that goal we conceded was so soft.Well done lads I am very proud that was stunning football!


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Socceroos Go So Very Very Close?
AUSTRALIA defeated Serbia 2-1 in a stunning braveheart victory - but it just wasn't enough to earn them a spot in the knockout stage of the World Cup.

Have your say.

So proud, close real shame Germany couldn't help out. That first game killed us! Holman scored a screamer and Cahill deserved that goal more than anyone else.

Ghana only go through on pure luck and it is a crime if they go any further in the tournament.

Thanks for the hit out Serbia,but we got you!

im just so happy they won, ghana really dont deserve to be there though. lol as soon as holman got the ball, right before he launched his shot and scored i said out loud "cmon holman you useless dickhead" felt like suich a bad person after he scored.

Devo. Played so well if it wasn't for the pathetic first game we would be through

Well at least Holman is going to be loved now.

did us proud . .

Man, I so wish that Germany game didn't happen... We did deserve to go through!

Let it be known that I changed my stance on Holman before the world cup, anyway so proud right now a great feeling to have dominated that game and ghana can count themselves lucky no goals from proper play anyway heads held high boys

Great win for the Roos. Small consalation is that aafter their 4-0 loss they didn't finish bottom of the group.

HAHA, Shame Serbia

Was believing we could do it for a while there. We were utterly destroying a side that killed it in qualifying and has major European players across the pitch.

Shame for Schwarz that he (probably) bows out on the World stage by conceding that goal - if only it didn't matter and it was all in our hands going into the last match.

Fuck Pim and his negative tactics against Germany - and fuck the referees in the first and second matches for their horrible, game-wrecking decisions.

I would not even consider trading the Australian world cup history with any other nation's. it is just so unique,and you can be proud to call it your own.

So proud of the boys, showed brilliant spirit after a dreadful start to the tournament. We were always fighting an uphill battle after getting belted in the first game.

Well done boys!

What a goal from Holman though, I couldn't fucking believe it when it went in.

Proud!

I want the team to start building for the next world cup straight away. Let's learn from our past, get a kick-arse coach, develop young players and play in the Australian style!

The only thing that makes me happy is that I can give Holman haters shit now. :)

I didn't expect much going into the match, but my hopes were raised for about twenty minutes. Then dashed after the Serbian goal.


I -HATE- the Germans now. They almost single-handedly ruined our tournament. They could have at least scored 1 or 2 more against Ghana... but NO.

Ghana is in OUR spot.

I hope England absolutely THRASH Germany. I never thought I'd see the day when I was barracking for the English national football team.

Good effort, fuck off pim.

Agreed. Learn from this and grow. Get a good replacement and make sure the German result NEVER happens again. Don't take our Asian opponents lightly. Etc.

if it wasnt for the 2 red card bullshit decisions we would have progressed. plain and simple. so much for the other countries thinking we were the ones not to worry about in the group. easily stuck it to serbia and ghana. ghana just had a 12th man on their team and we had 10...

PS. How about all those freekicks to serbia though how was that for some biased reffing

dont be mad at germany, be mad at those arrogant ghanian idiotsfterward who are through solely via penalties and still have the gall to celebrate like champs after they get the goal gifted to them on a silver platter.

Edited by Dogsdogsdogs: 24/6/2010 06:38:34 AM

Edited by Dogsdogsdogs: 24/6/2010 06:39:04 AM

Well put mack.

WHAT NOW ABOUT HOLMAN??!!??!!????? i don't want to hear any more bad comments about him.

Boys and girls, after the 4-0 debaucle I think we have saved our repuatation in world football and I couldn't be prouder. Well done lads

The USA will smash Ghana like guitars. The most overhyped, shit team in the entire world.

Ghana got through via luck and TERRIBLE referee decisions. If I wasn't a realist, I would say it's a FIFA conspiracy to get an African team through to avoid embarrassment.

i certainly hope so, but then that means usa get to the quarter finals, FUUUUUUU

Congrats Ghana you have overtaken italy as the most hated Nation of socceroo supporters

Well done boys you did well

I personally have no problems with the USA. Ghana are overrated, on the other hand the USA are underrated.

Interesting to point out that Ghana's 2 goals were both penalties, the only team in our group to not get a red card. The only other goal Serbia conceded was a penalty. And every team in our group won a game. And the only draw was between us and Ghana. If only Kewell didn't get red carded against Ghana. At least we got our pride back.

this result just makes me think what would have happend if we had a go instead of playing negatively so glad pim has gone now!

Great performance by the boys. Holman has really shown why he plays regular top flight football and the coaches keep picking him. Just makes you realise what might have been...

Oh well. Bring on the Asian Cup I say. Here's hoping the boys play with that sort of spirit!

So sad, but very proud of them, it is just football... Australia... 'cause fuck Pim, but they showded that Australia do has Football... Australia had more merit, perfect goals, Tim, Holmman... and What about Ghana? two gifts, two penalties... that is just football.

I'm not too sure about that.

At least Ghana have always been our bitches.

well seeing as we lose to the eventual winners every tournament that means Germany have to win the world cup now ,what are the odds like at the moment

Well played Aussies. Everyone played their heart out tonight. Bresciano played great, he has been the best & most dangerous free kick taker in the World Cup so far, (pity we didn't get many free kicks).
It really makes a difference when we play with 11 players for the whole game.
We shocked those Serbians, who were thinking about their opponents for the next few games. Geez, they kept possession of the ball well under pressure didn't they?

I assume Raddy Antic will now be out of a job? How about we get him as our coach? He's bloody well qualified & he knew how we can play before the game, I doubt his players believed him.

Graham Arnold out.

just makes me wonder what could have happened if we were not so negative in our approach i think that was the difference between now and 06. cannot wait to see the back of Pim Verbeek

given the way germany played against serbia, and the way i am assuming they played against ghana(give the measly 1-0 result) i think its safe to say that we allowed them to be as a good as they were. no reason, if we went out with the intent and desire we did the last two games, that we couldnt have beat germany.

Well done Australia... really good performance. Such a shame we can't continue on through the tournament with this form.

Holman has made me eat my words and I am a fan now. Jesse Fink should apologise and write a congratulatory article about Holman.

I hate to be negative but it has to be said again.

One person is responsible for us not progressing and that is Pim Verbeek and his decisions/tactics/formation and mindset that he sent out against Germany. 4-0 will always be the result with that kind of non-sense.

Fair enough Greece can play that way, Italy too and a few other nations, but it simply is not part of the Australian psyche or thought process.

The next Aussie coach should be sat down in front of a DVD player and the biggest TV the FFA can find with Pim's team sheet, tactical sheet and log book and shown that performance 10 times straight.

Just so it is clear what I am getting at.

IF ANY AUSTRALIAN COACH EVER SENDS OUT AN AUSTRALIAN TEAM WITH THAT MINDSET, THOSE TACTICS AND THAT FORMATION (Germany 4-0) AGAINST ANY TEAM IN THE WORLD EVER AGAIN. HE SHOULD BE SACKED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE GAME.

Australia with 11 men is better than Australia with 10. At least we ended up playing more of the tournament with 11.

Put a former Yugoslav country in front of us and we'll send them home. Shades of Stuttgart.

Germany will smash England.

Lolman!

We won over Serbia. Great
Holman proved himself. Great
We are all proud of our team. Great
GRAHAM ARNOLD IS OUT TODAY Priceless

Long long long overdue. And Pim is gone too. Great. Fresh start with a new coach. Just hope FFA don't screw up.

Rejoice!

dont want to sound like i'm whinging, but fuk we done it hard, with the red cards(in 1st 2 games) practically played 1 full game with 10 men, reckon with Tim an Harry on the field together with a courageous coach, we could of made the last 8, bittersweet feeling tonite, well done boys

dam the world cup and the inexplicable amount of 'what ifs' it brings.

Why hate the Germans the only impact they had on australia was the 4 nil thumping they gave us - and we deserved that by the way we played... I honestly expected Germany to win by more but they did what they needed, cant blame them for that... We have been somewhat unlucky during this tournament and have displayed some good football in patches, but when it comes down to having to rely on other teams and their results you gotta take the good with the bad...

Bad luck australia, but good effort in the last 2 games...

Sad for leaving South Africa but happy with the performance in the last two games. That Germany game will haunt me for four years now, plus a loss of $100.00 I put on Australia getting to the second round.

bring on india :)

Simple really, keep it low and get it on target, let the ball do the work, makes you wonder when the show pony's from the so called top nations wake up to it.

Firstly, very proud of the boys for the performances in the last 2 games.

The next month or 2 will be very interesting though. To see if anyone at the FFA come out and criticise Pim (hope not, that will deter other coaches from applying, but Lowy has a habit of saying what he thinks). To see if any of the players come out and criticise Pim. To see how many retirements there are, or will they all try to win the Asian Cup. To see if Pim puts his hand up.

Fuck all the "what if's". Thats in the past now. Look forward people.

Edited by villaboy: 24/6/2010 07:09:54 AM

DEVASTATED...2nd best team in the group. DEVASTATED

To be honest the Poms arent playing that bad, just not putting the goals away, I think this game will possibly be the best of the tournament, Germans probably win on penalties though!

by the way, nothing more than our failure to take our opportunities against Ghana cost us. red cards, yeah whatever, we missed our chances.

F&CK That sucks, but we fought so hard and made so many proud. DEVASTATED

Pim did well in the end with his resources. Nikita did not do well enough to replace anyone and I couldn't have seen McDonald doing better than Holman in terms of goal tally. That said Holman did little else. Jesus was unfortuhnately a bit of a washout although if the NZ-Italy game is any rule he had a couple of penalty calls. The boys did us proud and with a smarter coach (don't forget Pim was an emergency option after some FUCKING LOSER gazumped us) we can look forward now to better refereeing treatment and a better show in Brazil. And a first major trophy (sorry girls) at next years AFC cup.

We did well. We had a go. We flooded forward. Well done guys! No disgrace. The Ghana-penalty-Harry send off, is the one that got away, not the Germany game. Germany did out play us and deserved to win - but Pim's tactics & Tim's send off gave the 0-4.
I think the criticism of Pim is a bit short sighted. He did get us there. Perhaps he over-reacted to Germany's threat (with a doubt of putting an untried Harry on the park) by his selections. However, it was the same guy in charge today that coached us to a great 2-1 victory over 15th ranked Serbia. I say thanks. We need to look forward ... again.

hopefully the refs learn their trade in 2014 and show more bloody respect :P

So proud of australia, proud of each one of the boys. we picked ourselves up and probably deserved more... we just lucked out from unfortunate send offs.

Our future is good, the boys from 2006 backed it up for us in 2010 and players like holman and valeri have showed that we aren't going to be left in the dark in the near future either. Bring in the right coach and we'll unearth some new talent.

Schwarzer and cahill as a side note are fantastic players and hey if they are still kicking it and doing well come 2014.. why not! ;) it's just a shame to not see kewell work his magic today.
I'm wearing my shirt with pride today! :D

Never thought I'd say this, Brett Holman - Superstar

This proves that, at the start, how you define the goal/vision/aim will affect the whole result. The problem was that FFA narrowly defined Pim's job as merely reaching the World Cup. So Pim did that in a negative, grinding, boring, soul-sapping manner.

The new coach should be selected to guide Australia in the right direction in building a foundation of being a world football superpower. That involves someone having a heart for developing the standards of the A-League.

One of the negatives I'll always remember Pim for is that he criticised the A-League, but never did anything about it. If the A-League's training is so poor, what about going to each club and giving them some guidance on how to lift their game. Philip Troussier did that for Japan - he is credited with developing the grassroots quality of Japan's game.

Pim's negativity showed right from the beginning. I'll always think it was totally negative of never giving players like Nick Carle a real go. Totally negative to bring Carle on with 10 minutes to go. Carle never really had a proper chance to show his worth. Admittedly, it is true that Carle never broke out in the UK Championship, but at least Verbeek could have given him a go. For instance, Scott McDonald can never say he never had a chance to prove himself, but Carle was never given that chance - and it reflects on Verbeek's stubbornness.

Another thing I'll remember Verbeek for is his unwillingness to experiment, sure, not in qualifiers, but surely he could have experimented in friendlies, particularly with trying to find a system to maximise one of our overseas club success stories - Scott McDonald.

