[IMG]http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/11/16/300_crhsausuru.jpg[/IMG]
HARRY KEWELL IS A LEGEND, MARK SCHWARZER IS A GENIUS, MARCO BRESCIANO AND JOHN ALOISI AIN'T HALF BAD EITHER.
WE'RE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP.
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!! OI OI OI!!!
DESTINY!
WE'RE GOING TO TRASH YOU AT THIS ONE, TOO!
We're going to try to not embarrass ourselves. :(
Edit: Irony is awesome.
when I saw that, you were the first person I thought of. Congrats :)
And it's all thanks to John Saffran and a witch doctor lifting a 30 year curse:
[quote]Australia have qualified for next year's World Cup by beating Uruguay in a penalty shootout in Sydney tonight.
At the end of extra time the Socceroos were up 1-0, meaning a 1-1 aggregate score after Uruguay's 1-0 in Montevideo earlier in the week.
But then Australia's hero goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made two saves, both diving to his left, to deny the visitors and give the home team victory by 4-3. [smh.com.au]
...and it's all thanks to john safran! in his 8-part theological series "john safran vs god", he went to maputo, mozambique to have a 35 year old curse removed from the socceroos.
'According to Australian soccer legend Johnny Warren, it’s not necessarily corruption, incompetence or bad luck behind the Australian game’s well-documented woes. Instead, try a 33-year-old curse placed on the team by an African witchdoctor.
In 1969, Australia was in the middle of yet another epic attempt to qualify for the World Cup finals. Having already beaten Japan and South Korea in preliminary games, Australia found itself facing a soon-to-be familiar play-off, this time with politically isolated Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was then known) in “neutral” Mozambique.
The first two matches saw Australia’s strikers struggle to find a way past Rhodesia’s goalkeeper. Desperate measures were needed for the deciding third game. A Mozambican journalist recommended the Australians consult a witchdoctor. The shaman suggested a spell on the Rhodesians, so bones were placed under one of the goals. Australia won, prompting the shaman to demand a fee for his services. A request for
Jesus, thats dedication.
Though I wonder if its true.
It is, it was on his 'John Safran vs God' show a year or two back. I'm pretty sure he's done sillier things.
aren't you guys in concacaf too?
CONCACAF? No, that's North America. And f*cking CONCACAF gets such a cushy run to the World Cup. 3 places and a playoff against an Asian side. Ridiculous compared to the runaround we've gotten over the years, with a lack of competition leading to a lack of match practise and access to our best platers... then getting thrown into a one-off, all-or-nothing playoff against a world class side, a single roll of the dice with terrible preparation.
And every time we've seemed like we were gonna get a better deal we've basically been screwed by FIFA politics... powerful organisations like COMNEBOL and UEFA and such. Such is life at the periphery. Mumble mumble f*cking FIFA.
We're in the OFC at present (Oceania) and moving to the AFC shortly. Finally. Hopefully in Asia, with its huge markets, competitive sides, and full fixtures, we'll see Australian soccer finally GO somewhere.
you seem to be under the predesposition that Mexico and the United States aren't very good, thus giving any teams in the Concacaf a "cushy" run. Hell, last year we played South Korea, which everyone said played rediculously good, tying them, following that Mexico, who is a "world class opponent" that we face every year, and then Germany, who beat us (somewhat). Costa Rica's 2nd game was against Brazil. Year before that we played Germany in our very first game, while Colombia had to play England and Jamaica-Argentina and Croatia (who got 3rd place). It's not like our run is any easier than most. I mean, hell, look at the African teams. The only real bangers that they have are Cameroon and Nigeria. Senegal is a good dark horse to cheer for, but I don't think that they even qualified this year.
That's not the World Cup Qualifiers if North American sides are playing teams like SK or Germany or Argentina and Croatia. Are you talking about the world cup itself? Or some other tournament?
I just don't think, with two world class sides in Mexico and the US, and a bunch of decent second tier ones like Honduras and Jamaica, in a relatively small conference, that CONCACAF deserves THREE automatic spots AND a cushy qualifying match for a 4th. Three spots I understand, but at the very least, their qualifier match should be either harder, like against Europe or South America or Africa... or alternatively, it should be against Oceania so that match is more competitive. Especially now that it's always gonna be New Zealand or someone like the Solomon Islands or Fiji qualifying, they don't deserve to run into that Latin American brick wall all the time. We didn't either, but we at least stood something of a chance against Venezuela or Colombia or Uruguay, despite the dodgy preparations and lack of match practise and lack of access to our best players.
Just for reference, Trinidad defeated Bahrain to take that 4th spot, this year.
Oh, and, as well as Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal... Tunisia, Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt and South Africa are all also in the top 50 in the world. I don't quite understand Africa's qualification methods, but the big names aren't gonna be there, mostly. Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Tunisia, and Ghana are going, meaning these sides knocked off those powerhouses like Nigeria and Egypt and Cameroon... which I suppose shows African football has more depth than you'd think and, also, that rankings don't mean everything.
Regardless, the point is, Oceania, comparatively, gets f*cked because it has no political clout. This has traditionally screwed Australia, but now that we're jumping to Asia, it will instead screw New Zealand and all the island nations, who have even less clout. So, South America will probably continue to get its easy qualifier at the expense of our region.
I misread. You said "cushy run to the world cup". I thought you had said something about a cushy run at the world cup.
and I still think that every african country you named sucks. Out of all of them combined, I can think of maybe three players who are worth their salt. The rest are just loaded with mediocre players who get lucky every now and then. Hell, the same happened with Trinidad. They utterly f-ing SUCK.
Hey, a team of mediocre players that's well-drilled and well-coached can beat a team with two or three selfish stars... soccer's not basketball, it's a team game, man.
Or something.
I mean, they *did* beat the other African sides, they can't be total slouches.
I envy you. Venezuela was close to making it but they began to fall apart towards the end.
*sigh* There's always... five years from now.
We're going to get knocked out in the first round. Accept it; we suck at soccer.
Nah, we could go second if we get a decent pool. We're getting better, we looked much better againt Uruguay than I've seen us previously... we looked like we belonged out there, and we actually dominated them, instead of just looking like a disorganised rabble.
Yeah, but that was Uruguay. Imagine what we will be like against a team like Germany: Pwned.
There's no sense in getting that discouraged already. Just sit back and enjoy the tournament once it gets going. Besides, I have to root for America, but have I given up? Nope. :cool: