YOUNG TALENT TIME

Joey Dee of Young Talent Time.

Our post entitled "TONY CURTIS, DAVID CASSIDY, TED HAGGARD...", which has recently had 27,273 pageviews, mentioned a lot of Americans.

So here is something for Australians.

Young Talent Time was an Australian TV program which ran from 1971 until 1988.

It brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people.

The program was the creation of host Johnny Young (John Benjamin de Jong, from Holland)

In 1993 Terry Higgins, who was both a friend of Johnny Young and a director of Young Talent Time, was diagnosed as being HIV positive. (Young Talent Time - Wikipedia)


Jamie Redfern and Johnny Young

Singer Jamie Redfern, from Young Talent Time, toured the USA with gay singer Liberace.

Dannii Minogue, from Young Talent Time, was asked by Mardi Gras records to launch "the first ever gay and lesbian record label". (Dannii Minogue - Young Talent Time)

Debra Byrne was a child star on Young Talent Time.

Allegedly, Johnny Young allowed Byrne, then 12, to have sex with a 24-year-old studio crew member and to drink alcohol and take drugs. (John's Young Talent trauma Herald Sun)

One of the stars of Young Talent Time was Joey Dee.

Same sex marriage down under?

The 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians for 2008

LGBT people from Australia

Cricketer Steven Davies admits he's gay

WORST FLOOD SINCE 1893

Brisbane 1893.

Queensland, Australia (Website for this image).

In 1974, Cyclone Wanda brought serious floods to Brisbane.

On 11 January 2011, we learn that "Brisbane could be about to experience its worst flood since the catastrophic 1974 event, when at least 6700 homes were partially or totally flooded in the Brisbane metropolitan area." (Death toll rises as deluge hits Brisbane)

Some would say these are the worst floods since 1893.

There has been more than a month of rain in Queensland.

Nine people are dead and more than 70 are missing.

Cyclones bring rain to Queensland.

Anonymous drew our attention to the idea that the floods are the result of Kevin Rudd speaking out against Israel.

Kevin Rudd "not only called on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but said it should open all its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors." (Are the QLD floods the result of Kevin Rudd speaking against Israel.)

Receiving the honorary 'Order of Australia' in 2010 were Richard Armitage and Michael Hayden, former boss of the CIA boss. They were honoured for increasing intelligence cooperation. (Former CIA boss gets Order of Australia.)

Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, who led the CIA from 2006 to 2009, said issues such as energy and water made Bush's daily briefings. (Why the CIA is spying on climate)

Twelfth Bough: some problems are unpatriotic

WORST FLOOD SINCE 1893

Brisbane 1893.

Queensland, Australia (Website for this image).

In 1974, Cyclone Wanda brought serious floods to Brisbane.

On 11 January 2011, we learn that "Brisbane could be about to experience its worst flood since the catastrophic 1974 event, when at least 6700 homes were partially or totally flooded in the Brisbane metropolitan area." (Death toll rises as deluge hits Brisbane)

Some would say these are the worst floods since 1893.

There has been more than a month of rain in Queensland.

Nine people are dead and more than 70 are missing.

Cyclones bring rain to Queensland.

Anonymous drew our attention to the idea that the floods are the result of Kevin Rudd speaking out against Israel.

Kevin Rudd "not only called on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but said it should open all its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors." (Are the QLD floods the result of Kevin Rudd speaking against Israel.)

Receiving the honorary 'Order of Australia' in 2010 were Richard Armitage and Michael Hayden, former boss of the CIA boss. They were honoured for increasing intelligence cooperation. (Former CIA boss gets Order of Australia.)

Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, who led the CIA from 2006 to 2009, said issues such as energy and water made Bush's daily briefings. (Why the CIA is spying on climate)

Twelfth Bough: some problems are unpatriotic

Farina's telling silence

It's common knowledge that Frank Farina hates his compulsory media dealings with the kind of passion normally reserved for the taxman. But the former Australia boss would have despised picking over the bones of Queensland's contentious preliminary final loss even more than usual.

A controversial penalty, his captain's dismissal for a dubious elbow to the face of Jets striker Mark Bridge and barrage of missed opportunities all combined to send Newcastle into this weekend's showpiece final and Farina's mood plummeting.

In fairness, the Roar were gifted as much - if not more - by under-fire referee Peter Green in an error-ridden 3-2 defeat with Farina's side the fortunate recipients of two of the three penalties Green spotted, even if nobody else did.

The first - dispatched by Brazilian Reinaldo - zipped past Newcastle's Socceroos goalkeeper Ante Covic deep into stoppage time after Queensland had looked dead and buried. The second, also from the lanky South American striker, gave them a sniff of an unlikely comeback at 3-1.

But the fact Green squared the ledger by awarding the Jets a soft spot-kick in the first-half of extra time plus Tarek Elrich's blockbuster meant the dream season finale for FFA suits became a reality.

The A-League grand final had already, again controversially, been scheduled for Sydney so the progression of NSW neighbours Newcastle and the Central Coast - despite lower average home gates than Queensland - would have delighted the money men.

And Farina's take on the showpiece decider? "I don't really give a shit to be honest," he said, sidestepping protocol. It's a sentiment Farina has employed more than once in his first full season in charge at the Roar.

All week he'd been asked whether his side could contain their nerves on the biggest day in the club's history. The question had its roots in Queensland's defeat to Adelaide a few weeks previous when former Socceroos hardman Danny Tiatto was sent off for aiming a swing at an opponent. He typically went out all guns blazing in a sideline melee and was banned for two matches.

The league-leading Roar lost the match 2-0 and ended up finishing fourth.

But in fairness it was Green, usually one of the league's more consistent enforcers, who succumbed to the tension of the grand occasion with a nerve-riddled performance which might see him lose pace on the country's leading officials.

He handed out a blizzard of cards including both a yellow then a straight red for Moore, the former Australia captain after Bridge toppled to the turf.

Queensland's Sasa Ognenovski, another who doesn't hide his disgust for the media and a player who's fallen out with even the most affable of his team-mates this season, received his second caution of the finals series and would have been suspended from the grand final had the Roar progressed.

Ognenovski was off the field getting treatment for a head wound when Matt Thompson opened the scoring for Newcastle with Green again coming under some fire for delaying the skyscraping central defender's return.

It was all enough to have Farina privately seething for weeks, but he wasn't going to let on to the gathered hacks.

Earlier this season, the Queenslander was slugged by the governing body for suggesting one referee reacquaint himself with the laws of the game and he was careful with his complaints this time.

"The police watch everything I say, so I can't really comment any more," he said. Asked what he could say about Green's display without falling foul of FFA guidelines on publicly criticising officials, Farina tellingly replied: "Nothing."

Next season is the last under his current deal with the club. After bringing in Moore and Tiatto last year, more big name signings are expected. Farina's contacts from his six years in the national set-up are extensive and the league's reputation continues to grow.

However, the competition may well need to find 46 more top class players next year with fellow Queensland sides Gold Coast Galaxy and Northern Thunder heavily tipped to become the first expansion clubs.

A decision on that will be announced in a week's time following this Thursday's FFA board meeting.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

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Filling Hiddink's shoes

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek didn't quite measure up to his illustrious predecessor in charge of South Korea. On Wednesday night, Verbeek retried Guus Hiddink's shoes on for size as Australia mounted their maiden World Cup qualifying campaign through the AFC.

If Verbeek's 3-0 victory over Qatar wasn't quite enough to prove the bulk of his doubters wrong, it must have gone mighty close.

There will still be those - the cynics who harboured a personal preference of the shining CV of Omar (formally Philippe) Troussier over Hiddink's countryman and former assistant - who might remain unconvinced.

Let's see how Verbeek's inevitably jetlagged Socceroos handle the altitude of southwestern city Kunming in their first AFC qualifier overseas against China next month, they might remark.

But most of the 50,000-plus clad in the green and gold at the Telstra Dome in midweek, not to mention a host of interested TV viewers, will be jointly relieved and excited by a ruthless first-half display which saw the outgunned Qataris put to the sword in the opening 33 minutes.

The first test of the unheralded Verbeek was always going to be his wider influence in the boardrooms of Europe's grandest.

His sway over the often reluctant full-time employers of Tim Cahill and the like increased in magnitude when the Dutchman, in what has already become typical of his forthright style, discarded virtually every one of his original A-League contingent, labelling them not up to international standards.

Only Queensland's Craig Moore made Verbeek's first starting XI, excelling alongside captain Lucas Neill in central defence. Although whether the former skipper and 2006 World Cup goalscorer is truly considered a member of the A-League gang is doubtful.

In any case, Moore, 32, pulled the pin on his national team career immediately after the match.

Verbeek also showed his ruthless streak in quietly electing not to call-up Harry Kewell - to surprisingly little fanfare - and then axing Norway-based defender Michael Thwaite after he'd already completed the arduous trip home.

"I have better players in his position," was the coach's blunt assessment. "That’s the only reason. Michael did well at training and I really appreciated that he took the time and energy to come here but I have better players in his position. That’s football."

It would take a narrow-minded individual not to spot Verbeek gently asserting his control over a notoriously big-headed bunch.

Another absentee was Mark Viduka. The Newcastle United frontman played against Middlesbrough in the Premier League the Sunday previous with Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer proving the flight home possible by doing it himself.

However, while Viduka's self-imposed international exile continues, Verbeek is not prepared to give up on him without a fight.

The Dutchman made a public play for Viduka's future services in the wrap up of the Qatar victory and said he would fly to the north east in person to share a coffee and a chinwag.

"Mark is always on the list," Verbeek clearly stated. "I would prefer to have five strikers to choose from and it's always better that players have a headache over fighting for their position than coaches have a headache."

Viduka might be on his shortlist, but at 33 this year and with first team football under Kevin Keegan at Newcastle no certainty, Verbeek needed to trial Plan B and stylishly did so in Melbourne, Viduka's hometown.

After toying with the idea of playing just one up front, he paired long-haired Karlsruher SC targetman Josh Kennedy with Scott McDonald, the stocky Celtic forward who hasn't stopped scoring in the SPL since moving to Glasgow in the off season.

Kennedy headed the opener from Brett Emerton's whipped delivery while McDonald was a menace all night, supplying the low centre which Cahill dummied for Mark Bresciano to tuck away for the clincher.

PSV's Jason Culina, in a holding midfield role, also received plaudits after the game, as did revitalised left-footer David Carney, now at Sheffield United in England's second tier.

Kennedy and McDonald aside, the names weren't actually that different from the failed Asian Cup campaign last July. But the attitude was.

However, with just one full training session to work with a group he'd mostly never before met, the nagging feeling about Verbeek's influence hasn't instantly gone away.

The March 26 game in China is another non FIFA-designated matchday which means Verbeek will have a similarly limited time with his players to prepare.

But at least for the next month or so he has, as Hiddink did before, Australia's goodwill behind him.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

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Verbeek gets crafty ahead of Qatar clash

More mind games from new Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek who stunned the Australian media this morning by announcing a 39-man squad for the Socceroos' upcoming World Cup qualifier against Qatar at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on February 6.

Only 25 players were expected to be named.

The unwieldy size of the group can be attributed to the influx of 19 of Australia's Europe-based stars which again does not include Newcastle United striker and World Cup captain Mark Viduka.

However Liverpool's Harry Kewell, Palermo's Mark Bresciano, West Ham's Lucas Neill and Everton's Tim Cahill have been included.

They are not expected to jet in to Melbourne until 48 hours before kickoff.

Uruguayan-Australian striker Richard Porta, who recently transferred from Montevideo's Club Atlético River Plate to Siena in Serie A, was not selected. He is tipped to choose between representing Uruguay or Australia next month.

Australia's forward line will almost surely be led by Celtic's Scott McDonald, with either Karlsruher SC's Josh Kennedy or Central Coast Mariners' John Aloisi as support, depending on Verbeek's preferred formation.

Verbeek's rationale for the number of players picked is "maximum flexibility", but in truth it will have more to do with keeping Qatar coach Jorge Fossati guessing on his starting line-up as long as possible.

With so many European club players selected, it is highly unlikely that any more than a handful of the 20 A-League players in the provisional squad will make the 18-man final squad to be named on February 4. Two days earlier, Verbeek's Australian-based players will have their last chance to impress in a behind-closed-doors hit-out with 2008 Asian Champions League debutant Melbourne Victory.

Pacesetting A-League club Newcastle Jets can be happy with its contribution, though, coughing up no less than seven players among the 20-strong Australia-based unit.

Sydney FC coach John Kosmina, who threatened to pull five of his players out of Verbeek's third all-A-League training camp on January 21 so as to prepare unhindered for his side's first-leg finals showdown with Queensland Roar on January 25, got little joy with the selection panel.

Only Socceroos defender Mark Milligan and fringe national-team striker Alex Brosque were deemed indispensable.

Roar's talismanic midfielder Matt McKay can count himself very unlucky not to make the 39, as he has been one of the A-League's most consistent and electric performers. Yet his team-mate Craig Moore, who didn't even participate in any of the three two-day training camps with Verbeek, was picked.

Verbeek, who has kept a relatively low profile since arriving in Australia from the Netherlands, knows he is set for a baptism of fire if he fails to get a result against the No. 88-ranked Qatar, which held Japan to a 1-1 draw during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup,

His preparation has been hampered by scheduling conflicts caused by the A-League going into the business end of the season and controversy over the make-up of his support staff, which includes his predecessor as national-team coach, failed Asian Cup helmsman Graham Arnold.

It is a situation highly unusual in international football to have the incumbent manager paired with the man who came immediately before him and tanked.

Qatar, meanwhile, is due to face Denmark at home on January 27 in its third and final international friendly before the WCQ on February 6.

In its two international warm-ups this month, against Iran and Syria, it has failed to score. Both matches ended in 0-0 draws. Verbeek's European-based assistant, Henk Duut, was shut out of the game against Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on January 9 and all broadcast footage of the match was banned at the request of the wily Uruguayan.

Fossati named a 28-man squad in early January that did not contain the Gulf nation's most celebrated player, Boavista striker Hussain Yasser Abdulrahman. The 24-year-old is currently being loaned out by Sporting Braga.

