brilliance for all their scoring
opportunities. Australia, with Okon, Corica and Popovic instead of Horvat, Foster
& Moore from that ill-fated Iran game, dominated the half, but were consistently
denied by French Goalie Lamas. Kewell, playing just behind the strikers of Viduka
and Aloisi (replaced by A.Vidmar at half time), was consistently troublesome whilst Zelic
and Lazaridis ran the midfield. All, along with Viduka, missed a chance or two.
Even then, the World would have went 2-0 up if not for an offside on Vieri.
Vieri was in an offside position when receiving a pinpoint long ball from Leonardo.
He cut it back from the by-line for Klinsman to slam home. This was the World's only
other real chance while Australia had six.
Within a minute of the second half, man of the match Zelic drilled a 25 metre shot that was too high for new World Goalie Campos. No doubt Lamas would have saved it as he is almost a foot taller. Both sides brought on subs with Kalac, A.Vidmar and Emerton replacing Bosnich, Kewell and Viduka early in the half - the latter two sustaining minor injuries. Zelic was again in the action when a lovely over-the-top through ball put Emerton through who duly scored with his first touch of the game. Ten minutes later, Zelic, this time put thorough Muscat with a defence-splitting pass whose cut-back was accidentally stabbed in by Chilean Margas. Australia continued to dominate but another concentration lapse let Kiwi veteran Rufer score as he ran on to a throw-in and slotted in at the near post. Kalac had dived the wrong way in anticipation of the cross.
While the World team did not contain most of the superstars that had been bandied about
in the build-up, Klinsman, Vieri, Leonardo, West and Co were eventually run off their legs
with Australia getting a much deserved and appreciated win for the record 88,000 fans -
1,000 more than the MCG Iran game - that officially opened Sydney's Stadium Australia.
Australia 3 (Zelic 46th, Emerton 57th, Margas OG 66th)
World Stars 2 (Yakin 9th, Rufer 89th)
15 July 1999: ManU show their class
A goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half and a sensational 25-metre
swerver from Nicki Butt ended a competitive Australia's chances for an upset victory.
Though not really outplayed, an under strength Australia just lacked the polish to
deliver the final ball, and hence, rarely troubled the ManU goal. Australia's best
chance came after the best buildup of the game when Australia's best player in Danny
Tiatto forced an outstanding save by Bosnich from a sizzling header midway through the
first half. Up until then, a nervous Australia held steady to repel several ManU
attacks. An under-hit pass in defence from Alex Tobin was intercepted with the end
result, after much penalty box action, a superb volley from Blomquist waiting unmarked at
the far post. A sad way to go into the half but Australia were riding their luck
with many passes going astray, playing too deep and not being direct enough and destined
to be punished.
Aurelio Vidmar was active for most of the match and nearly scored early in the second half when a near-post corner was headed towards him. Unfortunately Irwin did enough to prevent Vidmar getting a clean shot on goal. The pitch was not to scratch (it will be totally re-surfaced for the Olympics next year, don't worry) as players slipped - even Bosnich totally missed a slow back pass when it bobbled over his feet - and could not produce their best and seemed to just play out the match from this point. Until Nicki Butt's classic which he knocked up to smash in on the volley.
Overall, an average sort of match that lacked atmosphere due to the exhibition status of it as well as a 65000 strong crowd that was seemingly made up of "event" watchers rather than true soccer fans. The crowd figure was less than expected but with the better seats between $90 and $155, along with a live telecast 30 minutes later than kick-off, what would you expect? Compared to the Iran game, in feeling and entertainment, it was a dud. Interestingly, the UK Sky news seemed just as disinterested when it reported Australia's Brett Emerton as "Bruce" while Ross Aloisi was "Coventry City's John Aloisi". Melbourne's next big event will be the Brazil game in November whilst the next ManU game is on Sunday in Sydney. Lets hope for a good pitch and hopefully a goal or two from the Aussies past Bosnich! Now that will be fun to see.
18 July 1999: ManU again over a more impressive Australia
ManU defeated Australia 1-0 in Sydney today via a 25th minuteYorke goal in front
of 78,000 people. Giggs won a lose ball in Australia's defensive third, then
promptly put Yorke through, who ,without missing a stride, scored at the near post.
Jason Petkovic could be partially at fault in going down too early, but redeemed himself
in the second half when blocking a point-blank Cruyff shot with his legs.
After viewing the first match on TV last night, it was even more clearer that Australia were not outplayed at all and just lacked class up front. With Vidmar playing the uncomfortable role of out and out striker, and with no other striker in the team, the attacking impetus kept breaking down at the last hurdle. Whereas ManU were content to capitalise on Australian mistakes and the edge in class, which is how both their goals were scored. So, now it is Sydney's turn, and time to see if Australia learned anything. Sadly no, as the same forward structure was in place and again ManU scored from a mistake. Having said that, Australia did have the edge in overall play right throughout the match, but only a Lazaridis shot earned from a one-two with Vidmar, tested Bosnich. ManU's only other close effort was early on when Giggs put Yorke through from a counter attack - a late tackle put him off. Throughout the first half, Australia were the equal, if not the superior, of ManU except up front. All the best moves came from Australia: more shots, more corners and far better team work. But sadly nothing tangible was earned. On the down side, a crude Andy Cole challenge ended with Colosimo sustaining knee ligament damage. Why that was not a red card (or any card) is astonishing.
