Football Down Under and Beyond

New Socceroos Coach Announced

2011-11-16T21:08:00.001+10:00

Well I must say I was a little surprised when Ben Buckley called last night to offer me the job of Socceroos' Head Coach, starting immediately.

Of course I know when the time for my national duty has come, and I accepted. But not before I had a long talk with Buckley in which I said I would be making a number of changes, some of them which will shock some people and many fans, and he guaranteed that I would have complete freedom and control over the roster. His only stipulation was that I should develop a team to play what is often variously referred to as 'total football', 'attacking, flowing football' or 'entertaining football'. My own term for it is 'ensemble football', but I may henceforth also just use the term, 'The Brisbane System'.

Now of course the media and the fans, not to mention the FFA, are all clamouring to know which players I intend to use for the rest of the World Cup Qualifiers and beyond, and I'll get to that presently, but first things first. If we pit our 11 best players against the 11 best players of the top international sides, and all the rest is equal, we will lose. A soccer game is a contest of systems, and the first thing to be clear on, for the media, the fans and the players, is what system we will be using. The players will depend upon the system, not the other way around.

One of Australia's great apostles of ensemble football is Craig Foster. He understands well that a good team needs a system, and because he also understands that criticism is not helpful without positive alternatives, he has pushed a Dutch system as the model which Australia will follow. More recently he talks more about Barcelona.

But Australia no longer needs to look abroad for a great system. Ange Postecoglou and Ken Stead at the Brisbane Roar (these two should always be spoken of as a partnership) have developed a system right here in Australia, no doubt heavily influenced by the great sides of Europe but very much an Australian born system at the same time. It is still developing and is currently going through new tactical tests in the A-League. Aside from its effectiveness a major advantage of this system is that many Australians play it or play against it and all are exposed to it every week.

Just as the champion Spanish team is made up of most of the Barcelona squad, and hence the extraordinarily well developed culture of the Barcelona method of play can transfer directly to their national team, I intend to look first to the successful Australian Roar players for the team. They are all faced with competition from others of course, but when I look at players outside the Roar I will not merely be looking at their form, the league they play in, or their team's success, but how they are being coached and the style that their team plays. I don't need defenders who play in a team which uses a lot of long ball, regardless of whether they are in the EPL or not or how successful they are. I need players who can play how I need them to play.

At this point I should mention the conversation I had with one of my predecessors this morning. Pim Verbeek infamously suggested that if people wanted to play for Australia then they should seek to play overseas first. Well this morning he told me that if he was coaching now he would say they should seek to play either overseas or at the Brisbane Roar.

Needless to say Ange Postecoglou and Ken Stead will be my constant consultants. I have bought into their philosophy and hope that I can, as the national team redevelops, contribute to it and take it abroad. We think this system, if fully developed and supported, can take on the world.

In short (very short) the system is a 4-3-3 which can become a 3-4-3 as the holding midfielder drops back and the wing backs surge forward. At its most attacking extreme it becomes 3-2-5 in fact.

But fluidity is the key. Interchangeabilities must be developed one by one, and the more of them the better. I cannot just say to my players, 'swap places if that's helpful'. Two players can only swap places if they have trained to do this. These interchangeabilites are an example of how developing our team takes time. We can take shortcuts by choosing players who already have a relationship in a system and who are trained to understand how we use space.

At the same time we must, like the Roar, always train and play with the ball on the ground, making use of triangular shapes with short passing, maintaining possession and pressing like motherfuckers every time we lose the ball. All of this is hard. I can't take a player - it doesn't matter if they are the player of the year in the EPL - who has never played this way and include them in my team. The more my players already play this way, the more successful I can be in developing, from the bottom, the most successful Australian team to date.

That's what we want isn't it? Obviously I am being hired to make the new Socceroos, the first Socceroos of the new football era, the best team Australia has ever fielded.

At this time the biggest problem for the Socceroos is the midfield. I haven't decided on my whole squad, and of course I must keep up to date with rising talent, but I do know of a midfield of three which works very well. Matthew McKay, Eric Paartalu and Mitch Nichols are the 'first' three across the middle.

Here is the first 11 I am currently looking to train with for the game against Saudi Arabia in Sydney, which will be the first competition test of the new team.

Michael Theoklitos
Shane Stefanatto-Matthew Jurman-Matthew Špiranović-Ivan Franjic
Matt McKay-Eric Paartalu-Mitch Nichols
Tommy Oar-Brett Holman-Dario Vidošić

Now, just taking one position as an example, there may be better goal keepers than Theo. I would say not by much, but that may be so. But have they been trained to act as a sweeper when the team is up field? Have they been to begin attacks with short, tactical distribution to the back line? Have they had the boot up the center of the field thoroughly beaten out of them with whips and stout sticks? I don't have time to train a player in these tactical techniques, these game habits. I need to find a keeper who already knows what I need them to do in the system, as much as possible.

With that in mind I am very open to suggestions from fans about how I might better staff the field. Obviously I need a complete back-up team to complete the squad, and there are many contenders. But here I have very frankly given you, the media and fans, a skeleton picture of what we as a football nation are about to embark upon. Humbly I ask for your patience and your support.

Our goal is to reach the top 4 at Brazil 2014.

Brisbane Roar v Wellington Phoenix 1:1

2011-11-13T20:16:00.001+10:00

It is anxious times for a Brisbane Roar fan. I mean hell, the undefeated streak stretches to 34 games. But it's hard not to notice that the last two games have presented a new challenge. It's hard not to notice that we have not scored from open play in the last two games.

In week one, Central Coast tried to handle us the way they almost did last season, with their half-open, counter attacking game, but once again, came up short.

The next week Sydney tried to press us high, and failed.

The Gold Coast also tried to press high; opening themselves up, and they were shown three goals against them for their efforts.

Adelaide - bless them - tried to beat us at our own game, and were utterly exposed.

Melbourne defended. They did not beat us, but with only nine men, they stifled us. Going by Archie's insistence before that game that Melbourne needed the first goal and that if Brisbane got the first goal Melbourne were basically stuffed, it's my suspicion that the tight defense we saw Melbourne play in the second half last week was not entirely improvisation due to extraneous circumstance. I believe it was Melbourne's plan to get an early goal - as it has been observed that Brisbane is often exposed early on - and then defend approximately as they did.

But regardless of how much their defensiveness was forced upon them, it worked. And Wellington, on paper the weakest team in the League, did the same thing. And it worked again.

That's the season so far. The sweep of the story is that the League has not figured out how to defeat Brisbane and indeed they have more-or-less given up trying. But they have worked out how to neutralise Brisbane. Perhaps Ange is right and there's nothing to worry about. There were good chances tonight after all. But my feeling is that other teams will do the same thing, with a reasonable expectation of success, and that we need a new trick.

One of the questions is about Brisbane's depth. In terms of on field leadership I don't think Matty McKay has been entirely replaced. It was him who would rally the troops, leading by example, for the final efforts, especially when the team was down. There doesn't seem to be that extra kick in the team; that turbo mode. The second halves of the last two games have been tactically clever enough, and accurate enough in terms of passes, but have appeared almost monotonous. We are left asking, "And???"

With Nichols away Issey was brought in to start and Broich was brought into the middle. Broich in the middle is great by me but Issey does not seem comfortable with the system yet, hogs the ball a bit and hence loses possession too much. He also shows some magic, and he did come very close to scoring so, unlike my son and consultant Jacob, who thinks Issey is "fuckin useless" I haven't given up on him. Depth is a challenge though.

Brattan deserves a mention at this point as he does appear to be able to do his job in the system.

"The system." There was a moment which I would love to successfully describe as it summed up the difference between what the Roar are doing and what other teams appear to be doing, in the first two thirds of the field anyway. Franjic received the ball very close to us, watched his defender frantically attempting to press him, and passed it off to his left (to Smith I think). It was the look on Franjic's face. It might be boredom. Certainly kind of cocky, contemptuous of the quite obviously pointless work the defender was doing. It looked like Franjic was pulling the same string as he had pulled a thousand times before, the outcome entirely predictable. And indeed, the defender huffed off to the left as Franjic gently sidestepped into the space created, as he knew he would before he even received the ball. It was just a moment, but seemed to sum up what was happening out there.

The thing is, the Roar machine is working. No team is beating us, and the opposition coaches from the last two weeks appear to be overjoyed to get the point from a draw. There is no team saying, "We can be better," merely teams saying, "We can stuff your game."

We'll see about that, of course. What a team does when we do score ourselves into the lead, as we nearly did about eight times in the second half, remains the open question. Keep in mind that the longer the game goes on the more the Roar have the advantage of their fitness and conserved energy. That's basically why teams need to score against the Roar as early in the game as possible. I suspect that the full defensive shell is also energy conserving to an extent.

It is in desperation that I am attempting a constructive solution to the Roar's new tactical dilemma. The second half tonight was a déjà vu of the second half last week versus the Victory. One thing that we did not see is any deviation from the ground level passing game plan. Any other team would be trying to chip balls over the top to a target man in the box. Not the Roar. They are so pure that it may defeat them.

If teams continue to conduct this kind of tortoise defense against the Roar maybe a target option would be good for the last ten minutes of the game, just to break things up, just to give the opposition something new to think about.

I don't suspect Berisha is the man. Paartalu appears a good choice for his height but he is key to the defense and the distribution around the defensive wall. I want to see Adnan given a go at this. According to Wikipedia he has been utilised just this way in the past and has scored goals like this, as well as from set pieces. The man is about 9 foot tall and we have had, in the first game against Central Coast, a glimpse of this aerial ability. It doesn't really get mentioned because he played such a small part in that game but he won two aerial challenges in that game with apparent effortlessness. The second was in the box from a corner but it went over the bar. I actually suspect that Ange is holding this weapon back purposely.

The neat thing is you can have Adnan on the bench as defensive cover, but then in this particular instance - when the opposition has retracted into its tortoise like defense - push him right up front as a natural target man. It's not changing the system. It's just giving it a new trick, for a contingency.

This game review was supposed to be 'visceral' I think. It would have been moreso if I was in the intoxication of the 5:1 drubbing that I expected Roar would deliver. The game was compelling and the atmosphere, with the 16,500 fans, was brilliant. Some are saying that the Roar are looking 'toothless' or whatever, but I still find myself hypnotised by their passages of play. But for a Roar fan tonight's game, on the back of last week in particular, was sobering.

Pass and Move

2011-11-10T22:26:00.000+10:00

When I began this blog over five years ago I honestly thought there were no active A-League blogs. I soon discovered I was wrong and wrote a reasonably comprehensive review of the amateur blogs which focused on the A-League at that time.

One of the things I was hungry for from the beginning was high quality, football-knowledgeable analysis of the games. There was some, and frankly I found the best of it better than anything that the mainstream has to offer. For all of Fozzie's apostolic mission to increase our understanding of the game, for example, he doesn't actually write or present detailed and comprehensive tactical analysis of games and, come to that, neither does SBS. 442 doesn't do much better.

My suspicion is that although there are hard core fans who seek a deeper intellectual relationship with the game, they would not actually have an enormous audience compared to the "Broich thinks the coach is really good" or "Sydney confident for the big game" type bullshit that is constantly spewed at us.

Since that time, of my three favourites, James Brown went and got a girlfriend, Mike Salter had a kid and only Tony Tannous has left his old blog and joined the Roar Sports Opinion team. Of the latter I would say that some of the best analysis of all of those early A-League seasons remain on the record on Tony's old blog The Round Ball Analyst.

Occasionally I would also take the time to surf around international fan sites as well, and it was apparent that their media was enormously more developed, not just in quantity but in sophistication and understanding, I daresay the lag in the quality of football media in general is parallel with the lag in the quality of the football. We can't expect Australian media and bloggers to be as sophisticated as Europeans, perhaps.

And although James, Mike, Tony and others were doing their best, and better than any mainstream, with people as ignorant as myself as their audience, there was another level available, not merely in knowledge and quality of analysis but in presentation and consistency.

Ok, maybe I craved more pictures. During the last World Cup I discovered Zonal Marking, and was overjoyed when it did an analysis of Pim Verbeek's Socceroos vs Germany. Well, I wasn't that overjoyed with the content as such, but I was awakened to a type of analysis, that this website appeared to consistently do, which was exciting.

Anyway that's a bit of my own journey with it all, and in that time I've learned a lot about this game, and also about how much I don't know. Aside from bloggers my teachers of strategy and tactics were mostly the coaches of the Roar in a way, Miron Bleiberg, Frank Farina and, especially Ange Postecoglou. It is the latter that seemed to put a lot of the pieces together for me.

As I watched Ange develop and implement his system, and then begun to watch it work, I felt that I understood much better some of Craig Foster's rave, and also his passionate vehemence. Another level is possible, another level of football, and that level is facilitated by increasing understanding of the game among coaches, parents, fans and journalists.

The real fear with regard to the Brisbane Roar, according to this narrative, is that when Ange goes the Australian media and fans will forget it as a freakish success, the pressure will be off the other teams to do the extremely difficult, and the A-League will revert to the sort of mediocrity in which a thug-led Melbourne Victory can win. The only antidote to this fear is increasing understanding of the game.

The narrative about Ange is well established. He has 'brought the A-League to another level', 'raised the bar for all the other teams' etcetera. And he really has.

But a new player has also come onto the Australian blogging scene. It is my opinion that he's raised the bar of tactical analysis (for both A-League and Socceroos actually) but interestingly, he's declared that intent.

I am saying that Pass and Move is to soccer blogging what Ange is to the A-League. I guess it's a coincidence that 'Pass and Move' is also a good description of what Ange has brought to the Roar's game. Here is Pass and Move's manifesto in full:

Pass and Move is a football blog dedicated to tactical analysis, with a special emphasis on the Socceroos and the A-League, the top flight of Australian competition. It was inspired by the work of Michael Cox on Zonal Marking and Jonathon Wilson for the Guardian.
Pass and Move is an attempt to elevate the level of tactical discourse and insight about football in Australia; the central tent of Pass and Move is to move beyond merely reporting 'what' occurred during a match and ascertaining 'why' and 'how' it was won, drawn or lost.
Pass and Move hope to encourage others to broaden their own football knowledge. Check out the Recommended Reading below, and help spread the word about Pass and Move.

