Australia vs. South Africa

[Gunner4Eva]

Australia go up against South Africa in Durban for a long awaited International friendly for Australia. Last time these two teams met, Australia emerged victorious 1-0 with Marco Bresciano (Parma) the only goalscorer.

For those in Australia wanting to watch LIVE these will be the times:
Melbourne - 5:15am
Adelaide - 4:45am
Brisbane - 4:15am
Darwin - 3:45am
Perth - 2:15am (replayed at 4:30am)

This game will be played on Thursday, 10th February.

Australian Squad

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, Eng.), Clint Bolton (Apia Leichhardt, NSWPL)

Defenders: Lucas Neill (Blackburn, Eng), Craig Moore (B. M'Gladbach, Germ.), Tony Popovic (Cryst. Palace, Eng.), Stephen Laybutt (AA Gent, Belg.), Tony Vidmar (Wigan, Eng.), Jon McKain (National Bucharest, Rom.), Danny Tiatto (Leicester City, Eng.).

Midfielders: Vince Grella (Parma, Ita.), Brett Emerton (Blackburn, Eng.), Tim Cahill (Everton, Eng.), Marco Bresciano (Parma, Ita.), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basle, Switz.), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basle, Switz.), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol City, Eng.)

Attackers: Jason Culina (FC Twente, Neth.), Paul Agostino (1860 Munich, Germ.), Max Vieri (Ternana, Ita.), Archie Thompson (Lierse/Melbourne Victory, Belg./Aust.)

South Africa Squad

Goalkeepers: Moeneeb Josephs (Ajax Cape Town, Sth. Afr.), Calvin Marlin (SuperSport United, Sth. Afr.)

Midfielders: Bradley Carnell (Karlsruhe, Germany), Siphiwe Mkhonza (Kaizer Chiefs), Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn Rovers, England), Nasief Morris (Panathinaikos, Greece), Cyril Nzama (Kaizer Chiefs), Thabiso Rammile (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Attackers: Tyren Arendse (Orlando Pirates), Shaun Bartlett (Charlton Athletic, England), Benni McCarthy (FC Porto, Port.), Sandile Ndlovu (Dynamos), Siyabonga Nomvete (Empoli, Italy), Sibusiso Zuma (FC Copenhagen, Denmark).

NOTES:

* Tim Cahill is a below 50% chance to play in the game after suffering an injury in the Southampton vs. Everton match which ended 2-2 on the weekend. He will have an MRI and we will have to wait and see.

* Zeljko Kalac was withdrawn from the squad along with Kevin Muscat and Josip Skoko. They were replaced with Clint Bolton, Archie Thompson and Luke Wilkshire respectively.

* Scott McDonald missed out on selection...yet again!

OK, Im predicting a 2-1 Australia win. Its going to be tough, as we are missing influential 1st team players (Kewell, Viduka, Lazaridis and possibly Cahill), but we have Craig Moore back in the centre of defence.

My projected Australian line-up....

Mark Schwarzer

Lucas Neill Craig Moore Tony Popovic Tony Vidmar

Brett Emerton Vince Grella Tim Cahill S. Chipperfield

Marco Bresciano

Jason Culina


Please, tell us what you think?!

 

[Aussie]

Nice Write Up.

Not a bad side. Still wouldnt mind having Kewell, Viduka, Cahill and Stan the man to pick from however its good to see we have decent depth. The main issue that came up from previous games we have played is our defense. It was quite weak and was very unorganized. Having Moore back will help but its one thing we must improve if we are going to qualify for the next World Cup. The team has to keep playing matches and training together. Does anyone know a schedule.

We should be aiming to win and i think we should be dissapointed if we dont. 2-1 to the Aussie's.

 

[Gunner4Eva]

The team has to keep playing matches and training together. Does anyone know a schedule.

I've checked up, and found the following fixtures.


Australia vs. Iraq Saturday, 26th March 2005.

CONFEDERATIONS CUP

Australia vs. Germany Wednesday, 15th June 2005.
Australia vs. Argentina Saturday, 18th June 2005.
Australia vs. Tunisia Tuesday, 21st June 2005.

*Extra matches WHEN we make the semi's*

2006 OFC World Cup Playoff

Australia vs. Solomon Islands Saturday, 3rd September 2005.
Australia vs. Solomon Islands Wednesday, 7th September 2005.


There might be some more friendlies between the Iraq game and the Confederations Cup, but none are scheduled.

 

[Aussie]

Thanks for that mate.

What do you mean IF we make the semi's? :wink:

 

[Gunner4Eva]

Thanks for that mate.

What do you mean IF we make the semi's? :wink:

I feel so ashamed!

I'll edit it immediately!

 

[seb_afc]

Its good to see the aussi and south african rivalry taken into football too. may the best team win. :wink:

 

[AFCG7]

Is Max Vieri related to Christian Vieri of Inter?

 

[Aussie]

He is. The younger brother i belive.

 

[Asterix]

He is Christian's younger broter - I don't know of any other brothers who have been capped for different national teams - any one else?

Australia will find this one tough. SA have good attackers and a decent midfield, and we're quite short up front and in the middle. Usually we'd play 4-3-3 and have Skoko, Cahill and Bresciano as the 3 midfielders with Emmo and Kewell or Chipperfield out wide and Dukes up front.

So I reckon we'll play like this:

Schwarzer
Neill Moore Poppa Tiatto
Bresciano Grella Wilkshire
Emerton Chipperfield
Agostino

 

[Asterix]

Skoko and Cahill are definitely out, and Jason Culina gets his first start for the Aussies - will be an interesting match - I'm looking forward to seeing how the crowd and stadium are too ahead of 2010.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Football/Cul ... 12723.html

 

[Gunner4Eva]

Skoko and Cahill are definitely out, and Jason Culina gets his first start for the Aussies - will be an interesting match - I'm looking forward to seeing how the crowd and stadium are too ahead of 2010.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Football/Cul ... 12723.html

It'll be good to see Culina starting. He is playing well in Holland, and deserves a start. As if he'd stay and play for FC Twente then get his debut for Australia and try and make his mark and make a claim for the Australia squad who takes on the South American 5th Place team in the playoff for the World Cup.

As for the crowd, well, Im expecting a pretty full stadium. Should be pretty loud also. It'll be a great atmosphere for an away win!

 

[brianfrance]

Aloisi not in the squad ? :| I thought he was an important player for you, perhaps I'm wrong...

 

[brianfrance]

I don't know of any other brothers who have been capped for different national teams - any one else?

Bonaventure Kalou = Ivory Coast
Salomon Kalou = Holland

 

[Gunner4Eva]

Aloisi not in the squad ? :| I thought he was an important player for you, perhaps I'm wrong...

I thought the same thing. I have no idea why John Aloisi was not chosen. He is a poor mans Viduka in my mind. Would be perfect for the 4-3-3 with him up forward flanked by Emerton and Chipperfield/Bresciano

 

[Aussie]

Am a fan of Aloisi and am a bit surprised by the fact that he wasnt even included in the squad.

 

[Gazza Martinez]

1-1

Mcarthy 11min
Chipperfield 71 min

Decent showing from us considering our injuries. ****ign belting goal from Chippers as well.

 

[Gunner4Eva]

Chipperfields goal was an absolute barn-stormer. Beautiful strike.

I was disappointed with how we played in the first half though, especially the first 25mins. South Africa had us pinned down like a tail on a donkey, and we simply had no effective moves going forward. It seemes as soon as the midfield lost the ball to the South Africans, the back four would move all the way into the penalty area. According to the interviews after the match, Farina had wanted to play the game in a more defensive fashion. It didnt work in my mind, because we are a good attacking side, with good wingers. As soon as South Africa scored, we started pushing up more, and started playing or normal game.

2nd half was good. Our defence was solid, as it usually is when Craig Moore is back there. Emerton, Bresciano and Grella started being a tad more influential, as they were the key players in there. Tiatto on the right side of midfield was a bt of a surprise for me, but i guess Farina wanted to change things around a bit. I was amazed Chipperfield scored that goal. It was just great.But after the goal, we started that defensive game again, and almost conceded at the end.

A solid game in the end. A good result from an Aussie side lacking Tim Cahill, Josip Skoko, Stan Lazaridis, Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell.

Felt sorry for Paul Agostino and Jason Culina. Agostino finally gets another chance in the side, and ends up being the lone striker with no support. Culina was basically thrown in the deep end on his debut. Was shocked when Christian Vieri came on the pitch, but remembered it was his brother Max Vieri. ops: My word they're like twins. I would like to see a game where Max Vieri gets a chance to play forward with Harry Kewell off his left and Brett Emerton off his right.

Man of the Match for me: A tough one, none of our players actually shone. Chipperfield had a great goal, but Im sticking with one of the best players to wear an Aussie jersey Brett Emerton yet again. So many times when he wears the green and gold (in this case, the white and blue), he just transforms. He provided a lot of chances when the ball went down his side, and is just class.

In the end, great job Aussies, we managed to fight back with a considerably weakened side. Great job Farina!

 

[Anonymous]

Nice write up Gunner4eva. I heard one of the commentators say Farina was approaching the game like he would for the away leg against Uruguay / whoever, and from that point of view to snatch a draw was good. Unfortunately the game also showed up a glaring lack of pace at the back - Tony Vidmar is now just too old to be a regular starter. Hopefully Stan will be fit for the big games.

The Aussies were very wasteful in the middle of the park, and seemed happy to let SA come at them. The Bafana were quite slick, although they'll be disappointed too with their performance, which promised so much over two thirds of the pitch, but never quite made anything really dangerous happen.

Overall a pleasing result from a sub-stength Australian team.

 

[Aussie]

I was fairly pleased with that result considering the injuries to key players and to come back from a goal down was a good effort.

Nice Write Up also mate. Pretty much covered everything. Emerton was once again fantastic probably did enough to deserve the Man of The Match.

Great goal from Chippy as well.

Current table for South America

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?lea ... OL&cc=3436

 

[Gunner4Eva]

Current table for South America

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?lea ... OL&cc=3436

Interesting table....we can play anyone from position 3 to 10 they are so close on points. Talk about being a ***** for the Australia staff to scout. :roll: