Oh yeah!

Well we won. Of course I'm talking about the Red Eye Pirates futsal team. We won 5:2 last night, which after a terrible run of losses, was the third win in a row. I don't think my keeping is improving much, but our strikers certainly are, and we have a good structure now, completely mobile, with the single defender often running up if they have space with the ball but someone always doubling back, and one always seeking out the space up front no matter what. That's it. There's only four outfielders, so it just has to be simple and coherent. We've got that now. Hope I didn't jinx our next game by writing about it, but we're definitely feeling more confident.

Of course I really sat down to write about the Socceroos vs Qatar game. I don't have much to say about it, but I'm pretty high on the win and need to say the little I do.

Over at the World Game site the headline is, "Socceroos do it easy." It's an understandable headline and this is not a dig, but upon consideration it's not entirely accurate.

They didn't look like they were 'doing it easy' in the first half. They played like they were playing Brazil in a grand final. It was very mobile and creative, but the important observation is that they did not take Qatar for granted. They played like they could lose if they didn't give every single thing.

Whilst the less inspiring second half performance was no doubt the result of jet lag and exhaustion kicking in, and some tactical adjustment from Qatar, it could easily be a picture of what things might look like if the Socceroos started the game like it was going to be easy.

If both teams played a game out in the manner of the second half, either team could get the points. That's why, quite aside from the China and Iraq games, which are much harder even on paper, we have to treat Qatar with exactly the same respect the second time. This time they had the support of the media and the commentariat in developing this respect. Next time, after the "Socceroos (doing) it easy," it is going to be a greater spiritual challenge. Verbeek will have to lead in this though, and I think he is too clever to be as arrogant as Arnold was before the Asia Cup.

Only other thing is about the announcement by Moore that this was his last game for Australia. I say, "Nooooooooo!!!!"

Now mate... maaaaate, your country needs ya buddy. You're good - up there with the best in central defense. It's an important position mate. Goals get conceded there and games get lost. If you're not getting enough games, go do a bit of marquee work in Europe or somewhere in the off-season. I'm sure something could be organised. But you are also one of the very few who have this wonderful advantage of actually living in Asia. Ok, close to Asia. I don't want to argue about geography. We're gonna need ya.

But sleep on it. Help the Roar trash Sydney on Friday, then play the A-League Grand Final. Have a rest for a couple of weeks, then get back to us. Please mate?

Friday... ah Friday. Can the universe deliver a sweet hat trick of wins for the week? Of hat tricks, it would be sweet indeed. Go the bloody Roar.