Given the cat-and-mouse antics so far between Verbeek and Fossati and the Qataris' dry spell in front of goal, don't rule out Yasser turning up in Melbourne when the Qatar squad touches down Down Under on January 29.

Verbeek's 39-man squad: John Aloisi, Michael Beauchamp, Mark Bresciano, Mark Bridge, Alex Brosque, Jacob Burns, Tim Cahill, Nick Carle, David Carney, Simon Colosimo, Ante Covic, Jason Culina, Bruce Djite, Travis Dodd, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Adam Griffiths, Joel Griffiths, James Holland, Brett Holman, Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell, Scott McDonald, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore, Kevin Muscat, Stuart Musialik, Lucas Neill, Jade North, Tom Pondeljak, Mark Schwarzer, Archie Thompson, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Michael Thwaite, James Troisi, Carl Valeri, Rodrigo Vargas, Danny Vukovic, Luke Wilkshire.

© Jesse Fink & Soccerphile


A-League Australian Soccer

A-League parties hard during festive break

Christmas, traditionally a time to both rejoice and overindulge, succeeded on both counts over the A-League festive season.

The growing Australian support base rejoiced with confirmation the aggregate crowd figure for the league's third season passed one million over the holiday weekend, a fortnight earlier than the previous season.

Individual crowd records were also smashed by Adelaide United and the table topping Central Coast Mariners.

Adelaide's gate of 25,039 at the one-off venue of the Adelaide Oval - usual home of Test cricket at this time of year and a not uncontroversial choice by the Reds - not only surpassed the club's previous highest crowd but was also a record attendance for a football match in South Australia, domestic or international.

The Mariners, meanwhile, set successive home crowd records over the Christmas and New Year's weekends with the 18,686 turnout for the New Year's Eve clash against Melbourne outstripping the 17,514 fans which watched the club host Sydney FC.

That the Central Coast leaked a generous 10 goals in those games and fell off their perch at the top of the A-League ladder only marginally soured the entertainment for many attendees.

The Mariners' defensive frailties played their part in a level of overindulgence not seen before in A-League history. All sides gorged themselves on the way to a record-breaking average of 5.25 goals per game but it was the hosts who were left to do the dishes as every away team won for just the second time in history.

That included new league leaders Queensland Roar who triumphed in steamy Western Australia. Bottom-placed Perth Glory returned to training on Boxing Day with the temperature nudging 40 degrees and ran out of steam a few days later as the Roar cleaned up 4-1.

Combined with the Mariners leaking five in a boilover against Melbourne, Queensland - under the tutelage of former Socceroos coach Frank Farina - are gracing the summit for the first occasion.

The resurgence of Sydney under John Kosmina means a three-horse title race with three rounds of the home-and-away season remaining before the finals series starts later this month.

Kosmina's former employers Adelaide's run to the finals has faltered under the weight of a bizarre collection of ailments and complaints.

This week, youngsters Kristian Sarkies and Dez Giraldi were added to the club's seemingly endless injury list with Sarkies expected to be out of action for up to three months after Adelaide medical staff diagnosed a blood clot in his left arm during the loss to Sydney.

"We had a drinks break 20 minutes into the game, that's when I told the doc that my arm was about to explode. I felt it about a week-and-a-half ago when I slept with my arm above my head and woke up with a sore neck and sore shoulder," the 21-year-old somewhat curiously explained.

Giraldi was also admitted to hospital after complaining of heart palpitations. “What they’re leaning towards is an anxiety attack. I feel OK now but the last few days I was feeling terrible,” he said.

A-League titbits

· Defending player-of-the-year Nick Carle, a Socceroos call-up for the Asian Cup in July, is on the move after failing to settle in his second overseas spell, this time at struggling Turkish outfit Genclerbirligi. Carle, a talented playmaker who can play right across the midfield, is tipped to join high-flying Championship side Bristol City.

· New national team coach Pim Verbeek has been an industrious note-taker at almost every A-League match since his announcement as Socceroos coach last month. On Tuesday, Verbeek named his first local training squad ahead of Australia's World Cup qualifying opener versus Qatar next month. Of those selected, uncapped trio Andrew Durante, Ufuk Talay and Jamie Coyne caught the eye, as did the omission of former captain Craig Moore.

Happy New Year!

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

Australian Soccer News

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A question of profile

After a whirlwind start to summer down under, nobody has been left in any doubt the capacity for football, the world game, to make Australians scratch their heads in befuddlement.

From the celebrity to the downright unknown, from David Beckham to new Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek say, it's been a confusing time for many.

Some of the reactions to Beckham's outings in a pair of exhibition games against local sides can only be likened to the way an old timer might view the uprising of the internet.

Over 80,000 people turned out in Sydney to watch Beckham's LA Galaxy side lose 5-3 to Sydney FC in what proved to be a perfect snapshot of the former England captain's career.

A curling free-kick into the top corner, a second-half booking, some old-fashioned finger wagging and a final shirt-swap with Brazilian World Cup winner Juninho made the crowd's day, their smiles second only to those on the faces of FFA bigwigs.

But there were countless others who wore a permanent look of perplexity at all the fuss over a 'soccer' player.

For the three or four days Beckham stayed in the harbour city he dominated front and back pages. What he ate, where he went, who he spoke to, how he spoke and, finally, how he played was all that Sydneysiders read about.

Since then a french fry he reportedly dropped whilst dining one evening has been auctioned online. Another wag reportedly attempted flog a photocopy of his autograph.

Now consider this admission from Australia's West Ham defender Lucas Neill about Dutchman Verbeek, who ended 18 months of internal dismay by agreeing to coach the Socceroos through to the 2010 World Cup finals.

"I only know him from googling," Neill staggeringly made public after hearing the news of the former South Korea coach's appointment.

Those of you who have followed Soccerphile's coverage of Australian football over recent years will remember that this is not the first time Neill has put his foot firmly in his own mouth.

And while the likes of Tim Cahill and Craig Moore have since come out in full support of Verbeek, you can only wonder at the raised eyebrows at FFA headquarters.

"Football fans can rest assured that the FFA has worked diligently to secure a coach with the qualities and enthusiasm that will give the Socceroos every chance of success," crowed chairman Frank Lowy.

“Pim Verbeek has a vast range of experience gained over 25 years in coaching, including several stints in Asia, and we believe he is the right man for the job of leading the Socceroos to the 2010 FIFA World Cup."

Just in case anyone remained in any doubt, one helpful Brisbane-based journalist likened Verbeek, who beat off competition from Philippe (Omar) Troussier, to Hollywood's Jeff Bridges.

One certainty is that the 51-year-old is sure to become a familiar face to football fans after agreeing to one of the governing body's key requirements, that is, immediate and permanent relocation to Australia.

Although just five rounds of the A-League season remain before the top four contest the finals series, Verbeek is committed to a Sven-Goran Eriksson-esque touring schedule to run the rule over potential national team players.

He has just eight weeks before Australia kicks off their Group of Death qualifying campaign for the World Cup against Qatar in February.