So, in summary, I am glad Verbeek is leaving, and am left with a regret that this golden generation really could have done something special, if given the chance under a different coach.

A coach really, really makes a difference. Look at Harry Redknapp's resurrection of Tottenham from rock bottom to Champion's League the next year. See how Guus can transform a mid-level international team like South Korea and Australia, and make them punch above their weight.

So, relieved and glad to see Verbeek go, for the above reasons.

Agree with evrything here. Especially interested in what happened in the sheds when the teamsheet came out for German game. Next coach has to embrace the Australian spirit and natural tendency to want to attack and have a crack.

It will be an interesting approach to the Asian Cup, do we go fresh or go the same or balance the squad with new and old talent? I'd like to win it and with a new coach in place and not having someone like Arnold running the show, maybe the players will be up for it this time around.

Great night. AT Aus 2-0 and Germany 1-0 it was tense. It was good to get the win, and 4 points...well 4 points often gets you through.

The criticsm of Verbeek is bullshit. Yes some decisions in the Germany game were poor, but 4-0 isnt just a result of tactics and formation. The players were overawed by the situation as well. Ok its a lesson and bit of experience hopefully the players take to the next World cup. \

But why is it fine to forgive the players for past failures after a win, but not the coach. Other than starting Carney (who is easily the shittest fucking player imaginable - He was crap in the A-League and has only warmed benches since), the team was spot on. The changes of Holman and Chipperfield proved a wonder (both heavily involveed in the goals).

We qualified easily for the World Cup and bowed out after drawing with Ghana and beating Serbia. Thats a damn good effort and despite one game against Germany, his time as Australian coach has been hugely successful.

Congrats to the Socceroos and Verbeek.

Brilliant performance by Australia. I think we played fantastically. A little shaky early on, but we definatly held our own against a Serbian team with a lot of talent.

Definatly getting a Brett Holman Socceroos Jersey :lol:, i'll name my son after Brett Holman. I wasn't a fan of his, but he's defiantly been tucking into the Weet-Bix in recent weeks. Pim finally got it right today, Everyone was tipping us to lose to Serbia, but we litually played flawlessly. Wonderful stuff by the Aussies, I think Pim finally learnt his lesson, albeit it being too late, but we can look back on this world cup with fond memories. For the majority we played well when we were written off.

Heads up lads, we've done well i feel. Unlucky, we had many calls go against us, but i think we defied the odds by beating Serbia. This'll be a big morale boost to all Aussie fans, and players. They can hold their heads up high and be proud of their performance.

There'll be a lot of what-ifs. But you gotta take the good with the bad, and i think this is the best way we could have ended the tournement.

In the words of one of the Martin Tyler "We were facing a challenge as high as the mountain in Cape Town" and to have scored 4 against Serbia would have been difficult. We got halfway there, and that proves we can perform at the highest level, against the best teams. The boys should be congratulating each other, we didn't deserve the 4-0 thumping at the hands of Germany, we didn't deserve some of the rash calls against us, but our performance against Serbia will be a good morale boost, the really happy side of this world cup.

and hey, we went through the entire match without having a player sent off, that's gotta count for somthing ;)

The Boys are legends, every single one of them,

Absolutely, you're spot on there mate. The FFA didn't set the bar high enough. "qualify with ease, make the round of 16" should have been the requirement. But the FFA were too concerned about failure, and not obsessed enough with success at all costs.

It's cliche, but "shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you'll end up in the stars" is appropriate here. We should have been aiming for a classy qualification, and to march in to the round of 16. Even if we missed and ended up with the performance we got from Pim we've made the WC, pushed our group all the way and on a whole have every reason to be proud of what we achieved.

On the whole I'm happy with our World Cup. I think it could and should have gone a lot better. But it definitely could have gone worse.

I'm a fan of Kennedy, and I think if you ask Tim Cahill he would be an even bigger fan. Cahill always seem to be able to ghost in and score seemimgly unmarked. Why? Because funnily enough the focus is on the big man and not so much on him. Until we find a player to replace Kennedy or we change our style completely, he will be leading the line.

bad luck. pissed that ghana went through, and even more pissed that either ghana or usa will finish in the top 8.

plenty of optimism material for you guys, as you pretty much steamrolled asia to get there. The a-league is moving in the right direction, and after a while the home-based side will be able to sass nearly all of asia. the game in general is looking up in australasia, as the heart shown by NZ (along wth the acquisition of a few players) makes it difficult to see us being as troubled by clowns like bahrain.