Advancing the level of understanding is not merely something Pass and Move does by analysis. Pass and Move does an occasional "Commentary on the Commentary" where he discusses mainstream discussions of a game and explains to us why they are full of shit. Now, clearly in each case there may be room for real argument, but this analysis is better, more comprehensive, coherent and clear than anything else around for our country. It also has cool pictures of the formations.

Now, no I don't know this guy. I don't even know if it's a guy. This review is from my heart. It is in the interests of our game in Australia for us to actively support the best possible analysis of out league, our national team and the games thereof. The more we build understanding among fans and media, the more likely it will be that, when Ange goes, the Australian football public will insist that the teams in the A-League continue to aim for the very difficult: that high place of practice which I am calling ensemble football, that has not been seen enough in our country.

I am also aware when I read the posts in Pass and Move, which are almost daily in frequency, that there is enormous love and effort behind the blog, and I am aware that with little reward the person behind it will not last, or not as consistently. Just like we must encourage good football, we must encourage good football writing. And I sincerely think we should actively support this blog. If Fozzie's apostolic mission is important to him, he should also actively support this blog. Same goes for any other football evangelist.

One last thing. As a Roar fan I am delighted that Pass and Move has so far reviewed all of our games this season. These reviews remain an extraordinary literary record of our season. But Pass and Move only reviews two games per round. These games are determined by popular vote on surveys down the right hand side ("Which Round x match are you most excited about?"). So it is of utmost importance that Roar fans get on the site and vote for our games to be reviewed.

Just as a final note, I feel fairly confident in predicting that the Roar are going to destroy Wellington Phoenix on Sunday afternoon and then make biscuits out of them. That, I'm afraid, is the extent of my own tactical capacity.

"Wouldn't cost that much to buy mate. The A League teams sell players for fuck all." A Tribute to Matty McKay

2011-11-05T00:48:00.001+10:00

The above quote is lifted from the Rangers fan forum and is not referring to Matty actually but to Thomas Broich and Mitch Nichols, who they merrily discuss their club's prospects of poaching, given what they see as the bargain purchase of Matty.
The page about Matty, which begins when the first talk of the transfer emerged, goes for 50 pages. The fans appear very pleased indeed with their Australian international signing, a common sentiment being that if he had been from a mediocre European team he would have cost over a million pounds.
Someone even put together a Matty compilation:

The best part is a 'comment' by our own A-League blogger, Pass and Move, who does the Rangers fans an enormous service by giving a fairly detailed and expert view of Matt McKay as a player. I reproduce it here with the permission of Pass and Move, as a tribute to a great player.
Matty was a founding member of Brisbane Roar and really the first player that I really watched evolve. The first time I saw a picture of him I was struck by his mischievous grin which, for me, alongside his dogged work rate, marked him as a winner in waiting.
Thank you Pass and Move for permission to republish this for Football Down Under's audience.
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 02:56 PM

Hey Guys,

I'm an Aussie, so obviously reasonably well informed about Matt McKay in the A-League and his performance for the Socceroos. Cards on the table, I know next to nothing about the venerable Scottish game, except that I have to go see an Old Firm derby before I depart this Earth, cause they fucking rule. I am a Melbourne fan, not a Brisbane devotee.

First off, he wasn't even in contention for the World Cup squad 'cause for some reason we hired a douche of a coach who decided to play a 4-4-2 against Germany with a right winger and an attacking midfielder up front. Holger Osieck was appointed afterwards, spouted off some drivel about playing players based on performance not league/club, and we all thought he was full of shite. Well he proved us wrong. He took four or five A-League players into the Asian Cup, which we were all apprehensive as f**k about on account of our World Cup beatings. Matty got his chance in the game against Bahrain, last of the group stage, as an injury replacement for our left back. He did okay, defending about as well as he could.

Then came the first knock out game against Iraq. Every pundit, armchair coach and his dog in Australia was waxing lyrical about how it was unfortunate for Matty, that Brett Emerton would be back from suspension, and Matty would have to lose his place. Well Holger said f**k that, stuck Matty in as a left midfielder. He fucking owned. Best Aussie of the night, even counting Harry Kewell who was somehow coaxed back to damn near Leeds form. Three minutes away from penalties, McKay steals the ball from a huffing and puffing Iraqi, lays on a f**king INCH-PERFECT cross from the half-way line, right into Harry's onrushing head, who scores a mammoth goal. He DID NOT play as a winger - he has an engine that'll go all night and into the next morning, but it's less a ferrari and more a volkswagon. More of a tucked in old-style 90's left midfielder, who linked with Harry and Carney (converted wing-back) and sprayed passes all over the park.

Then came the annihilation against Uzbekistan. Again, Aussies old and young were still trembling from our World Cup beatings, every pundit figured Matty's selection against Iraq was a reward, a mere bauble for being a good lad. Again, kept Brett Emerton, who at this stage holds the record for the second highest number of caps for Australia out of the line up. Again played as a tucked-in left midfielder. This worked really well because Holger played two absolute destroyers in the middle, so our left midfielder (McKay) and right midfielder (Holman) tucked in and rampaged with the safety of two-holders behind them. Matty was again the best Aussie of the night, and took three assists to his name. This is a video I watch when I'm depressed:

This is a Zonal Marking article analysing his performace: We Won 6-0, probably helped by their suicidally high-line and playing their playmaker at center back for some stupid reason.

Then the final against Japan. Finally Aussies are starting to realise Holger isn't a dipshit, and McKay is actually, on current form, our best player. In the third minute, instrumental in a sweeping Arsenal-esque move, gets in on the end, Keeper rooted and BLASTS... his shot over the bar. We lost the game deep into injury time, which is still too painful to think about. But something everyone remembers about the game is this. Australia and Japan had players from the best leagues in the world on the park. Cahill from Everton, Kagawa from Dortmund, Schwarzer from Fulham, Honda from CSKA Moscow, etc etc. Matty McKay was the fittest mother f**ker on the pitch. He would literally NOT STOP running. Like I said he isn't the fastest bloke, but he was running those Jap blokes into the ground. and still laying on quality passes, spraying them diagonally, threading them through the defence, and once again displaying his puzzling inability to finish at point-blank range. What's even stranger is the A-League is one of the shortest leagues on the planet. We have a five month off season for f**k's sake. But Australia has the best sports science in the world, and I would bet money some of the fittest footballers (makes up for a lack of passing ability).

Latest game in the green and gold was the friendly against Germany. I can not emphasise how hungry the Aussies were for some German schnitzel. (4-0 rollicking from the World Cup.) For about 60 minutes, Australia looked like a bunch of amateurs. Gomez finds an absolute pearl. They get lazy and drop off, thinking to run down the clock. Now for that 60 minutes, McKay was again the best player in green and gold in a side including Cahill, Holman, Schwarzer, Neill and Kewell. Then somehow we switch on and stop passing straight to the Germans. McKay again instrumental in passing. Then Carney bombs down from left back, links up with McKay who is literally in the middle of three German blokes, all at least a head taller, and he lays on a first touch back heel flick into the box, Carney sweeps it up and finishes. We won 2-0.

