Australia is without Tim Cahill. Can they muster any offense without him or will they be drained by the speedy Ghanaians?
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by Randinho| 55 Comments
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Australia is without Tim Cahill. Can they muster any offense without him or will they be drained by the speedy Ghanaians?
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Libby
No idea, but I went with Ghana in my soccer pool.
Bootlegger
Slow-footed versus strategically inept–this will either be very entertaining or simply awful, nothing in between.
Libby
Completely off topic but is that a typo in the subtitle or is Feedom an inside joke here that I don’t get? Or did I just imagine the typo because I’m not awake yet?
Violet
@Libby:
Is that the “Freedom isn’t Free” one? I think that’s spelled correctly, last time I checked.
I’m pulling for Ghana for sure. I hope they dominate Australia. They need to to increase their chances of going through.
wengler
I want Australia to win just to put everyone in the group at 3 points.
Libby
Swear it looked like feedom isn’t free but my eyesight’s not so great anymore and the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.
J.W. Hamner
Hard to root against the Aussies… but let’s go BLACK STARS.
Bootlegger
@Violet: I was in Nuremberg four years ago when Ghanna beat the US. The entire second half they dropped to the ground and writhed in agony any time the US looked at them. They ate up time and destroyed the rhythm of the game. It’s a tactic, I guess, but I’ll never support them and I hope the Aussies beat the crap out of them (literally).
Disclaimer: I feel this way about any soccer team that employs theatrics. I was thrilled to see the Italian and Spanish thespians fail.
handsmile
From a recent Guardian podcast on dissent in the Australian camp following their humiliation at the hands of Germany:
[Complaining that the usual Socceroos’ tactics were not deployed]: “At no point did we pick up the ball, punch someone in the face, and punt the ball downfield to someone dressed like a butcher.”
Have to favor Ghana in this match, though if Michael Essien was on the pitch, the bookmakers would have refused to take bets. (I was gutted to learn that his lingering injury would keep him from the tournament.)
I suspect the real prize-fight in this group will be next week between Australia and Serbia (and I mean that literally and figuratively.)
Violet
I really want an African country to go through, so they’re all getting my support unless they play the US.
Bootlegger
@Violet: I share your sentiment about an African side going through. Ivory Coast and Nigeria get my support.
Dangerous free kick for the Aussies. Can anyone keep the ball below the bar? (besides Sneijder)
Bootlegger
And they did it!!!
The Ghanian wall was just awful. No way that ball should have got over the top of ’em.
MattR
Soccer-rooooooooooooooooooos!!
J.W. Hamner
Socceroos!!!
Violet
Wow. Nicely done by the Socceroos.
J.W. Hamner
I can’t see how it’s going to hold up however… the Black Stars look significantly better.
jurassicpork
Hi, guys. I’m in a tight spot and details are here. Suffice it say I wouldn’t be making a public appeal unless it was absolutely necessary. Any help, however small, would be appreciated. In fact, I’m even thinking of taking a job cleaning up the oil spill on the Gulf Coast (Mrs. JP thinks it would be an invaluable opportunity to blog about it).
JenJen
Yes We Ghan!!
J.W. Hamner
What a turn… a red card and a penalty kick.
wengler
I’m still waiting for Thorsten Frings to be sent off and the US to get a PK.
MattR
@jurassicpork: getting this error when I click on the Paypal button.
Bootlegger
@J.W. Hamner: Technically they are better, tactically the Aussies will have the edge. Neither side will play for the single point from a draw.
J.W. Hamner
The Black Stars are bringing it… though I guess they should up a man.
catclub
@Libby:
It is correctly copied from some tea-moran’s sign.
I was hoping for “feedom isn’t fee”
but that is too much to ask.
Bootlegger
Well the Aussies ain’t sitting back, they are playing for three points.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Ghana should be credited with a loss here, just on general principles. They look awful.
burnspbesq
Ghana is looking really fragile.
MattR
@burnspbesq: So I guess that means Germany is back in a good position to win group D. They still need to beat Ghana, but that does not look like it will be as difficult as I thought it was 90 minutes ago.
Randinho
@MattR: Roberto Martinez nailed it: “I think you’ve seen the problem with a very young team.” They should have dome much better.
Harry Kewell has no right to complain. He screwed up.
Ghana now leads the group with 4 points.
@wengler: I feel your pain.
burnspbesq
One wonders why we aren’t hearing vociferous protests from fans from around the world over being forced to drink Budweiser at the World Cup venues.
burnspbesq
@MattR:
All four teams in Group D can still advance.
Thlayli
The big surprise here was that Kewell was sent off before he had a chance to go off injured.
slightly_peeved
That was the main problem with the game vs. Germany – Australia play badly when we aren’t playing for a victory. We do, and you see the kind of offense you saw in the second half of that game.
Kostas
Did i hear right? The coach of Ghana has been awarded in the past as the “coach of the year” at Serbia???? For god shake the guy must be one of the biggest jokes of the world cup….. His team was playing against 10 from 25’…. They needed 3 points badly and probably they needed goal difference too… They had their chance and their coach “accomplished” to hold back his team like this….. Obviously he thought he had better chances to draw an 11 man Germany squad than beat an 10 man Australian squad!!! Very clever !!!! Now its by by Ghana … Get rid of your coach!!
Randinho
@burnspbesq: Boy do I agree with that. About the only thing I get snobby about is beer and Bud is carbonated weasel whiz.
handsmile
Certainly Ghana adopted a refreshingly unorthodox strategy in the second half: so confident in their speed and offensive prowess that defense could be regarded as a mere trifle.
For those of you who do such things, send your prayers to Luke Wilkshire who will have a very bad night replaying his stuffed chance in the Ghanaian penalty box.
With the return of Tim Cahill for the next match, Kewell’s cruel [sorry] red card will be offset, but the absence of steadfast defender Craig Moore (accumulated yellows) against Serbia, the Socceroos will surely rue [sorry].
Kostas
I really hope Ghana doesnt make to to the next round….. I was supporting Ghana today but they totaly let me down… They had the ball outside the box and instead of bringing 2-3 players more to help score they just relied to 2 attackers against 5 defenders, while having the 11-10 advantage… pathetic for Ghana’s coach and players…. Australia was great considering they played with 10… And with a little bit of luck they could have scored the goal of justice
MattR
@burnspbesq: I don’t think a single team has been eliminated yet, though Cameroon needs a point tomorrow to avoid that fate.
burnspbesq
@Randinho:
An angry mob of weasels, armed with pitchforks and torches, has been seen in the vicinity of your residence. They said something about avenging an egregious insult against their species honor.
Randinho
@burnspbesq: They are so tough they even defend their excreta :-)
burnspbesq
Hmmm … Cameroon – Denmark or Mets – Yankees?
burnspbesq
@Randinho:
Could be worse: if Anheuser-Busch hadn’t outbid SABMiller for the beer rights, it could be Miller Lite being served in the stadiums.
I’m not sure what it says about South Africa that the country’s biggest company (by market cap) is a brewer.
Libby
@catclub: Thanks for confirming that I haven’t gone completely blind.
Randinho
It’s funny because InBev, the large company that bought Anheuser Busch makes some decent beers: Caracu, which along with Xingu is about the only beer I drink in or from Brazil. I’ve enjoyed Hoegaarden, Franziskaner, and can drink Stella Artois if I can’t find anything stronger, but Bud is just horrible.
Calouste
@Randinho:
Bud is what Monty Python were talking about when they said that American beer is like making love in a canoe: it’s fucking close to water.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Calouste: True, but the reports I’m hearing are that the power of advertising is slowly turning Budweiser into one of the most popular beers in any number of once proud countries. It seems that the rest of the world doesn’t have better than Americans so much as it is that they hadn’t been offered swill before.
Dr. Squid
That red card was fucking awful. Hit him in the shoulder, fer fuck’s sake. Meaning there shouldn’t have been a penalty kick, either. Worse call than in the USA-Slovenia match.
Socceroos wuz robbed.
Maxwel
@Dr. Squid
I agree. The fact that everybody’s accepting it indicates that Soccer has another rule problem. It’s bad that the Aussie would have been better off if he had gotten out of the way and simply allowed the goal.
Maxwel
Oh noes – thunderstorms in Ga. There goes the HD picture as the local yokels run the weather crawl.
Randy Paul
@Calouste: Gotta remember that one.
Randy Paul
@Dr. Squid: C’mon it hit his upper arm. right near the elbow. I just rewatched it on the Speed Game on the Soccernet website. Even Kewell acknowledges that:
He had his arm out, the ball hit him on the arm, the arm kept the ball from going in the goal. The rules are clear.
Dr. Squid
Looking again, it’s the arm closer to the shoulder socket. And that wasn’t deliberate – he was sucking his arm back into his body, not sticking it out. The rule is clear – that was not a red card.
Then in the case of Maradona, not only did he get away with one, but the ref chopped a few lines for him.
Randy Paul
@Dr. Squid: It him in the elbow. You can see the biceps and forearm muscles vibrate from the impact.
Don’t expect me to defend Maradona (which would have only been a yellow card offense as his hand ball did not deny the opposing team an obvious goalscoring opportunity). Don’t expect me to defend Torsten Frings against the USA in 2002. he should have been sent off. I have heard no analyst say anything other than Kewell deserved the card.
Kewell said he had nowhere else to put his arm. He should have plastered it against his body. I just watched it again and his arm is in fact moving out from his body, he wasn’t pulling it back in.
Dr. Squid
@Randy Paul: Looking at it again on higher res, it’s still halfway between the elbow and shoulder (fun watching his arm flab flop around, go to 1:02:05 of the full replay to see that), his arm was still moving in, and it still wasn’t deliberate, unlike, well, Torsten Frings or Thierry Henry. Nor was it like the Robbie Findley yellow card, which was worse than calling a foul on the mosh pit disallowing the goal because the blown call on that handball was so bloody obvious.
Lucas Neill’s mugging of the Black Star in the box just before the handball deserved a yellow card and a direct kick, though.
Aussie media’s gonna have a field day on Kewell – they seem to hate him like our media hates Al Gore.
slightly_peeved
Some of the Australian players, and some of the clubs they play for, are less keen than others to have their star players spend 48 hours on a plane and miss a week of club training to play a national game.
Kewell’s tended to be one of the less keen ones at times. Hence the dislike compared to players such as Neill, Cahill, and Schwartzer.