Ecstasy, then Agony

Well I will start with the great night against Croatia before I get onto what happened last night.

The Croatia match was something to behold for Australian sport. It had it all. The come from behind result (twice), the fierce patriotism that has been a highlight of the supporters, and of course, the celebrations afterwards.

It was a night like no other. Having witnessed many sporting triumphs, including Collingwood winning the 1990 flag, seeing my cousin win the League in Austria for the first time in 40 odd years with Sturm Graz, as well and many great cricketing wins, this game paled them all.

The crowd never really gave up, though at times our resolve was tested, especially when Kalac let in "that goal". But the lads never gave up, and the reward came when Harry slotted in the equaliser to send us through. The celebrations were huge. We hung around the ground for about an hour, singing and chanting, before heading back to the player’s hotel for a chance to get a glimpse of the lads.

However, they decided to head back to their training site, so we were left to sip a few frosties with Les Murray and Craig Foster, so it was not all bad. After a while we headed to the fan site for more celebrations, then home at about 3.30am, in preparation for the long flight home.

Which brings us to the match last night. What happened?

If you look back at the isolated refereeing incidents that have plagued us this tournament, you would say we have been robbed. The nudge on Schwarzer against Japan, the 25 to 8 free kick count against Brazil, the 3 yellow cards to Suminic against Croatia, and of course, the one to top them all, the dive by Grosso to win the game for Italy.

Yes, if we were to ponder on these facts, you would think that there is someone out there a little afraid of the Aussies within FIFA. With the stench of corruption surrounding the Italians, this theory takes further credence. I thought that heading off to bed this morning. However, on pondering what has happened over the course of the match, I can now see the bigger picture.

Sure we were robbed in that 94th minute, however, a lot happened before that point where we can say we did not do enough. We had 59% of the ball. 59%! That is unbelievable. However, we did not create one clear chance.

Viduka was one dimensional, as he was against Croatia, and surely his time with the national side is done. Bresciano had a nightmare on the wing, and it was his error that created the scoring chance that created the penalty. And why did Guus not make a sub until the 82nd minute. When he did, Aloisi was like a breathe of fresh air, however, it was too little, too late. Obviously he was playing for injury time to bring on the subs and swamp the Italians, however, this has now proven again to be an error by the great man.

I could continue on about the negatives, however, there are far more positives to be taken from the result.

We showed the world we could match it with the best. There is now no doubt that Australia is a formidable force in world football. We were not disgraced, and will be stronger for the experience. Our results will also attract a better coach going forward. This can only be good for the game, and now heading into Asia, the world is at our feet.

I am proud to have been a small part of the World Cup campaign, and I know I will fondly look back on the experience in many years to come. With regard to the blog, I will continue to make postings on here throughout the remainder of this tournament and from time to time after that. I will also use it in the lead in to South Africa, which I have little doubt the Aussies will again be a force within it. Hopefully I can be there to cheer the lads on again.

It All Boils Down To This......

Well what a trip it has been. Since our last entry at the Aussie Training Camp, we have since had a few big days.

The day of the training was great. We went along with about 5,000 others to watch the lads train. It was amazing to see so many come out in force to support the lads. Being training though, it got boring pretty quickly so we decided to head back into town to see what it had to offer. We found a nice restaurant and had a nice italian meal and some lagers to wash it down.The train ride back was a blast, with the disco carriage going completely off again and we drank the train dry. The trip was lengthened a bit and we didn't get home til midnight because some idiot pulled the emergency stop break so we had to stop in the middle of nowhere.

The next day we boarded the bus to Stuttgart, via Dachau concentration camp - a very sobering and sombre expreience but something which was important to visit.

Stuttgart is a lovely city with a great vibe - especially when Germany won their game. All the streets were blocked off with mad German fans waving their flags and showing national pride not seen since World War 2. We had a big night in town that night in the fan site watching the England-Sweden match. Gav was a bit sad when one of his heroes, Michael Owen went down, but the match was great and the fans loved it.

The next day we went on a guided tour of the city then settled into a nice bar for the afternoon. We then headed to the fan site and watch the Portugal-Mexico match which was a lot better than the more anticpiated Argentina-Holland game. We watched the latter in the hotel as we wanted to save ourselves for today, the big day!

On the streets at the moment, it is mayhem. I will try and take some pics to put on here when we get home to give you an idea of how crazy it is. The Croat fans are extremely confident and give the Socceroos no respect at all. One can only hope that their team has the same attitude, as this will play right into our hands. Both Bec and I have put temporary Australia flag tattoos on our cheeks and are looking very patriotic.

Whatever happens in the next 12 hours, will undoubtedbly be something we will never forget. Gav is pumped at the moment, and very nervous.

Anyway, the next post will be from back in Australia. So good luck to all, and GO AUSSIES!!!!!!!

Greetings from Oehringen

I am writing from Oehringen, home town of the Socceroos while they are in Germany.

It was a three hour train ride here, and we will be off to watch the lads train in an hour or so, therefore I will have to keep this brief.

Yesterday was both great and awful. On the great side was the Footy Show, arriving at the game, the way the boys played, and the spectacle of the event. On the negative side was the referee, the result, the crowded trains and the Footy Show going way too long for people needing to get to the match.

On the match itself, most would have seen the game, however, some insider comments would be that the Brazialian fans were dead silent until they scored. As they say, you only sing when your winning. However, the Aussies kept going, even when they scored. Our seats were brilliant. Right behind the goals, 11 rows back at the end we attacked to in the second half.

Anyway, I have to get going to have a bite to eat before we head to training. We will make a more detailed entry if we can when we get to Stuttgart. All the best, and Go Socceroos!!

Berlin and Frankfurt

Well here we are in Berlin. Our last day in Frankfurt was spent at the Fanfest on the river. You can see some of the photos there. We watched the Korea versus Togo match which was good as the Koreans were really getting into it.

We then headed home, and Bernie, Gavan and another Aussie we met on the tram decided to stop into this quiet milkbar-like bar for a quiet ale. 1 Euro for their premium beer made us think that this could be a place to settle in. But when the locals started buying us beer, schnapps and everything else you could think of, it just went nuts. Gav played darts with the locals and won, while Bernie and Gav exchanged shirts and caps to top off a huge day.

The next day was spent in transit to Berlin. It was really a debacle, and the less said on this day the better. We did finish off the day in the hotel watching the games that night with Germany winning 1-0.

We then spent yesterday on a city tour. Walked about 20kms, so we were buggered!! Finished off the day at the fanfest which was good then off to an Irish Bar to watch England make it through as well as Sweden.

We are now here for our last day in Berlin before heading off to Munich for the match of the century. Might check out the zoo today, and then there is a pub crawl afterwards which should be good.

Okay, we will catch you all later!

Article in the Age

Hi all,

I have managed to quickly pop into a cafe in Berlin, but cannot write much as the group is about to leave. Will post a larger entry later on.

However, thought it would be interesting to look at the article written about our day against Japan in the Age. Click on the link above.

I will get back to your emails again shortly. Berlin is going off here today though, so it should be interesting.

All the best,

Gav and Bec