In terms of A-League performances, Matty has always been regarded as a handy player, but only since the new gaffer (Postecouglou; remember his name. After he wins he Asian Champions League, he will conquer Europe) came in has his form stepped up to a new level altogether. you might have heard McKay captained the Brisbane Roar to their first every Premiership and Championship, acting as a lynchpin throughout the entire season. In the Grand Final, Brisbame went down 2-0 in the first period of ET. Undefeated for 29 games, (34/35 all season) about to fall at the last hurdle. He delivers an inspirational speech, Brisbane close the gap with three minutes to go. Brisbane get a corner and equalise with the LAST TOUCH of the game. Matty takes the third penalty and they win the game, withstanding the pressure from 50,000 screaming delirious orange clad fresh-from-horrific-flood-destruction Brisbaners. Now obviously the A-League can't compare with the standard of European football, but he was literally the competition's best performer.

In terms of general play, when Brisbane played a conventional 442, Matt partnered another player on the left side of the middle (LCM). After Brisbane switched to a 4-1-2-3, Matt played as the left of the '2'. In terms of physical stature, he is clearly not the biggest player. But I would put good money on him going to Rangers and being one of if the fittest players (if not the fittest). He has tidy passing range. Words used to describe him have included 'metronomic'. He is not a trequartista, nor a proper defensive midfielder. If I had to compare him to a premiership player, I'd say he's a skint man's version of Tom Huddlestone, who we all know is a hobo's version of Michael Carrick. From what I've gathered, he'd compliment Davis in terms of playing style. The national coach deploys Matty as an important creative hub on the left, linking well with our multitude of left-wingers-cum-left-backs and Harry Kewell, a left sided first choice striker. But it is important to note that Holger plays with two defensive midfielders in the centre. I'm not talking Busquets defensive or Xabi Alonso defensive. Real tough tacklers. Scotland is renowned for physical play, but Matty should deal with that fine. Australia has also garnered a well deserved reputation for physicality. And the Aussies have to do it in 35-40 degree heat. Also once again, he doesn't play as a left winger - has the crossing ability but not the pace. Plus his game is more based around short passing and positional interchange. Yes that sorta sounds like Barca. Well Brisbane consciously set themselves out to play possession based football. Nickname of 'Roarcelona'. dont laugh, Mariners just beat Celtic down under, and the Roar beat the Mariners.

In terms of how he'll adapt to life at Ibrox... absolutely no trouble off the field, family man. He is 28 after all, hardly the age to make sex tapes and such. For the national team, he has a defensive shield of two tough tacklers in front of the defence, so he's more or less free to create. But he is also very much aware of his defensive responsibilities, which was how our first choice left back had such a great Asian Cup campaign, as he was allowed to bomb down the flank when Matty covered. The weather could be an issue - its apparently bloody cold in Scotland. Then again every footballer these days wear skins and thermals. Loyalty wise, well he is 28, so he's got next to no re-sale value, which is part of the reason his moving to Europe was questioned. We all figured at best a big money move to Korea, Japan or even a loan spell in China during our gaping hole of an off-season. And he's been a one club man all his life. He's been at Brisbane since his teen years, and now the captain of his hometown club. It's safe to say he won't be fluttering eyelashes and lifting his skirt/kilt to Celtic.

The thing to love about Matty is this. He's the quintessential underdog. He's been doubted - and been proving those doubters wrong his entire life. No one thought he could make it in the A-league; too small and it was too physical. he responds by becoming captain, talisman and lynchpin of the greatest club side to ever be assembled in Australia. There was little thought he could even make the bench for the national team. He displaced one of our longest-serving, most loyal and most talented servants, in Brett Emerton. No one thought he could make a meaningful contribution on the field for Australia. Five assists in the Asian Cup, one against Japan and another dazzling performance against an admittedly under-par German side, with an assist and he proved 'em all wrong.

If I had to give odds I'd say 1/5 he does to Ibrox and absolutely flops. Can't adapt to the demands, to the weather, to his team mates, to not being captain and centre of attention, to the peculiar Scottish accent etc etc. 2/5 he becomes a handy squad player with odd flashes of brilliance and is quickly forgotten. BUT... 2/5 he goes to Ibrox, proves himself central to Rangers, becomes a leader in the dressing room after winning over players who sneered at this tiny s**t from the Antipodes and gets a hat-trick of assists in the Old Firm derby. Bet on it.

PPS. For the love of god, get a fan campaign started now to prohibit McKay from taking corners and free kicks. Strange for a player whos greatest strenghth is passing ability, he is absolutely useless at dead ball situations. You'd be better off getting a training dummy to take corner kicks. Holger let him take two corners kicks during the Asian cup, horrible shanked both, was promptly yanked off set-piece duty.

PPPS. Use him to defend the posts at corners. He has a handy knack for making goal line clearances, even in open play.

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Good luck at Rangers mate. We'll miss ya. Keep an eye on the boys in orange. And some time down the track... well, we'll have you back any time.

Media

2011-11-01T20:50:00.000+10:00

The other week I listed ten reasons why it is brilliant to be a Brisbane Roar fan right now. Here's another one: the media about our team is endless, and pretty much all flattering. Here's just a few of the headlines from the last few days:

Possession statistics compare A-League's Brisbane Roar to La Liga and European champions Barcelona

Brisbane, That Was Football Porn

Who Can Stop Brisbane Roar

The Roar Effect

Brisbane Roar are a Gift for the A-League

That really is only a few, and they're not by Roar partisans. I admit I chose them for their sexy headlines.

You can only imagine, with Brisbane's team causing the waves that it is, undefeated now for 32 games, breaking records every week, and most recently stunning the League by trouncing one of the favourite teams 7:1... You can only imagine how Brisbane's own flagship newspaper The Courier Mail, not known for its lack of sport coverage, or jingoism for that matter, must have gone bonkers with this story. With the Rugby and AFL seasons over, here is NEWS! Great news, of Brisbane showing up all the bigwig southern teams and looking like clear favourites for the comp. You can only imagine!

Well, three stories came out of the Courier Mail actually. One of course was about the game. Apparently it was on page 6 of the sport pages. I don't even know what came in front of it as I haven't managed to get a hard copy.