BEST FOR US:
Schwatzy (let`s be honest, he kept us in it)
Goalman Holman (no longer LOLman)
Timmy (He had obviously eaten his wheatbix)
Neil and BeaCHAMP! (Who should have been on ahead of Moore anyway)
WilkSIR (he gave his all, hope he`s not too injured)
No longer mini Vinnie!
Bresch and EMMO were good too.
Jesus can use his feet too! Well done by him!
Carney looked shakey in the first half, but improved.
Chippers was a great sub!
Who did I leave out...oh yeah, Culina, he was OK.

Edited by mattx: 24/6/2010 08:01:38 AM

I want to see cahill and kewell at the asian cup, I want to win it, we have 4 years of experimenting ahead of us anyways... glad the GA/Farina era is completely out of the way.

From Holman to Hero! There are going to be plenty of 'what ifs?' but ultimately the team played in a quintessential Aussie way and I am very proud of that performance. This team will set the standard for years to come. Pim got it wrong againsy Germany but he has to be one of the world's best second half coaches, once again Australia was unstoppable in the second half. And Michael Beauchamp played superbly, so much for the thought that we can't replace Moore. Welcome back to the A League. Would have preferred to see Vidosic on to replace the injured Wilkshire - Garcia just doesn't threaten goals. And once again Mark Milligan goes through a World Cup and doesn't get a game. Thank you to all the Socceroos and I am looking forward to the future with great anticpation - Rhys Williams, David Williams, Luke Wilkshire as captain, Holman, Valeri, Vidosic, Mooy, Lowry and so on. The ride is going to be great and will go for ever...

Unfortunately we didn't take a couple of other chances we had and let a Serbian goal in. But ultimately the results against Germany and Ghana hurt us, we probably could have drawn with Germany if we played how we should have (thanks Pim) and could have easily beaten Ghana, and topped the group.

Holman's goal was great. Was a bit unfortunate to see that he had his normal passing boots on, there was a good chance there that went begging.

Kennedy was giving away a lot of free kicks in an attempt to hold the ball up. Unfortunately no close-up replays to see if they were justified.

Despite any criticism of the players in this post, overall I was happy with their performance and it was good to see them not only giving 100% physically but also mentally.

Edited by phreeky: 24/6/2010 07:55:12 AM

hypothetically had we only loss to germany 2-0 (before we loss cahill). would we have gone through with a 2-1 scoreline against serbia?

Edited by Bryan: 24/6/2010 07:57:10 AM

Australia ALWAYS play better with Kennedy in the team... We are a target man team and Cahill, then Holman ghosting off him makes us look extremely dangerous and hard for any team to handle. We would have lost 1/0 to Germany if we fielded this team in game 1. And we'd been celebrating tonight like crazy bastards!! Here's hoping the new coach keeps the 4-2-3-1 structure with the 1 being Jesus... if so, Asian Cup champs is a given.

On another note - well done Australia. Thank you for giving us our best ever result in the history of Australian football (fact!)

Forgot the 12th man! The Aussie crowd was so good, we could hear the Aussie fans over the Vuvuzellas!! They got stuck in to that skillful Serbian blonde guy, and put him off so much that he got subbed early.

Also forgot about Garcia, but he was forgettable...

Edited by mattx: 24/6/2010 08:01:05 AM

Edited by mattx: 24/6/2010 08:01:58 AM

It's a weird thing to say, but, yes, I suppose Australia has some 'World Cup pedigree' now, we'll be right for 2014, we'll qualify for it.



Edited by diego's son: 24/6/2010 08:05:02 AM

Aussi crowd support has been epic, right up there with Dutch, Mexicans and Poms. Will be fucking mad if we get get a chance to host!

Too hyped to go to sleep so I'll just list some of the thoughts going through my head.

Absolutely gutted and devasted that we are out. We did have the potential to go through but C'est le vie.