Supporting Verbeek will be compatriot Henk Duut. The role of the former assistant to Ruud Gullit at Feyenoord has been described as the European 'eyes and ears' of the head coach.

"Some of Duut's main tasks will be to scout future opponents and also to play a significant role in monitoring the progress of our many European-based players," confirmed CEO Ben Buckley.

That, I suppose, includes Neill. I'm betting that Duut will know a lot more about the Socceroos captain-in-waiting than the other way around.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

Australian Soccer News

When winning isn't enough …

The past week has bought victories for Australia's senior side as well as its under-23s who booked a berth at next year's Beijing Olympics on Wednesday with a hard-fought 1-1 draw in North Korea. The Young Socceroos, the country's under-20s team, also won three out of four AFC qualifying matches to guarantee a spot in the 2008 Asian Youth Championships earlier this month.

But the heavy shadow darkening Australia's dreams of reaching the 2010 World Cup refuses to lift.

Australia's search for Guus Hiddink's long-term replacement has been rather like watching an English League One relegation scrap. Lots of running through mud chasing endless lost causes only for your star striker to miss a stoppage time penalty with seconds remaining.

This week, after a year-and-a-half's worth of wild goose chases around the major European cities, Dick Advocaat reneged on his agreement to coach the Socceroos.

Depending on who you believe, a written contract to take charge of Australia from February's World Cup qualifiers onwards either was or wasn't broken by Advocaat's decision to agree a yearlong extension with Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg. Tellingly, though, the Russians are expecting a financial backlash.

"Yes, he will remain here in St Petersburg," Zenit director Konstantin Sarsania told the Reuters news agency. "The only matter left to resolve is the compensation package to the Australians but we have our lawyers on the case."

The verbal backlash has already started. More than once since deceitful Dick's dastardly U-turn, Football Federation Australia has been likened to a jilted lover in the nation's media.

Under the headline 'Advocaat turns the stomach', Sydney-based football writer Tom Smithies went further in penning this diatribe: "In Holland they drink the liqueur advocaat as a digestif, which is highly ironic because the contempt that a coach of the same name has shown for Australia has turned the stomachs of even those inured to the opportunism of top-level football".

Strangely, the Advocaat affair might actually be one of the few football stories which unites the rival codes in Australia's oft-disputed sporting battlefield. There are just as many loathers as lovers of the beautiful game here, but no Australian of any persuasion could fathom anyone turning down a chance to be involved with the lucky country. Especially to stay in Russia.

Bankrolled by the personal fortune of FFA chairman Frank Lowy, Australia's second-richest man, the scouring of the global coaching landscape has been as pointless as it has relentless.

Whatever the angle taken by a frustrated and disappointed media, money is rarely the prime motivator for the game's elite. Yes, Advocaat will be earning bigger bucks at Zenit, the biggest spenders in Russian football. But he will also remain to lead the club into the Champions League for the first time.

Perspective can be lost when personal interest is high.

Is the job of coaching Australia, ranked 52nd in the world, two places below Canada, really bigger than coaching a team in the Champions League? Is it more challenging than managing in the Premiership, or in the English Championship for that matter?

The fact that Graham Arnold's audition for the top job failed miserably in Australia's Asian Cup quarter-finals exit appears to have kyboshed his credentials and by default any of his fellow countrymen.

So a foreign coach it is. But why are the names of Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klinsmann, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard being bandied around. Logically, what are the odds of a top class manager leaving Europe to spend eight months a year in Australia?

Asian Cup-winning Iraq coach Jorvan Vieira and former South Korea coach Pim Verbeek are lesser profile figureheads but without question more attuned to the Socceroos' needs.

They understand the quirks of qualifying through the AFC in a way Mourinho et al do not. They also know that over the course of World Cup qualifying, the A-League will provide a greater proportion of players.

Australia needs a well-credentialed coach willing to spend the majority of his time in Australia scouting local Australia players and passing on knowledge to the local coaching fraternity.

With that in mind the hunt restarts in earnest.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

Australian Soccer News

Kosmina elected unopposed in Sydney

It's federal election time in Australia, and while the rhetoric and shameless baby-kissing might not be to every taste there is one aspect which promotes a mildly inquisitive response: the live TV debate.

Prime Minister John Howard and PM-hopeful Kevin Rudd went at it earlier this month in the battle to be the next Aussie leader, Rudd conclusively coming out on top according to most.

With three weeks of the election campaign still to endure, time will tell whether the nation's esteemed political commentators or indeed Channel Nine's unofficial approval 'worm' were more accurate in their forecasts.

But one thing remains certain: Howard and Rudd could not have been given a more democratic platform on which to state their respective cases.

Which brings me to the latest goings on at former glamour club Sydney FC.

Head coach Branko Culina was extended no such niceties before last week's axing less than a quarter of the way through the two-year contract he earned after a successful probationary period guiding Sydney in the AFC Champions League.

No time to turns things around, no opportunity to explain, no second chance.

The season was nine weeks old, Sydney had lost four times at home and Culina was history.

It seems that Culina, although a technically capable coach, had lost the dressing room through his mishandling of the side's more sizable egos and with crowds and the embattled club's ladder position simultaneously dwindling, Sydney's board acted swiftly and brutally.

Before you could say grand final mauling, John Kosmina had been anointed at the 2005/06 champions.

Kosmina, Sydney's fourth coach in just over two seasons, polarises football opinion more than any political leader.

If there's one thing true of the incorrigible Kossie it's that you'll never reach a consensus.

Accused by his detractors of being old school, his supporters respond by saying that's exactly the type of leader Sydney need.

Suggest he's a hothead and get rebuked for wanting to see the passion disappear from the game.

Applaud his coaching nous in guiding Adelaide United to the inaugural premiership and last season's grand final and critics point to his contribution as assistant coach in Australia's failed Asian Cup campaign.

Kosmina hadn't even been formally named as Culina's successor before Sydney's Daily Telegraph helpfully published the coach's recent 'rap sheet'.

It included such gems as him threatening to punch ex-Queensland coach Miron Bleiberg for insulting his players and grabbing Melbourne captain Kevin Muscat around the throat when the pair clashed in the technical area during one heated game.

That incident earned Kosmina a four-match touchline ban (plus counselling) which the former Socceroos striker swiftly trumped when he received a five-match ban for calling referee Matthew Breeze a cheat moments after last season's preliminary final victory.

Kosmina was still in the midst of serving out that suspension when he guided Sydney to an emphatic 3-2 victory over the league leading Central Coast Mariners over the weekend.

He had just three training sessions after taking the job last Wednesday yet produced a side brimming with a confidence unseen so far this season

"Are you the new messiah, Kossie?" one reporter asked him afterwards during the media conference.

"Nah, not at all mate," he smiled back, pointing towards the performances of Socceroos striker Alex Brosque and debutant Michael Bridges.

Brosque scored twice to take him to the head of the goalscoring charts while Bridges, in his first game since signing on loan from Hull City in England, caused the Mariners' backline no end of havoc.

"Kossie and I have come in and we've beaten the Mariners and there's no better way to bounce back than to beat the league leaders," Bridges gloated.