The second story came out yesterday. In the Courier Mail's soccer feed the headline is, "Japanese Giants Want Roar Boss", but upon going to the page it is more carefully titled, Japanese heavyweights Urawa Red Diamonds rumoured to have sights set on Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou. It was written by Marco Monteverde and Val Migliaccio. I'm going to analyse it a bit, and then tell the story of how it continued and grew as the rest of the media got hold of it, so I'll quote it in full here first so it's easy to reference:

STRUGGLING Japanese heavyweights Urawa Red Diamonds want an Australian coach next season, with Brisbane Roar master mentor Ange Postecoglou rumoured to be at the top of their wish list.
Despite being contracted to the Roar until 2013, Postecoglou is one of two A-League coaches tipped to be chased by J-League outfit Urawa, the other being Central Coast Mariners boss Graham Arnold.
Urawa, the home of Australian defender Matthew Spiranovic and formerly coached by current Socceroos mentor Holger Osieck, are hovering just about the relegation zone and fired manager Zeljko Petrovic on October 20,
Petrovic was replaced by former player Takafumi Hori, but Japanese sources close to the Asian Football Confederation's most popular club have told The Courier-Mail Urawa are chasing an Australian coach next year.
Reigning A-League coach of the year Postecoglou yesterday said he had not heard from Urawa officials, but confirmed previous interest from Asian clubs.
"If they did make me an offer, I'd think about it then," Postecoglou said.
"I've never made plans too far in the future with coaching because things are always changing.
"All I'm focused on is being successful as I can with Brisbane, and keep building what we've started."
Under Postecoglou, the Roar lost just once in 33 matches last season to clinch the A-League premiership-championship double.
Currently on a 32-game record A-League unbeaten streak, Brisbane continued their perfect start to the defence of their title with a 7-1 thrashing of Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium last Friday night.
But Postecoglou, a former Australian under-17 and under-20 coach, isn't only chasing further domestic success.
He is also aiming for glory with the Roar in the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Champions League.
"Our goal is to match it with the best teams in Asia," Postecoglou said.
"Our players have already been recognised, and if that (Champions League success) happens, I'm sure our coaches will as well."
Arnold's Mariners side are the A-League's other representatives in next year's AFC Champions League courtesy of their effort to reach last season's grand final.
It's the second time within days Arnold has been linked with a move abroad.
Currently negotiating a contract extension with the Mariners, Arnold last week denied claims he was on the verge of taking over at Scottish Premier League club St Johnstone.
But sources close to Arnold - who played in the J-League with Hiroshima Sanfrecce - said he would consider offers from Japan.

Now this was a scoop! It was all over the Australian mediascape within half an hour. So all those stories we may have read, on The World Game, The ABC, the Fairfax papers, Fox, the other Murdoch papers and any number of amateur sites and blogs - came from Marco Monteverde and Val Migliaccio of the Courier Mail.

The first point of interest here is that the journalists - crucial to the story - are completely left out. Not one media outlet reported, "Marco Monteverde and Val Migliaccio of the Courier Mail allege that they have sources close to the Urawa Reds..." Instead it is just repeated endlessly, "Ange linked to Urawa Reds." One might think, given the reputation News Limited, and the Courier Mail, has for antagonism and ignorance toward soccer, that someone might have thought to include this reference to the source. It would just be good journalism in any case.

Now via a Facebook friend who is Japanese and happens to be a Reds fan, I have confirmed that Ange Postecoglou is indeed on a list of coaches that the Reds have compiled. No Japanese media have taken it up though apparently. It's a list. As for being "rumoured to be at the top of their wish list", it's a fair question where such information comes from.

Wading through the fill of factoids gleaned from Wikipedia, we find that the source is, "Japanese sources close to (The Urawa Reds)". Interesting they didn't tell the Japanese media, or any other of Australia's dedicated football media. The Urawa Reds are well known to many of them through the Asian Champions League (which the CM has virtually ignored so far). The Courier Mail? Anyway, moving on...

It's hard to disect. We assume that this source is the one mentioning Ange's name, and I do independently know of a list with his name on it, but apparently the source told the Courier Mail that "Urawa are chasing an Australian coach next year." An Australian coach.

Now, Ange has proved himself perhaps, or he is in the process of doing so, but there is a reason the past few Socceroos coaches have been from overseas and a reason most A-League coaches are foreigners. Right or wrong, it's because Australian coaches are considered crap. They do not have any reputation at all overseas. Urawa Reds are one of Asia's biggest clubs and they're in trouble. And we are asked to believe that this unknown source says that they are after an Australian coach. Ange, maybe. But an Australian - I don't believe it.

The other coach on the list, apparently (and I haven't had confirmed from Japan either way), is Graham Arnold. I don't believe this, at all. I think the Urawa Reds have ambition, and Arnold hasn't won anything or proved himself especially. Reaching the finals in the A-League is not that great on the international stage.

Before I get to the interview with Ange - a real source at least - in passing I'll note that the Courier Mail confirmed, not that there had been any communication whatsoever with Arnold, but that "sources close to Arnold" said he would "consider offers from Japan." According to the journalists though, "It's the second time within days Arnold has been linked with a move abroad." It is these journalists who made the link that they are now reporting on. At this point, with Arnold, they have completely fabricated a link and then 'reported on it'.

Then there is the call to Ange of course, getting his response. That's only fair after all.

What's not recorded are the questions. Did the journalist ask, after Ange told them that, No, the Reds had not been in touch and this is the first he'd heard of it, "Well, if they did ask you tomorrow, would you consider it?" or "Would you ever coach in Asia do you think?"?

It makes an enormous difference to what Ange was getting at when he said, "I've never made plans too far in the future with coaching because things are always changing. All I'm focused on is being successful as I can with Brisbane, and keep building what we've started." The latter part - the commitment to the Roar and seeing out the vision that he has articulated - remains unambiguous.

Since then other media outlets have also clearly talked to Ange, and he has said nothing different.

Anyway, my suspicion was, and still is, that the Courier Mail made this story up in order to cash in on the Roar's success. They succeeded.

By Twitter I asked the two journalists, "Did you guys make up the story about Urawa seeking Ange as coach? No reports in Japan. You scooped that? Ha!"

Val Migliaccio tweeted back, with what I can only interpret as contempt, "here. Ｊリーグ１部（Ｊ１）の浦和は来季の新監督候補にＡリーグのブリスベン・ロアーを率いるアンジェ・ポステコグルー監督を挙げているようだ。浦和に近い日本人関係者の話として、ポステコグルー"

Um...

I tweeted back, "That quote is a vague as yours and is not a source. Are you being funny now?", but only after using Google Translate to come up with, "The J-League 1 (J1) Urawa coach seems to raise the groupco-led by Poste Angeles Lower Brisbane A-League next seasonProposed new coach. Japanese officials as saying that close toUrawa, Posutekoguru".

For all I know it could be from a report some Japanese press discovered through their Australian connections.

Today, I note The Herald Sun has added the word, "heavily", presumably because so many news outlets have repeated the story. So now Ange is "heavily linked" with the Uwara Reds. Even though he's never heard of such a link and he has clearly restated his commitment to The Roar and finishing what he has several times outlined as his mission.

Sorry that one took so long to go through. As I said, there is a third story that came out in the Courier Mail yesterday. But it is in the Rugby League pages (far more prominent even though the off season has just got going). It is titled, "NRL scheduling blunder leaves Brisbane Broncos without home for opening round of 2012", and included the following curious passage:

There should be 50,000 league fans packing the stadium on Friday night, March 2, to celebrate the new rugby league season.
But the NRL's late decision to push their season forward a week means there will instead be 10,000 Roar diehards watching their side taking on Melbourne Heart.

(Same game last year got 20,000 incidentally, and last game (fourth of the season) got 11,500.)