Talking about this current game: stunning, absolutely brilliant from the lads just what wanted from the lads. We beat one of the emerging dark horses from Europe, excellent stuff. We finished on the same points as we did last World Cup but unfortunatly we needed results to go our way, which is never the best way to be succesful. We can also have a good dig at our English friends, we scored more goals in the group stages than they did. :D

On Pim and the matches on a whole. Well, I think he did really well and those bagging him are either nutcases or a just so hyper atm they can't see the forest from the trees.

Do people not realise against Germany we were 2-0 until Cahill got sent off for an "Orange"? That could have meant, if we hadn't conceded a Serbian goal tonight wed have been through on goals scored. An interesting "What if?" to all those been put out there. Pim failed tactically in 2 and a half matches. He went for a tactical surprise against the Krauts and it failed. We were much better in the second half until the Cahill red.

In the Ghana match, we were fucked over by two descision that imo, cost us two points which obviously affects us more than a -2 GD. Its disappointing that a team can score from penalties and progess, they were the worst side in our group but that's football.

I will always maintain that Kewell should never been sent off. Letter of the law, the keyword is deliberate and that was never a deliberate handball. End of as far as I'm concerned. That tackle on Bresciano was a straight red but again we get the short end of the stick. Pim's tactics, changes and subs were spot on and the boys responded well from the disappointment of the previous match.

Back to this mornings match again Pim was faultless. The players played well and hung on against a decent side, Schwarzer kept us in the match in that first half. Second half we played well and that double subsitution, brilliant. That 15-20 minute spell was our best playing of the World Cup. Holman, well done to giving the finger in the best way to all your haters. Pim again, wonderful in sticking with him. You gave him the confidence to play as he did. Hats off to both.

As for the Serbs goal...damn, it didn't matter in the end but just as well. It was a mistake and fumble no way how you look at it, however "hard" it was. It was almost a carbon copy of Kingston's error. That said, I hold no bitterness or grudges to Schwarzer. Our #1 player in qualifying and has been one of our best all tourney and he did save us from going behind this match.

Ghana shouldn't go through they were not the 2nd best side, Australia or Serbia were, its just a pity that officials and dodgy rules can help that. However we can hold are head, there's many positives from the tournament. We finished with the same results as '06, we won a match, stopped our 2nd Balkan opponent from progressing and showed the spirit and attitudes Australians are proud off. This tournament HAS been a SUCCESS for us and if anyone knows me, I'm largely pessimistic. :P

I wish Pim all the best, he did well, he's no Hiddink but he's done more for Australian football than people give him credit for but then the great football unwashed just listen to media spin don't they?

All the best in Morroco, leave Australia on a high and hopefully the next manager can build on the foundations you've implemented. I actuaally believe 'nurturing' and rebuilding with youngster is a Football Associations role, a manager can't 'create' or develop a player in his formative years but a FA can. All a manager can do is get the best he can from the best players at his disposal.

The next phase in Aussie football will be interesting. I don't think we have the players with the current ability to qualify for 2014 but some youngster could improve. It will be intersting.

Now to turn our attention to Group G - good luck Kiwis!

Germany cost us big time - and really it would of only been two nil if our tatics were better and timmy wasnt sent off...

Im proud of the boys on the park - those off it well dont hit the door on the way out!


after the asian cup what do we have, countless waterdown friendlies that mean f all and give false sence of security - IF we are fair dinkum about the future of the socceroos/australia it should start with Asia Cup

screw patch up jobs and so called high profile 'coaches' who only care about using us as a steping stone to european clubs - this is our future we are playing with

Has anyone seen the footage of this? I only caught a brief replay while channel flicking during the game and it looked very similar to the Kewell incident!

Congrats boys you showed the world the real aussie spirit and played they way we always new you could. Even though we didnt get to the next round. You showed what Australia was all about and showed the real us, which was missing in the first game.

Did anyone else notice at full time how the Serbians were whingeing to the match officials, presumably about Tim Cahill's unintentional hand ball in the penalty area? I almost thought for a split second when that happened he was going to get red carded and hand Serbia a goal. Thank god the ref got that one right.

Well Done Lads the NATION IS SO PROUD OF YOU ! We all KNOW That TIMMY IS THE MAN, but I am the first to ADMIT I WAS SO WRONG ABOUT BRETT HOLMAN - he had a SUPER WORLD CUP. THE AUSSIE SPIRIT IS ALIVE AND WELL, WELL DONE SOCCEROOS.