"His attitude has been phenomenal, the boys have been brilliant at training and he's got everybody up - and you could tell."

The pair are back on the campaign trail this week before Saturday's meeting with NSW rivals Newcastle.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

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Aloisi and Elrich join the party, but Milicevic causes a scene

It's perhaps a compliment to the A-League that when, over the past couple of weeks, news of the imminent arrivals of Socceroos big guns John Aloisi and Ahmad Elrich filtered through, there was some noticeable shrugging of the shoulders.

It wasn't of the 'who cares?' variety because plenty of people do, especially at Aloisi's new home on the Central Coast of New South Wales where the current league-leading Mariners can't seem to put a foot wrong despite numerous obstacles.

And it certainly wasn't in any way a reaction to the pair's perceived impact on a competition just two-and-a-bit years old after their respective times in European domestic football.

After all Elrich scored a wonderful long range strike on his full debut for Wellington Phoenix against the Mariners over the weekend.

The unenthusiastic responses are more likely attributable to Australia's recent desensitising to these latest Socceroos upping sticks and relocating back to the lucky country.

Coming on the back of the pre-season signings of former captain Craig Moore, Tony Popovic, Danny Tiatto, Paul Agostino, Hayden Foxe and Ljubo Milicevic, Aloisi and Elrich are in many ways just another two names.

Big names, certainly - especially that of Aloisi whose good fortune in scoring the penalty which sent the Socceroos into the 2006 World Cup at Uruguay's expense has burned his moniker into the memories of every Australian sports nut.

But just further vindication of the direction of Australian football under the auspices of the FFA and the A-League.

It can be debated whether any underlying complacency about the immediate future of the game should be allowed to creep back into the country's psyche.

In the current spirit of its recent strides, the facts can be easy to forget but should quickly be qualified.

Elrich was the ninth and Aloisi the 10th member of Australia's 2005 Confederations Cup squad to strike terms with an A-League club with former national team coach Frank Farina also finding a home at Queensland Roar.

When the Aussie league kicked off later that same year, not one of the country's band of downtrodden fans, journalists or football enthusiasts would have predicted that within a couple of seasons close to half the nation's first choice squad would be, if you like, working from home.

Elrich, although just 26, cut short his three-year contract in England with Fulham to pen a year-long marquee deal with Wellington after falling down the pecking order at Craven Cottage.

While for the 31-year-old Aloisi, the only Australian in history to have competed in the English Premier League, the Serie A in Italy and Spain’s La Liga, his repatriation also represents a permanent move.

"I have made my intentions clear that I have wanted to return to Australia and contribute to the A-League and I am delighted to be able to be a part of the league and look forward to getting on the pitch," he said on his arrival.

"Since the A-League began it’s been an attractive option to play in and I felt now was the right time to return as I am still intending to play for a number of years."

Unfortunately those sentiments don't appear to be shared by Melbourne's Milicevic with his chances of staying at his hometown club decreasing by the day.

A week ago, he and Archie Thompson were suspended indefinitely for missing a team breakfast but while Thompson was given an opportunity to front for the club's leadership group and apologise, Milicevic was not.

The imposing 26-year-old central defender was axed from the Victory squad to meet Perth Glory over the weekend with all indications he will be farmed back out to a European club in the New Year.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

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Blatter U-turns on World Cup rotation

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has signalled that the policy of World Cup rotation is about to be ditched.

Speaking to the BBC, Blatter admitted he would welcome England bidding for 2018, a tournament which under the present model, should be held in North or Central America.

"I am advocating we open the market," said Blatter. Back in May, he described rotation as "a milestone", speaking to FIFA delegates in Zurich, while only a month ago, announced that a final decision on rotation with regard to 2018 would come at the end of October.

With 2010 going to (South) Africa and 2014 to South America (Brazil), Europe's next turn would not have been in 2018 (CONCACAF) but in 2022, a ridiculously long wait for that continent's front runner, England.

Given the concentration of money, power, media and fan interest in European football, it seems brave, or foolhardy, to award it the tournament only once every 24 years (there are six FIFA regions).

The traditional system of alternating from Europe to South America was ripe for reform with the global spread of the game and now Japan/Korea, South Africa and the USA have all hosted, or are about to host, the sport's showpiece event.

Outside of the traditional power bases, Australia and China could both mount serious bids before long, but political worries will probably keep the Islamic world, in the form of Morocco and Egypt, excluded for the foreseeable future. The USA is also determined to host the World Cup again after the success of 1994, the the swathe of impressive new American stadia and the arrival of David Beckham to MLS. Mexico, too, is interested in hosting its third World Cup.

It is therefore, unquestionably the world's cup, yet any change to the traditional Atlantic alteration should not be so rigid as FIFA's rotation system. Four years is a long time to wait and in a continent like Europe where England, Russia, Spain, Italy and Holland & Belgium are all itching to host the World Cup, a possible wait of half a century is too long for any country.

Rotation was never fully explained - does Oceania or CONCACAF has as much right to host the World Cup as Europe? , never universally accepted by the football world and was only rushed in as a response to Germany sensationally snatching the 2006 tournament from the heavily Blatter-endorsed South Africa by the narrowest of margins (Oceania's Charles Dempsey abstained on the final vote).

Brazil had a shoe-in for 2014 because South America had not hosted the event since Argentina in 1978.

Brazil and its decrepit stadia and infrastructure is far from ready to host the World Cup however, a fact which swayed Blatter to renege on one of his favourite pet policies.

After Colombia and Argentina withdrew, the one-horse race south of the equator illuminated a flaw in the rotation system if the only contender is manifestly unable to host the month-long show.

"We are not in a very comfortable situation in South America," admitted the FIFA President.

"It is better to have three or four associations trying to get the number one competition of the world."

Rumours abound that a new system will prevent only the previous two host regions from applying, reducing the minimum wait for any country to 12 years.

It should be remembered of course that the FIFA Executive committee and not Blatter ratifies policy and CONCACAF's controversial Jack Warner for one is against any change to the status quo.

However, the days of the half-baked, hasty and unconvincing rotation system are now clearly numbered.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile



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Neill brave but ignorant

Lucas Neill is no stranger to going out on a limb.

Neill, a regular in the Socceroos backline and one of Australia's star turns in last year's World Cup, has been hammered from all quarters following his well-documented decision in the transfer window to snub Liverpool - and what turns out to be a possible appearance in the Champions League final - in favour of a relegation battle at cashed-up West Ham.

Before that his name was central to the debate of diving in modern football after conceding a stoppage time penalty to Italy's Fabio Grosso in Australia's heartbreaking second round World Cup loss to the eventual champions 11 months ago.

And now Neill's at it again, this week boldly predicting an unblemished Australian success at July's Asian Cup finals.

Critics might suggest the 29-year-old, in the midst of a relegation dogfight at the foot of the English Premier League table, is hardly in the best position to judge the relative merits of Group A challengers Thailand, Oman and Iraq.

But when asked about his expectations for Australia's maiden AFC adventure, Neill responded by confidently boasting he expects Graham Arnold's Socceroos to remain unbeaten throughout the tournament.

Then, just for good measure, Neill also noted that they wouldn't even need a fully fit Tim Cahill or Harry Kewell to breeze through the group stage although conceded the recovering pair would have to be back to their best in the knockout stage to negotiate the likes of Japan and South Korea (Neill's tips for success).

Australia could face a possible quarter-final clash against Japan, a repeat of the World Cup opener which the Socceroos won 3-1 last year.

"I really think we've got a squad that can handle the conditions, enough of us have played on the biggest stage now that we won't be intimidated by the teams we're going to play against and I really see the standard we're expecting to set taking us all the way to the end," Neill said in a teleconference with reporters on Thursday.

While on Cahill and Kewell he added: "There might be a couple of games where they might not have to be 100 per cent fit or 100 per cent on their games. We might be able to get away with them being 90 or 95 per cent of their best."

But how could Neill know?

Speaking on the eve of West Ham's crunch match against Manchester United on the final day of the English season, surely Neill's immediate thoughts revolved around how to control the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo and preserve the London club's Premiership status.

But even without that significant distraction, you have to wonder whether the Australians are being caught up in their own hype.

It could be devastating to the chances of the Socceroos, currently ranked second in Asia behind Iran, if they blindly assumed that being the sole AFC nation to progress past the group stage at the World Cup makes them heavy Asian Cup favourites.

Much of Neill's absolute faith in Australia's chances of going undefeated comes from last year's pre-World Cup build-up under departed coach Guus Hiddink, a program which resulted in Australia being considered among the fittest and most prepared sides in Germany.

He also said that the conditions across co-hosts Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam will be a 'leveller', hinting that Australia's vital acclimatisation camp in Singapore during June would be preparation enough for the extreme climate expected in Bangkok around kick-off time (90 percent humidity and a 50 per cent chance of rain on matchdays).

Of course, Australia's almost wholly European-based squad is not foolish enough to believe that playing on variable pitches at extreme temperatures will not provide its share of challenges, and time will reveal any degree of overconfidence from Neill and his colleagues.

Local followers only hope that two warm-up matches - against arch-rivals Uruguay on June 2 and Singapore on June 30 - is sufficient to avoid any embarrassment when they come face-to-face with Oman, Gulf Cup finalists in January remember, in their group opener.

It might just not be the walk in the park some are predicting.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

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Australia-v-Ghana

Australia will face Ghana in a friendly international at QPR's Loftus Road ground on November 14. Federation Football Australia announced the Socceroos will take on the 24th ranked African team as part of their preparation for the AFC Asian Cup finals in July 2007.

Interim Australia coach Graham Arnold expects his team to face a stern test against Ghana, who reached the second stage of this summer's World Cup finals in Germany before bowing out to Brazil.

London is becoming an increasingly popular place for overseas teams to stage friendlies and both Australia and Ghana have played friendly internationals in the UK.

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In-demand Kennedy ready for Socceroos starting berth

The irony surrounding the eternal logistical problems of representing Australia is not lost on new Socceroos super-sub Josh Kennedy.

Kennedy, one of two uncapped call-ups for the World Cup squad, came from the depths of second-tier German football to stamp his mark on Australia's journey to the knockout phase with a handful of striking displays upfront.

However, now he's reached the stage of nailing down a regular international place, the inevitable club versus country conundrum is ready to rear its ugly head.

Kennedy will receive plenty of sympathy from the likes of superstars Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell, players who between them have amassed just 60 Socceroo caps in part because of the constant headache of international travel.

But resolving the discrepancy of the striker's twin goals is really no closer despite Australia moving into the Asian confederation earlier this year.

And representing your country hardly gets any easier when you become a high profile signing for a top-flight club preparing an assault on a UEFA Cup place this season.

That's exactly the situation Kennedy finds himself in.

Having served his apprenticeship in Germany since age 17, the long-haired hitman penned a three-year contract with ambitious Bundesliga side Nuremberg before the World Cup.

It was an offer too good to resist after patiently building a solid reputation as a goalscorer in the lower leagues with Stuttgart Kickers and latterly Dynamo Dresden after fruitless spells with VfL Wolfsburg and FC Cologne in the top division.

However, now six painstaking years of steady progress have paid off, how can the amiable Kennedy reward his new employer's faith with continuous trips down under to represent his homeland?

"It's definitely a touchy situation," Kennedy admitted to Soccerphile during a two-week break in Australia after the World Cup. "We'll definitely have to weigh up what's the best thing at club level and at the same time keeping my Australian commitments without making either side angry.

"I'll talk to the coach (Hans Meyer) when I get back to Nuremberg and no doubt will be in contact with Australia as well. Hopefully we can balance it pretty well.

"[But] the hardest thing to do is to balance both at the same time and keep everybody happy.

"I've made it clear to the Football Federation that I'd love to play every game. Obviously they know I can't, so it's just a matter of finding that right balance."

But what is the right balance for Kennedy, Nuremberg and Australia's governing body of football?

At club level, his importance to Nuremberg will rocket should Slovakian striker Robert Vittek, who had a fantastic finish to the 2005-06 season, move to pastures new.

While internationally, the expected retirements of Viduka, 31 in October, and 30-year-old John Aloisi add greater pressure.

Indeed, temporary first-team coach Graham Arnold believes up to 12 players from the World Cup squad could announce their retirements and that a whole new group of players will be involved in qualifying for next year's Asian Cup.

Kennedy clearly isn’t part of the departures and at 23 represents the immediate future of the Socceroos forward line along with A-League based strikers Archie Thompson and Alex Brosque, Motherwell's Scott McDonald and Brett Holman who plies his trade at Dutch club Excelsior Rotterdam.

But whether he will be involved in Australia's August 16 clash with Kuwait in Sydney remains to be seen.

The Asian Cup qualifier is scheduled on a FIFA-sanctioned matchday but also clashes with a time Europe's top-flight clubs will be reluctant to have their stars journeying long distance.

You have to think that Melbourne's Thompson, who travelled to Germany but played no part, and Sydney FC's Brosque are hot favourites to lead the line in the Socceroos' next outing, but that doesn’t put Kennedy off his long-term aim of spearheading the Aussie attack.
"That's definitely been my goal," Kennedy says. "It is my goal to one day have that starting position.

"But as long as Mark Viduka is there, I can definitely learn a lot of things from him, so I'm in no rush for him to stop playing international football because it makes me a better player as well.

"But hopefully in the future I'll be ready to take over that role."

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

Few Surprises As Hiddink Names His 23
Defenders Ljubo Milicevic and Michael Thwaite, flying winger Ahmad Elrich and striker Joel Griffiths were among the casualties as Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink announced his 23-man World Cup squad for Germany.

The trio will certainly be disappointed to miss out the grandest football occasion for 32 years with perhaps Milicevic the most unfortunate after a decent season with Basel in Switzerland. In contrast, Elrich would have been the least surprised when assistant coach Graham Arnold called on the eve of the announcement to tell him he had missed the cut. The Fulham star, 25 later this month, has hardly featured in his maiden Premiership campaign.