It's a non-story by the way, with a happy ending. It seems the NRL made a boo boo and didn't tell Suncorp about a change in plans, so the opening NRL game will not be in Brisbane but in Sydney instead. By the end we know that the NRL is happy, seeing the positives in fact, Suncorp is happy. Everyone is happy. The complaint, clearly antagonistic to the Roar, comes from the Courier Mail alone. This is on the very day when the entire sporting world is ogling over Brisbane's own champion team.

Now, there are no doubt many reasons that the Roar struggles with crowd numbers. One reason is probably that Brisbane folk are slack, or stupid, or broke. But the local media is not helping us out.

Nb. Of course News Limited would never be so sloppy when it came to news about politics or the economy. From those matters their commercial interests are properly and professionally divorced. :)

Crowds

2011-10-29T10:25:00.003+10:00

7:1 win vs Adelaide last night. Oh yes oh yes oh yes. Ra ra ra. We actually are the best in the World and everyone else is, slowly but surely, learning to live with it.

The question being repeated everywhere is, how come only eleven and a half thousand people saw one of the greatest football spectacles we might expect to see in club football?

First a brief recap. Suncorp was always an ambitious stadium for the Roar, and even at the height in the first and second season crowds above 20,000 were rare. With the 'Suncorp curse' (remember that?) which seemed to mean that it was impossible for the Roar to score at home even when they were winning away, along with pretty average and/or inconsistent form, crowds trended downward over the first few seasons.

Then, a couple of years ago some accountant demonstrated to a highly astute Roar Board (now all replaced thankfully) that the budget would all add up if they would just radically increase ticket prices, so they did. A few months later they reversed this decision and made the prices cheaper than ever, but it was too late. The crowds had truly plummeted and they never recovered.

In my mind the problem wasn't merely ticket prices. Soccer is a world game and a local game and there is an enormous amount of it available for spectators to enjoy either on TV or live. Most of the live stuff is free or about $5, and these are the leagues that thousands in Brisbane actually play in every week. The very best stuff (European Champion's League) is on free to air TV. The A-League was, and still largely is, a mediocre product. Trying to charge top dollar for it was simply ignoring all of this market environment.

But the price is about right now at Suncorp, and it's especially cheap for under 16s which is also very smart. And the other thing that has changed is that there is now a top-shelf product on show. I'm not going to do any justice here to Roar's extraordinary football. Every football commentator in the country is writing about that anyway. The point is that even connoisseurs would pay good money to see this football, and indeed fans of other teams, if comments here and there are to be believed, are prepared to travel to see Brisbane play.

So now we have an extremely good product at a very reasonable price. The product can speak for itself if the marketers can get people's bottoms there in the first place.

Now I have been a vicious critic of this club in the past and no doubt will be again in the future, so I think I'm obliged to also contribute a constructive thought from time to time, and here it is. It's simple, and I think it would work over time. The Roar have not been idle in promotion and their efforts should be congratulated so far in my view. The issue might be focus.

Target local clubs, as you have been in a way, but one at a time. Start with clubs based close to Suncorp Stadium and work outwards. When you target the Club - say, Annerley Football Club where Jacob used to play - do the afternoon with the club thing, with a bit of a clinic for the kids (members and players of the club only! Must make them feel special), signings and giving away some merchandise - the usual stuff. But maybe even do two events with the one club between home games.

Give the club 100 tickets, half of which are 15 and unders only. Give them an option for more tickets if they have enough demand for them. The seats are in a block, and the more you give away the better. If the Club gets into an opportunistic frenzy and invites friends, relatives, neighbours, milkmen and wandering vagrants and hence want 1000 tickets, where they would all sit in a block, good. If you've got the budget for it, provide them with busses as well. You want to make sure they come.

It sounds generous, but it's just one football club at a time, with home games (approximately 2 weeks) as the framework period. The objective is to introduce the game not to an individual but to a community. Communities of support sustain themselves.

All of this might only work if the premise is true that the football speaks for itself. At this juncture of the Roar's history, I am supremely confident that it does.

How good can it get?

2011-10-18T00:19:00.013+10:00

I might have to be writing a bit this season. Things are exciting at the Roar and I am full of material. If anything I've been suffering the writer's block of someone with far too much to say. So fuck it, I'll start with a rave. Anything to get the gripes with FIFA (which I still have) from the top of the page and some news of this brilliant team filling the space.

How good can it get for a Brisbane Roar fan? I'll briefly outline how good it is.

1. We have the best coach in Australia. I read around and come across this sentiment often, along with frequent speculations that he will be Australia's next coach. Behind The Roar is a good short documentary on 'the Ange Revolution'. I'll elaborate on why, in my view, Ange is a rare coach, in further blogs.

2. Our team has been undefeated for longer than Manchester United's longest undefeated run (29). Meanwhile the general chatter is that Brisbane is virtually unbeatable and the earnest conversation is "How do you beat them?" I guess I'll give my views on that by and by as well.

3. Our team is enthralling to watch, and this can be confirmed by the dozens of comments I've read from people from other teams, as well as the praise of every commentator in the country, but of course I mostly confirm it for myself when I see for myself. I read a Melbourne man say that he didn't follow the Victory because he thinks the A-League is pretty crap (it has been), but he is going to fly to Brisbane for their games. People travelling a long way to see very high quality soccer is not new. I can see why keen soccer fans in Australia would.

4. Our team is good because of Ange's plan and training, not because we are wealthy. This strikes at one of the great myths, or at least distortions, in World football, that the reason great teams are great is because they have great players. The Roar have no expensive marque player at this time and have won most of the games with a team well under the salary cap. It is a team.

5. We have hit the new season in a form looking like where we left off last season. Ange post-match only ever speaks of how the team can improve. He's serious. They can improve and with sustained determination and training, they will. It actually still looks uphill, if that is possible.

6. With Point 5. in mind, we will compete in the Asian Champions League at the end of the season. One of the stupid things about the ACL qualifying is that the A-League winners from the season before qualify. Too often Australian teams have gone into the ACL having lost their players and their form from one year earlier. Brisbane has the opportunity, and it appears the capacity, to head into the ACL very strongly. Playing in it is exciting enough in itself, and that will happen even if for some unforseen reason Brisbane bombs out mid-season.

7. Brisbane players are not stars, but they are cool. Ange himself is clearly an intellectual, but Broich has a very cool doco made about him (can't wait) where he is revealed as a maverick philosopher (Part 1 is linked, but you'll find part four of the trailer, which has the Roar bits, including a bit of interview with Ange), and Issey is an Artist. But in general, there's not a lot of machismo in the team, even less without Matty. Our star of game one, Mitch Nichols (who was only tentatively a footballer when Ange got hold of him, incidentally), looks like some kind of sweet choir boy. They're all lovable.

8. In the soccer blogosphere, with its sites and blogs and hundreds of amateur commenters, something that is historic has, I think, occurred. Nobody, not even the most crusty, hard-core, trollish fans of the other teams, say that Brisbane plays badly or that Ange should be sacked. Anyone familiar with football fan sites will know how ludicrous a claim that this is. It's true.