As one of the few that kept the faith in Holman all the way I'm laughing my ass off at everyone who is changing their tune. Not in a mean-spirited way, mind you, it's just great to see it happen. It's good to see you all back on the right side of the fence, I knew he'd make you come around eventually.

The Socceroos can come home proud. They were embarrassed by Germany due to a horrific underestimation of their own abilities but they truly proved their worth as a 10-man side held on for 65 minutes to a 1-1 draw and we went out and humbled Serbia with a great offensive and defensive effort (except maybe Carney - I mean, what the hell was he *doing* half the time?).

We're proud of you, lads; congratulations on your World Cup performance.

It was exactly the fucking same!

Red card, down to 10 men, penalty, goal in on instance and play on in the other.

How can there be such a difference for the same "offense".

Now, the difference between a red card and a yellow can be slim at times, but for something like this, it's a joke.

Also, not surprised Serbia weren't down to 10 men after Cahill got an elbow to the head jumping for a header in the box. That sort of thing has been given too but not here.

Oh, for some consistency.

Edited by hotrod: 24/6/2010 02:26:40 PM

2011 Asian Cup, japan, Korea, China, Iran & Saudi Arabia...come get some!

Look on the bright side.

So far there are only two countries going home after winning their last game in the WC, Seth Efrika and us. Expect to see another 1 or 2 in the remaining games, plus the eventual winner.

How many countries can say they won their last WC finals match???

So proud of the boys, they really bounced back after a first poor performance and showed the world the amount of spirit that they have. Great representitives of Australian footballers and Australans in general.

Fantastic performance, especially in the second half. Continued our form from the Ghana game and restored some pride to what was so dashed by the defeat to Germany.

Two fantastic goals, complemented by some fantastic defending and saves at the other end.
Valeri stepped up magnificently, brilliant efforts.

We came so close - But who would've expected it after the first game.

Crazy to think that one of Uruguay, Mexico, Ghana and USA will be in the SEMI-FINALS of a World Cup!

Out of them, I think Uruguay deserve it most. Mexico and Ghana both have had some good performances, the Mexicans against the French and Ghana against Serbia, but USA I am not too sure will get past the Round of 16. Uruguay though have been outstanding. 7 points in the Group Stages, undefeated and didn't concede 1 goal. We can definitely beat South Korea.

But yeah, absolutely wonderful performance by the Aussies. Even when all seemed lost, they came out and gave it their best and were so close to even doing the impossible. The showed great fighting spirit, and I admire them dearly for it.

Haha, no bias in there? Mexico was by far and away the best team in the group and played some fantastic football, look forward to seeing them play Argentina. USA just keep coming back and topped their group so I can't rule them out. Ghana were very very average and got lucky to make it through the group, I could see the USA giving them a hidding to be honest. Uruguay have played some good football, interesting match up with South Korea. I picked the Koreans to make it through the group and maybe get to the quaters, should be a good game.

My reasoning, is that the team who doesn't concede any goals, remains undefeated and also tops the group usually is the best team in the group. I will not deny Mexico played some great attacking football, but Uruguay did as well. The thing that seperates the two are defence. Uruguay have a much better defence than the Mexicans, and are much better at the counter attack. Mexico are playing Argentina, and I don't think they can beat them. Uruguay vs South Korea is going to be very interesting, but with the performances they have produced so far and with the Koreans quite poor defence I can't go past us.

Ghana of course were lucky to go through, and both the Socceroos and Serbia deserved it more I thought. If the U.S are to beat them, they really need to work on putting away their chances.

I wonder if Wilkshere's feeling really bad now...not that he should of course.

Of course you do. :P

I'd say they're probably the favourites though.

There's still time for a firey bus crash 8-[

Luis Suarez's for means they're almost certain to be there. Probably playing the dutch.

Congratulations to the Socceroos!We are all so proud and i hope the masses carry their pride and come to the homegrown AUSSIE A-League, because the game needs you....bring your passion, bring your flags, A-League season 6 will be a cracker!TV advertsing has already started on CH 7...good one FFA!