“We had to think – Graham Arnold, Johan Neeskens and me - about the two or three positions which were still open until the last date," Hiddink said in a pre-recorded message at the launch at Sydney airport. “It was not a guarantee - which I told the players in Holland when we started preparing before the Uruguay games - that it is a fixed selection. (And) in the end we managed to bring in some young players for the number 20-23 positions.”

The beneficiaries of the coaching staff's policy to look to the future for the peripheral squad places were Hyundai A-League defenders Michael Beauchamp and Mark Milligan as well as the unheralded Dinamo Dresden striker Josh Kennedy, while Basel attacking midfielder Mile Sterjovski was favoured over Elrich for the final midfield position.

Milligan, the uncapped Sydney FC full-back, was called up as an eleventh-hour replacement for veteran Tony Vidmar after routine medical tests following a stint on the sidelines with broken ribs revealed an irregular heart rhythm. The diagnosis was a bitter blow for the third most capped Socceroo behind Alex Tobin (87 caps) and Paul Wade (84). Vidmar deserved his spot at Germany more than most after being involved in four World Cup campaigns.

Beauchamp's call-up had been on the cards despite a lack of action since the A-League grand final in early March. The Central Coast Mariners stopper showed poise at the heart of an inexperienced backline in the Asian Cup qualifying victory in Bahrain, a showing which has subsequently resulted in an offer from Bundesliga outfit Nuremberg. It is a credit to the professionalism of the new domestic set-up that three players who played a significant part of the league (including Archie Thompson) will be on the plane to Germany.

Kennedy, the giant striker who has crept into the thoughts of Arnold over recent months, will be Beauchamp's club-mate at Nuremberg next season. After a prolific season with German second-tier club Dinamo Dresden, the 194cm targetman has accepted a move into the top-flight. His first-ever call-up to the national scene is the icing on the cake after leaving Australia as a 17-year-old. Meanwhile, Sterjovski earned a timely recall after being ignored by Hiddink for the World Cup qualifiers last year.

The only other talking points were the inclusions of injured first-teamers Mark Schwarzer and Tim Cahill. Both were named and are expected to be fit to face Japan on June 12. The question of who would skipper the Socceroos in their first finals appearance for 32 years will be decided before the warm-up match with Greece on May 25. Mark Viduka is expected to retain the captain's armband despite the return of fit-again ex-skipper Craig Moore.

"I was a little bit frightened when I heard from our medical staff (regarding injured players) the announcement about several players who are playing in England," Hiddink admitted. "But at the eleventh-hour I received some messages to say they were not fully 100 percent but OK, and so I don’t have many concerns at the moment.”

Australian World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan), Ante Covic (Hammarby),

Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (free agent), Craig Moore (Newcastle United), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace), Mark Milligan (Sydney FC)

Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Parma), Tim Cahill (Everton), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers), Vince Grella (Parma), Josip Skoko (Stoke City on loan from Wigan Athletic), Mile Sterjovski (Basel), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol City)

Strikers: John Aloisi (Alaves), Harry Kewell (Liverpool), Archie Thompson (PSV Eindhoven on loan from Melbourne Victory), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough), Josh Kennedy (Dinamo Dresden)



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Socceroos Undeterred by Samba Kings

Optimism must be running at an all time high for Australian football and this from a nation hardly short on sporting self-belief, writes Marc Fox.

Not even being grouped alongside Brazil, Japan and Croatia for next year's World Cup finals dampened the spirits of a football community right now riding the crest of a wave. Having dispatched FIFA-ranked 18th-placed Uruguay over two intriguing ties last month, who are 15th-ranked Japan and lowly 20th-ranked Croatia to stand in the Socceroos' way?

"Japan and Croatia are not among the world's top 10 teams and if we play to our strengths then we have a good chance of going through to the knockout stages," goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer told Melbourne newspaper The Age.

Meanwhile captain Mark Viduka went one further by suggesting a result against five-times world champions Brazil might be within reach.

"We have got to give ourselves a chance," Viduka told the Sydney Morning Herald after the draw. "I think we are a team that's up for a challenge and obviously our aim is to get to the next round.

"They (Brazil) are all world-class players and they have got the history and pedigree behind them, so it's going to be a great challenge for us. But we have played them before in other tournaments and done well."

And who can blame them?

Like the extravagant Leipzig ceremony on December 9, Australia has a Dutch magician of its own. And with super-coach Guus Hiddink steering the ship any trick appears possible. The tactician who has guided successive nations to the semi-finals stage feels certain the Socceroos have the raw materials to be able surprise either or both of Japan or Croatia.

"They taught me in Australia 'no worries mate' and sometimes I think it's too relaxed, but this team does not have many worries," Hiddink said from Leipzig after watching the draw unfold alongside Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. "Brazil is a clear favourite, no doubt about it, and the other three are more or less equal and they will fight for the second position."

Avoiding an opening round clash with Brazil is a distinct advantage in the race of second. The Socceroos will face Japan first up in Kaiserslautern, a side Hiddink knows plenty about from his time in charge of South Korea. Home advantage in 2002 favoured the Japanese in proceeding from the group phase although they have undergone a period of change since under the tutelage of former Brazilian great Zico. Saying that, they lost just once in World Cup qualifying and have a number of players dotted around Europe.

The group-closing encounter with Croatia has thrown up a cauldron of stories regarding Australian-born defectors Joey Didulica, Ante Seric and Joe Simunic. The trio decided against representing Australia in favour of turning out for their motherland. Simunic, in particular, has proved a worthy acquisition and has already racked up 39 Croatian caps since his debut in 2001.

Out of the three group games, the deciding game with the Croats on June 22 will have the most spice. A win will not only erase the bitter memories of a 7-0 thumping in 1998 prior to Croatia finishing third at the France finals but surely guarantee progression to the knockout stage.

Just try finding any Australian football fan who believes that won't happen.


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Welcome To Our World

The Socceroos will participate at next year's World Cup finals for the first time in eight attempts. And what's more they thoroughly deserve to. Marc Fox reports.

Football Federation Australia will be feeling rightly proud of themselves this week after witnessing Australia's greatest international triumph since Jimmy Mackay volleyed home a spectacular winner to ensure the Socceroos' progression to Germany 1974. 32 years on, the similarities between the current crop of internationals and Mackay's are eerie.

Back in '73, Australia drew the home-and-away playoff series against South Korea before squeezing home in the deciding third fixture in neutral Hong Kong. The latest group to attempt what coach Guus Hiddink described as "making the impossible possible" four short months ago advanced in similar circumstances. Scores level on aggregate after 180, then 210 minutes, before penalties decided the outcome. The destination for its second-ever finals appearance: Germany.

Despite entering next year's showpiece tournament as the second lowest rankest nation after Angola, with Hiddink at the helm today's Australia will have the conviction to improve on the solitary point its predecessors managed in '74. Back then, the Socceroos were mocked on their arrival in Europe having been cruelly drawn alongside East and West Germany as well as Chile in Group 1. How times change. If, as expected, the side is handed the unenviable label of bottom seeds when the World Cup draw is made on December 9, plenty will be keen to avoid the competitive Antipodeans.

For football officials in Australia, qualifying for Germany 2006 is the icing on an already delicious cake. After decades of disillusionment, what a way to bid farewell to its love-hate relationship with the Oceania confederation. To all intents and purposes, the Socceroos are now Asian. They leave the derisory half-place FIFA deems Oceania deserves to nestle in with the AFC and its four-and-a-half World Cup berths. After watching Australia outclass Uruguay over two legs while Bahrain stumbled to little Trinidad and Tobago, heaven knows what fellow AFC nations are thinking.

Australia dismissed Uruguay's claims of a divine right to be in the World Cup with a gutsy - and tactically astute - second leg display in Sydney's throbbing Telstra Stadium. Having negotiated a nervy opening - when an away goal would surely have ended the tie as a contest - Hiddink's side pressed and harried their weary opponents. Harry Kewell's introduction after a half-hour only served to increase the tempo. It was Kewell's sliced attempt following neat build-up play involving fellow Premier League stars Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill which lead to the opener. Parma's Marco Bresciano pounced on the misdirected shot to slam home his seventh international goal past Uruguayan 'keeper Fabian Carini.

The fact that neither Cahill nor Bresciano started in Montevideo highlights Australia's strength in depth. That is not to say Hiddink opted to bolster his defence for the away leg. The Dutch coach sprang a surprise by including Kewell from the start despite managing only a handful of appearances for Liverpool since his groin surgery in the summer. The A-League's Archie Thompson was also handed a start alongside Viduka upfront.

Again it is testament to the Socceroos' progress under the leadership of Hiddink that he was dissatisfied by a narrow 1-0 reverse. Despite Uruguay's scoring potential through Richard Morales, Marcelo Zayaleta and Alvaro Recoba, the hosts were restricted to a series of half-chances by Australia. Their goal came from Dario Rodriguez eight minutes before the break. Scott Chipperfield barged Carlos Diogo in full view of the assistant referee and Rodriguez headed home Recoba's whipped free-kick.

After Bresciano's aggregate leveller in the second leg, only one side showed the desire to win the game in regulation time. How no further goals were scored in the ensuing 85 minutes nobody could say but the lottery of a penalty shootout was called on to separate the sides. Mark Schwarzer saved from Rodriguez and Zayaleta with Viduka's miss for the Socceroos sandwiched between. Needing just one more conversion - following Kewell, Lucas Neill and Tony Vidmar's successes - John Aloisi completed the job. They say fortune favours the brave and for the first time in a generation of doomed attempts, lady luck shone on the Socceroos. They deserved every bit of it.
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Australia - "the second Croatia"

Fútbol internacional - Mundial

Australia avanza con ocho croatas

Croacia festeja la clasificación de su "segunda" selección

Croacia "B" también ha progresado al Mundial de Alemania. Naturalmente, hablamos de Australia, una selección repleta de jugadores de origen croata.

No sólo los australianos estaban pendientes del desenlace de la dramática repesca ante Uruguay en Sydney, finalizada con la victoria australiana por penalties, sino también muchos croatas.

El motivo está claro: hasta ocho (o siete y media, para estar precisos) futbolistas de Guus Hiddink son emigrantes de esta república de la antigua Yugoslavia.

Son, concretamente, Zeljko Kalac (Milan), Ante Covic (Hammarby), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven), Ljubo Milicevic (FC Thun), Toni Popovic (Crystal Palace), Josip Skoko (Wigan), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough) i Marco Bresciano (Parma), cuya madre es croata.

Contrario a lo que muchos opinan, a esta lista no pertenece Tony Vidmar, al ser de etnia eslovena y es que nueve croatas ya serían demasiados.

Se espera la presencia de todos los ocho en el primer Mundial en que los "canguros" intervengan, curiosamente, después de la pasada vez en que tal evento se celebrase en Alemania.

Ellos son el motivo porque muchísimos aficionados en Croacia no se perdieron el choque entre Australia y Uruguay, tirándose de los pelos cuando "su" Mark Viduka fallase el penalty en la cuarta serie.

Las relaciones entre Croacia y su diáspora son muy estrechas porque muchos croatas se desplazaron al extranjero durante la existencia de Yugoslavia, al haber sido perseguidos políticamente por su etnia.


Es que la cuestión de sangre es muy importante para los croatas y de hecho cualquiera persona que puede comprobar que tiene raíces croatas tiene el derecho a la ciudadanía. Un poco como los judíos, en fin y al cabo.

Algunos australo-croatas, de hecho, han optado por jugar con la camiseta ajedrezada, en lugar de la amarilla. Son el lateral izquierdo Anthony Seric y el portero Joseph Didulica, si bien por el momento son suplentes en la selección que dirige Zlatko Kranjcar.

Ahora, los seguidores croatas tendrán dos opciones para hacerlo bien en el próximo Mundial, al estar sus esperanzas depositadas en la propia Croacia y - Australia.

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Australia: The rise of the "second Croatia"

Fútbol internacional - Mundial

Australia avanza con ocho croatas

Croacia festeja la clasificación de su "segunda" selección

Zagreb, 17 nov (EFE).-

Croacia "B" también ha progresado al Mundial de Alemania. Naturalmente, hablamos de Australia, una selección repleta de jugadores de origen croata.

No sólo los australianos estaban pendientes del desenlace de la dramática repesca ante Uruguay en Sydney, finalizada con la victoria australiana por penalties, sino también muchos croatas.

El motivo está claro: hasta ocho (o siete y media, para estar precisos) futbolistas de Guus Hiddink son emigrantes de esta república de la antigua Yugoslavia.

Son, concretamente, Zeljko Kalac (Milan), Ante Covic (Hammarby), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven), Ljubo Milicevic (FC Thun), Toni Popovic (Crystal Palace), Josip Skoko (Wigan), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough) i Marco Bresciano (Parma), cuya madre es croata.

Contrario a lo que muchos opinan, a esta lista no pertenece Tony Vidmar, al ser de etnia eslovena y es que nueve croatas ya serían demasiados.

Se espera la presencia de todos los ocho en el primer Mundial en que los "canguros" intervengan, curiosamente, después de la pasada vez en que tal evento se celebrase en Alemania.

Ellos son el motivo porque muchísimos aficionados en Croacia no se perdieron el choque entre Australia y Uruguay, tirándose de los pelos cuando "su" Mark Viduka fallase el penalty en la cuarta serie.

Las relaciones entre Croacia y su diáspora son muy estrechas porque muchos croatas se desplazaron al extranjero durante la existencia de Yugoslavia, al haber sido perseguidos políticamente por su etnia.


Es que la cuestión de sangre es muy importante para los croatas y de hecho cualquiera persona que puede comprobar que tiene raíces croatas tiene el derecho a la ciudadanía. Un poco como los judíos, en fin y al cabo.

Algunos australo-croatas, de hecho, han optado por jugar con la camiseta ajedrezada, en lugar de la amarilla. Son el lateral izquierdo Anthony Seric y el portero Joseph Didulica, si bien por el momento son suplentes en la selección que dirige Zlatko Kranjcar.

Ahora, los seguidores croatas tendrán dos opciones para hacerlo bien en el próximo Mundial, al estar sus esperanzas depositadas en la propia Croacia y - Australia.

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