9. We just got a billionaire owner. God knows I'll probably be writing a bit about Aga Bakrie, but meanwhile the financial woes of the club are over and, well, we can dream! The guy, who owns an Indonesian Club and one in Belgium or something, wants the Roar to go to the top of Asia, and why wouldn't he? I don't know what his source is but Michael Flynn over at 442 quoted the new chairman as saying, "I think that if we could have our own stadium in ten years time that would be fantastic." What? And Ange mentioned a clubhouse, and training facilites. A youth academy?

Good people, that is not all. All of that is merely context for the thing that has happened to the Roar which really is, for this fan, deeply satisfying:

10. The kit, for the first time in The Roar's history, looks cool. It really does.

Go Lads. And for fuck's sake Brisbane, this sort of moment in a sporting team only comes once. Let's fill that fucking stadium.

Blatter Must Go

2011-06-05T10:44:00.005+10:00

This blog is at heart about my love affair with soccer, an affair that is unwavering after five or six years. From very early on I became aware of the corruption that has been in our game and that is in our game at a high level. I was more properly informed about it after reading Andrew Jennings' book, Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals. I wrote a review of the book in late 2006.

Now I have a political background of sorts and things like democracy and accountability are important to me as I am convinced that they are important to civilisation on Earth. So the corruption has always bothered me. At the same time I could see the reality that football people, whilst made up of people who may or may not be politically inclined, are often being football people precisely to escape from realities like politics.

The narrative that got thrown around about the corruption, which was and is pretty much universally acknowledged, was that this was part of the meaning of "football is life." The half-joke that I've heard on many occasions is that society is corrupt, and soccer merely reflects as it reflects everything else.

Well it's not true. There is corruption in society but in decent societies people do at least get busted down when it becomes patently obvious to every single observer.

If you are lost and don't know about current goings on in FIFA, David Hills at the Observer gives a good summary.

In India, apparently (ok, Twitter told me) the lead up to the FIFA congress where Sepp Blatter was (cough) re-elected was compared with the recent Arab uprisings. If so we only got up to the point where the leader, under siege from people screaming "Go!", takes the podium and announces that he is going to reform the system, like he's announced a squillion times before.

We have much less connect, us soccer fans, with our government than the Egyptian people had with Muburak. They could refuse to move and say, "No, we mean it. Go!" We can't.

Before I go on, there are reasons beyond mere morality that corruption - meaning graft and nepotism mostly- is bad. It leads to inefficient decision making. It has been well demonstrated that fighting corruption improves governance and economic growth, and doing so remains a major concern in many parts of the world.

I don't want to sound naive here. Corruption happens wherever there is power and money and we should never forget it - it's a basic insight behind all civic vigilance. But in developed economies people get busted, there are laws in place, accountability standards and penalties that people realistically fear. And in the end, overall, there is lower levels of corruption, which means better decisions are made.

So apart from common decency, the reason corruption in soccer is bad is that it will lead to less development and improvement of football. It's easy to miss because FIFA is very rich, but it's no less true. And we're talking about the world. There's a lot to do.

Damn it I'm rambling, but I just referred to something about Sepp Blatter that I have always liked, and even believed in: his rhetoric about football being used as a force for good in the world. He has hidden his contempt and rottenness behind this rhetoric for a long time. For me the thought of cleaning up FIFA and making it a modern, fully accountable institution of professionals rather than a "family" (Blatter's constant term), induces hope in the truth of the rhetoric. It seems to me that the rhetoric (and maybe Blatter is absolutely sincere in it as such) could not work so well as a screen to being a brazen crook if it did not have some truth in it, or at least be credible enough to be seen to have some truth in it by a very many of people.

Anyway here we are. The President is re-elected. The world media, many politicians and every football fan in the world knows, and is saying openly, that the man has no clothes on. But, as the greatest American poet wrote, "Now's not the time for your tears."

When almost every delegate voted against the English FA's motion that the farcical election be postponed, including Australia's Ben Buckley, and then all mindlessly voted for Blatter, after listening to a series of old tin-pot crooks denounce England's (uncontroversially principled given that there was evidence pending against half the delegates) stance as based on lies and self-interest, and then applauding Blatter's speech, that is when we should weep. For it demonstrates that the rot in FIFA after all these years permeates (almost) every federation. Yes, we must face the bleeding obvious fact that Ben Buckley and Frank Lowy, who each spend a good portion of every public statement congratulating the wonderful work of the other even while the A-League veers toward hell, are of the same culture, at least complicit and at worst up to their ears in it.

There are good reasons why FIFA has always insisted upon a separation of a nation's government and its football federation, and there are cynical reasons as well.

And let's go back to that bid Australia made for the 2022 World Cup. I can only speak for myself but I can also be honest, and provocatively I'm going to use the pluralised first person.

We were excited all right. We were into it! And even though we're a long way away from the World, are in a difficult time zone, and are a fair to middling soccer country, we thought we had a chance. Why did we think we had a chance? Because we had Frank Lowy, multi-billionaire, up front for us. Did we have confidence in Frank because of the vast experience and people skills that he undoubtedly has? No. If the position was about technical ability to do the task, or charisma, or both, there would be many better. Was it because he was rich? Partly, but we know all the countries have money, and we also knew he wouldn't be using his money. I'll tell you why we believed in Frank Lowy, and it's the same reason he can't breathe a word about any of it now.

We believed in Frank Lowy because we had no doubt whatsoever that the process was a corrupt one of bribes and favour swapping and that Lowy could play that game. We thought we had a chance at getting a World Cup because we thought we had a player who could be as corrupt as the best of them.

And we were wrong. We were wrong morally, mostly, but it was very poor judgement as well. We should not have bid for it knowing that it was a corrupt game. We should have saved our 46 million dollars.

That's my mea culpa as a fan of the game. I was an enthusiastic Like-er of the Support Australia's World Cup bid's Facebook page, and I shouldn't have been there. I was wrong, because I did know that FIFA in general, and specifically the World Cup decision, was utterly corrupt, and that graft and favour was the only way we could win.

Mind you, even in retrospect it remains unbelievable that Qatar would get it.*

Anyway, what in hell is a concerned fan to do? We have no vote in any practical way, obviously.

The voice demanding change is very loud. High profile media are well and truly on to it (this Economist article is a good example). There is a lot of noise on the networks. '@changeFIFA' is good, on Twitter ('Change FIFA on Facebook - this will link you with many good sources). There are politicians speaking out in England and Europe, Maradona has called FIFA corrupt dinosaurs, the Swiss Parliament is trying to figure out how to impose some law upon their FIFA inhabitants. It's actually a kind of marvel that Blatter and FIFA can stay among the thickets of the law while the whole planet clamours 'Foul!'

For the fans there is not much we can do, and that is enormously frustrating. There are some small things we can do though, which will be powerful if numbers come forth, and might indeed be decisive. Much easier than camping out on the streets of Cairo.

Several of FIFA's sponsors have already made disapproving noises about FIFA and there is a move ('@FIFA_Boycott' on Twitter, 'Demand Change: Boycott FIFA's Sponsors' on Facebook) to boycott FIFA's major sponsors. My own take (tweet, bumper sticker, whatever) on this idea is to rather than the cry "Boycott McDonalds, Adidas and Coke"...