The second half petered out meekly and only livened up late in the game. When Zane and Grella were brought on allowing Vidmar to play more naturally deeper, possibility for an Australian goal increased. Wehrman - the player of the match - Tiatto and Foxe all excelled and were most dangerous against ManU. Again, it was just the final ball that was the problem but credit also must go to the ManU defence - especially Jaap Stam - which anticipated everything. The pitch, while better than Melbourne's, was still too bumpy and also caused many attacks to break down. In attack ManU still relied more on Australian mistakes and the best chance for them was an Andy Cole shot that just went wide. In fact, all of United's noted players were kept quiet with only Stam showing the much feared class. I doubt we saw the best of ManU but at the end of the day, if would be hard to suggest otherwise that if Australia had been at full strength they most certainly would have won.
On a lighter note, it was interesting to hear the commentators discussing Andy Cole's lack of a pre-game warm-up. In defence of Cole, Wade mentioned the time Frank Arok saw the lack of a warm-up as no big deal because you don't see horses stretching their legs on bars before horse races! Paul Williams still thought Cole's actions as astonishing.
Was it all worth it?
First of all, I object to the team that faced ManU be referred to as
"Australia". Simply, it is not the full Australian team, just a team that
was put together with whatever players were about. Secondly, they were playing a
club side, and that is worse as only national teams should be playing national
teams. This diminishes the value of earning a national cap. I can handle an
all local - but at least full strength local - team representing the nation, but not in
this situation. Facing a club team and for an independent promoter, not the governing
body, is just not on. Paul Wade did not even know how to refer to them - Socceroos
or Olyroos. A simple "Australia" would have been enough as another pet
hate is that too often the value of national team is diminished with these over-used and
silly nicknames. Heck, the cricket team is always called
"Australia". It is about time Soccer Australia promoted the national team
for what it is - the highest national honour an Australian can receive for playing a
sport. Winning the World Cup would easily eclipse the so-called Cricket World Cup.
Anyway, that is beside the overall point. Soccer Australia banned our
national team playing club sides years ago for the very reason of it diminishing the value
of the team. Yet now, it lets it happen - probably due financial reasons. But
in future, just call these sorts of teams for they really are: like "An Australian
II" or "A-League All-Stars", or something. The cricket team does
(Australia A), so too does rugby (Barbarians). Interestingly, ManU will be
facing Chinese club teams, not the national team when the second part of their tour
occurs.
The value of the whole experience has to be examined too. The treble winning ManU indeed brought the crowds through and at least provided some real competition unlike the phoney World game last month. Unfortunately, Australia's best players were unavailable so a serious hit-out for the full team eluded us. Indeed it was wise to play most of the Olympic players as they will benefit more and in fact rose to the occasion and did perform well. The media was especially critical of the first game with the poor pitch, constant winging from both camps, the ridiculous high ticket prices, and the lack of purpose behind the games. I concur. As these games were played, the Copa America - the South American Championships which invites two teams each year to make up the numbers - was being played with Mexico and Japan the invited teams. Now, with Australia definitely going through this region for the next World Cup all doors should have been battered down to be an invitee and hence play serious teams in serious competition. This has been something that the team has been crying out for since the dawn of time. I don't even know whether the Soccer Australia even entertained the idea and asked the South Americans - SA should wise up now. These hokey exhibitions have proved nothing and just made the promoters richer. And while SA may have got a reported $250,000 for the games (compared to ManU's $4mil), surely the experience and opportunity to have the full national team playing in meaningful matches must take precedent. I know I'd rather watch our boys take on a guaranteed three South American teams on TV instead of paying $60 for a live ManU in a game that has done nothing to further the cause of Australian soccer, both on the field, and off it..
21 July 1999: How many really saw ManU in Sydney?
With the new Olympic Stadium hosting all these wonderful events, boasting about crowd
figures and associated records has become the norm. Whilst having collecting the
world rugby league record, amongst others, the stadium also lays claim to the highest
attendance at an Australian soccer game with last month's World Stars game supposedly
pulling in 88,000. Scepticism greeted this figure as many believed it was much less
going on visual indications. Also, the figure was a convenient 1,000 higher than the
previous record set at the Iran game in Melbourne two years ago.
With the Sydney/Melbourne rivalry, and with Sydney the much inferior with regards to sporting events, there may be claims to a slight exaggeration. Personally, and even though from Melbourne, I generally disregarded these claims but now an interesting sequence of events unfolded preceding the reputed 78,000 at the Sydney ManU game. Firstly, Melbourne's underestimate crowd of 65,000 turned out to be 72,000 in actuality. For Sydney, at official kick off time, 60,000 people had arrived and this figure was flashed on the scoreboard. Then ten minutes later when the actual kick off occurred, another 5,000-6,000 had been seated. Yet, "an official" 78,032 was flashed on the scoreboard and even those at the stadium booed. Either they are lying or some 10,000 people spent most of the game in the toilets. And this, a few weeks later for an American Football exhibition. Again, those in the know saw the crowd at about 53,000, yet offically it was 75,000. This is sure-fire baloney - it is just American Football - and it did look half full. Make of it as you wish, but personally the Iran game most likely had more, and even if it did not, it killed the mickey mouse affair of the World Stars.