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Australians say goodbye to Asian Cup
The Australian soccer team was knocked out of the Asian Cup last night when their quarter-final against Japan was decided by a penalty shoot-out. The game was still drawn at 1-1 after playing 30 minutes of extra time, but Australia missed its first two penalties and the pressure became too much to bear. Both teams failed to score in the first half, but it was Australia that was first to draw blood when John Aloisi scored from a Harry Kewell corner kick. Unfortunately, the psychological advantage was quickly taken away when Mark Milligan attempted a clearance and missed the ball completely, allowing Japan to score an equalizer.
Disaster struck approximately midway through the second term when Vince Grella was red-carded after accidentally striking a Japanese player in the face. The referee’s decision was seen as heavy-handed and it followed two yellow cards given to Australian players for ‘diving’. These decisions were surprising, especially considering the amount of unpunished diving that went on in the game against Thailand.
Australia struggled for the rest of the game to keep Japan from scoring. Japan is a very well-disciplined team, but they were unable to penetrate the Australian defenders and in particular, the brilliant Mark Schwarzer. Australia would have been pretty confident going into the penalty shoot-out, but the players were clearly drained after the grueling 30 minutes of extra time. Harry Kewell, who was Australia’s sole attacking option, looked particularly tired and it was no surprise that he lamely bunted the first penalty to the Japanese goalkeeper. Australia then missed the second penalty when Lucas Neill fluffed his shot.
I am not familiar with the rules of soccer, so I don’t know how the line-up of the penalty shoot-out is decided. It seems strange that despite Kewell being exhausted, the Australians still wanted him to take the first penalty. I thought Tim Cahill would’ve been a better option – he didn’t do much during the game and he easily iced the third penalty. Lucas Neill taking the second penalty was also a surprise – isn’t he meant to be a defender? The Australians desperately missed the presence of Mark Viduka who went off early in the second term and was replaced by Kewell, who still seems to be out of form.
Despite the loss, it is hard to be disappointed. Japan is a very good team and deserved to win. After this and the match during the World Cup, it seems that Australia and Japan are forging a very good rivalry. It is a shame that the two sides met so early, they may have been the best two sides in the tournament. However, I reckon the team that is most likely to wrest the Asian Cup from Japan will be Saudi Arabia. |
Posted: 10:22 PM, 22/7/2007 in SoccerShare on Facebook |
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Penalty Taker
It is ultimately the manager / coach's decision. The manager would ask each of his 11 players on the field whether or not he would like to take a pen and draw a list of five players from them. He would also decide at what sequence his chosen players would each take the pen.
Not everyone would fancy to take a pen as the pressure could be too much for some. Those who volunteer are the brave ones and should be respected and admired. It is absolutely not a crime for someone to miss a pen as that's always going to be a lottery. World class players like Beckham, Gerrard and etc all missed important penalties during their career. But no doubt they are still great players.
Harry Kewell is a decent footballer but very unlucky with injuries. He has now joined up with his Liverpool team mates in HK for a preseason tournament. He will find stiff competition for position when the new season starts in August. Good luck to him.
BTW I thought only Yankees would call football soccer. You Aussies as well? |
Posted by YNWA at 3:48 AM, 25/7/2007 |
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