A goal by Brett Holman 3 minutes and 20 seconds into a supposed 3-minute stoppage time at the end of the match gave Australia a somewhat fortunate 2-1 win over New Zealand before just over 55,000 fans at the MCG this evening.
Chris Killen gave the Kiwis the lead in the 16th minute when he fired in at the far post and it was not until the 57th minute that Dario Vidisic equalised after a fortunate deflection off Killen had put the Australian in possession on the right.
Australia were poor in the first half and New Zealand could have had a second goal, but Killen’s shot hit the post.
Australia’s only chance of the first half came when Scott McDonald collected a cross from David Carney, but his shot from an acute angle on the right was parried by the keeper and, when the ball came back to McDonald, he was way off target.
Three Australians - Mark Milligan, Vince Grella and Tim Cahill - were booked in the first half for atrocious tackles which probably would have earned red cards for Grella and Cahill in any other match. Both tackles were on Leo Bertos.
Cahill’s tackle on Bertos saw the New Zealander carried off on a stretcher.
In a post-match interview, even Australian coach Pim Verbeek condemned the tackles.
Verbeek said his side was rusty in the first half but improved in the second.
Australia switched to a 4-4-2 system in the second half and probably had the better of the exchanges, with Milligan also shooting just wide three minutes before the equaliser.
Verbeek will announce his 23-man World Cup squad at 3pm tomorrow.
Australian captain Lucas Neill said there was still plenty to work on.
Australia will play friendlies against Denmark and the United States of America before the opening World Cup match against Germany on 14 June.
*****
The draw for the quarterfinals of the Milan Lakoseljec Memorial Trophy state-wide competition was made at South Hobart on Sunday.
The draw is:
Tilford Zebras v South Hobart
Burnie United v Tasmanian Institute of Sport
New Town Eagles v Riverside Olympic
Devonport City v Clarence United
11 comments:
A lucky win, but any win against the Kiwis in any sport is good news!
My comments in a previous blog were vindicated last night, with Craig Moore showing, or rather, proving his vulnerability. He ducked the cross that was eventually turned in by Chris Killen; perhaps he intentionally left it for someone else, unfortunately it was Killen!
The upcoming match against Denmark will be a real test of Verbeek's side's mettle, as it is always competetive against anybody & hard to beat.
Germany, Ghana & Serbia will have no fears after viewing this display.
very interested in the draw for milans cup, it seems that many of us up here believe that the north may have three to the final four. some even believe that with the preferential treatment being metered out to our southern counterparts, that this may well be an overindulgence to the benefit of our southern counterparts.naturally almost all of those interested in tasmanian football in the north believe south hobart are the strongest of all teams in the state and wonder how any north south matchup may resolve itself if the happened to have thier players away for that weekend. interested to see some southern teams nominated without the presence of south hobarts input.
All well and good to have wall passes in two thirds of the pitch, but penetration in that final third is non-existent for the socceroos.. be fearful of a first round exit this time around people.. cannot see a single goal being scored against the class of opposition we have in our group.. sorry to be a downer guys..
It's good that we're unhappy with a win - shows how far we've come. I was at the game and it was obvious, as is usually the case for Australia, that the tempo was lifted dramatically in the second half. Add Kewell, Emerton, Chipperfield, Schwartzer, Kennedy, Wiltshire and the team will be much better. Even Williams and Garcia will be ahead of the likes of Milligan and Valeri.
OK Beckham - I will bite - what is the "the preferential treatment being metered out to our southern counterparts" ?
Beckham - WTF are you talking about?
tips for the cup:
South
Burnie
Eagles
Devonport
Im not sure how you could accuse anyone of receiving favourable treatment when it was dran out of a cup in front of 400 people WAKE UP BECKHAM
I agree Anon @4.38pm, but don't get too carried away, FFT couldn't even attract 400 people to a match, nevermind a cup draw when you look at how professional their season launch was!
I was also at the game, and it was horrible. If we play anything like that during the world cup we will get trounced. However, as is the often the case...it's the real game that matters, not the lead up matches where the coaches are testing their "muppets". Verbeek has made some very interesting selections...Why only 2 out and out strikers? And why leave macdonald out? I'm glad I'm not a coach...because I would have chosen that side a lot differently. Let's hope the dutchman has a better idea than me.
As for the Milan Cup...I'm very happy it's mainly N vs S. Should be a good bunch of games. Also, hope Rangers get to meet South later in the year for the final series....quality team, and good to play against. Feel we can do better than the last game against them.
Gabriel Tams.
ANON 7:44
FFT did not attract 400 people, Sth Hobart did. well done to all concerned. If more clubs worked together anything is possible, but the egos, self interest, us & them mentality that has been in our game for a while will only see us tread water for years to come.
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