Sanity prevails.
Iraq’s WCQ campaign is now officially on soapie melodrama turf but tomorrow it switches to full on Sports Movie triumph-of-the-underdogs mode. “Two Teams. One Grudge. On a rainy night at a sold-out Lang Park, the universe hangs in the balance”, etc.
Having bottled it against China and been spanked by snotty Qatar they have to win this to stay viable. In that spirit they’ve got the whole crew; midfield dynamo Nashat Akram, veteran D-mid Qusay Munir, Younis Mahmood upfront, Madhi Karim and Hawar Mulla Mohammed on the wings, even the star player returning from injury Bassem Abbas (how often do you hear so much concern over a leftback?) … they just need a fat kid goalie and an alcoholic has-been coach.
On our end of the ledger: Pim’s 257-man teamsheet is basically deceptive fluff, if you think these guys:
GK: Schwarzer
DF: Emerton North Beauchamp Carney
MF: Culina Bresciano Grella Wilkshire
FW: McDonald Kewell
are not starting I have an intriguing offer from an enterprising Nigerian businessman you may be interested in.
Another 0-0 draw not really being acceptable after all the hype, the Dutchman looks like ditching the pure, technical* certainty of the 4-2-3-1 in favour of a flat 4-4-2 with wierd hybrid stuff a possibility. Expect Nick Carle to come on at some point, but it looks like slim picking for fringers and A-Leaguers before the 80 minute mark.
When last our teams met they smacked us around like a pissed giraffe in silettos but this time we’ve got home turf, some humility and our coach isn’t just ticking items off his ‘What Would Guus Do’ sheet.
1-0, Aussies.
*as in dull.
7 responses so far ↓
Mungo Amanda // Jun 1, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Off to a good start — they actually played the Iraqi nat anthem!
Mungo Amanda // Jun 1, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Eh. Well the first half certainly hasn’t lacked drama. And a bit of biff! Its the Suncorp way.
Leinad // Jun 1, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Only caught the 2nd but we looked pretty good apart from central defense – Emad and Mahmood had us dead a few times.
Harry looks better than in the Ghana game, but more importantly I picked the starting lineup, the formation and the scoreline. Go me!
Mungo Amanda // Jun 1, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Pim said it best: “We played well. We have played better. We got three points.” All ya need to know!
Leinad // Jun 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Carney looked sweet as, North and Beauchamp got caught out. I am pissed that Holman got a run instead of Sunbed, it’s been 18 months and I still have no idea what Arnie or Pim see in him.
Johan Cruyff was the Greatest Player // Jun 2, 2008 at 9:38 am
Harry was very good and Schwarzer was not black!
Jade North had the worst game I have ever seen him play.
We should have scored 4-5 goals and Iraq 3-4.
Why does Brett Holan get a run. He missess more easy goals than any other player I have seen.
Hopefully we wil be better in Dubai
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