Don't even mention the four letter 'C' word. Drink Pepsi until Blatter is out.

The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks until Blatter is out.

Take control with Nike until Blatter is out.

I just think that would hurt more.

But furthermore, whilst we cannot boycott games (sorry, the personal cost is too great), we can boycott merchandise. Going to an official game, in full knowledge that our game's government is utterly illegitimate, is in part a sombre thing to do after all. So from now on I am wearing only black to games until Blatter is out. It is a small statement, but I'm making it.

* Not that that's the point, and although I think Australia would do a great job, by a fair judgement of the selection criteria, the USA should have gotten the 2022 World Cup. My money is on them getting it still, though I can't foresee why. It's just so far away, there are so many random factors and difficulties, and the current actors will be dead or nearly so. It will be in the USA. Only time will tell if I am right or wrong there.

Brisbane finally gets the Final

2011-03-06T11:25:00.003+10:00

The last time I wrote about the A-League or the Brisbane Roar was April last year. The short of what I had to say then was, "the Brisbane Roar cannot repeat its original seduction of this consumer. This time they're going to have to realise a product that is worth it for me to seek out."

They have done it. Not only has the A-League improved in that short space of time, but the improvement has been led by my own home team, Brisbane Roar. I'm not exagerating and it's far from my observation alone. This season the Roar are playing a quality of soccer that is worth paying concert prices for, and that is not easy to do. In response several other teams started getting serious about high quality play, namely Central Coast, Gold Coast and Adelaide.

It takes time and patience to build to this level. You actually have to be prepared to lose a bit as you learn a system, and Ange did that last season (stating his intent clearly, but we had to wait and see to believe he was serious). And now we can say not only that The Roar are 27 games undefeated, but that they have an opposition in the Central Coast for the Grand Final who have shown that they can match it.

The Grand Final is anyone's game.

I've been to five or six games this season, including the last two, and I can say that the atmosphere has improved markedly too. The fans' singing is getting brilliant, and Suncorp even with 21,000 (v Gold Coast) or 25,000 (Central Coast semi-final) produces full elation when the home side scores. I've paid $28 to go to these games and it has easily been worth it.

Times are tough though and with the exciting prospect of a really full house for the Grand Final, I was frankly pissed off with the FFA for doubling the price. They didn't in a way, because it's only $3 more than the Grand Final in Melbourne last year, and as others point out it is cheaper than the finals of other codes.

But for the Brisbane fan the price had doubled. To me that was a big mistake because it would dampen demand just when we had a shot of filling the 53,000 seat house. "Why not go for the full house?" I screamed on Facebook. It's tough times in Brisbane. A number of friends backed the impression up saying they would not go or were considering not going due to the price.

I may have been right or wrong about my take on the commercial judgement, and nobody can be blamed for not having a spare recreational $56 in these times. But now I ask a seperate question. Is it worth it? Is the football being offered for the A-League Grand Final, in itself, worth $56 a ticket (that's the cheap seats)?

Yes it is. No worries. I truly hope that the price does not keep the people away because anyone who goes will witness a true contest of really good teams. The two best teams to have ever graced the League, I would say, and I know many 'experts' agree with me.

In my anger at the price, and feeling the pain in my pocketbook, I considered not going. I really did. But how absurd.

I've followed this team for five seasons. I've sometimes despise the Board and the FFA but I love the team, know their names and they've been through near misses and tough times. They deserve this. Ange deserves this for taking the time and effort (and study) to be a proper coach. Matty McKay, Brisbane boy and Captain, deserves this after sticking with the team for six years, from the very beginning. Brisbane deserves this because it is the finest city in the world and keeps producing good soccer players (Fozzie asks if there is something in the water).

Last I heard 30,000 tickets have been pre-sold. It looks like I may have been wrong. If Suncorp comes close to selling out, I was totally wrong and the FFA made a wise business decision.

Sunday 13th March, 4pm. Brisbane Roar v Central Coast Mariners. My advice is be there.

Go the Roar. Go Brisbane. Go Soccer.

Mandela's Legacy

2010-07-22T09:49:00.003+10:00

I've spent the last several days mostly at home vigorously failing to write down any of my many thoughts. South Africa is unfinished business for me. I know that much. My blogging was not up to my intentions of course, but stands as a sort of series of photographs, incomplete and some blurry, but nevertheless captured memories. But I don't think I've finished.

I think a lot about South Africa, and what it has done. There is rightly an impression that South Africa must be a bit backward politically, that finally in 1994 it shrugged off institutional racism. But as a microcosm of the World it seems to me that it is the first not the last.

Because South Africa is a microcosm of the world, and a world which is globalising faster than everyone is comfortable with. South Africa contains both the First World and the Developing World, but in 1994 the borders were removed. Maybe we should keep a careful eye on it. Maybe we should study Mandela's politics carefully. It might be the best model we have to pull down the global apartheid which is holding back millions of human opportunities in every direction.

Australia may feel blessed to be an island, and to be able to pretend that we can seal ourselves off from the problems of the world around us with our own version of barbed wire, but this world is becoming one very rapidly, and ultimately I fear the barbed wire is going to hold us back.

Don't talk to South Africa, which shares a very permeable border with Zimbabwe, about refugees. Actually, if you're Australian you better keep your mouth shut about that topic pretty much wherever you go.

This current Australian election reveals to us more starkly than ever the inadequacy of federal government when it comes to the real issues of our day - population, poverty, climate change, terrorism, sustainability. These problems, for both major parties, are things that can be kept out by border security and xenophobia. But they can't. Addressing these things - and Australia still isn't even big enough to spend the recommended 0.09% of GDP on foreign aid - is addressing Australia's biggest problems. Educating and developing the World is the highest priority for Australia's interests. Meanwhile any interplanetary visitor would be reporting back to its people that Earth practices apartheid and that the current Australian election is the western elite once again voting for it.

I refer to the fact that Pauline Hanson's then-controversial views on refugees have now permeated both sides of parliament. For anyone who still feels strongly about this issue, the only political refuge, unfortunately, is the Greens.

"Build the fences higher," is not going to work. At some stage in the medium future, the World is going to have to pull the fences down and let the people of the World live where it is good for them to live and get jobs where they can get jobs. If facing that sort of music horrifies us, we should think of the white South Africans, and not feel so self-righteous when we do so.

Finding Africa

2010-07-15T06:23:00.017+10:00

This is as close as I got to the Grand Final. The photo was taken by Jacob actually, and we had split up a minibus ride ago, but Jacob had a ticket. I was wandering the periphery, a shag on a seething rock, practically illegal, knowing there was no fan zone anywhere.

The reason I was there at all is because I was trying to keep up with Keith and Kate, Total Sports Employees, who also weren't going to the game. They didn't really know where the fan zones were, oddly enough for travel people, but were planning on finding one. But we were shepharded onto different minibusses at the park and ride point, which of course dropped us at different random points closer to Soccer City. I found out about their story later, but I'm not going to relate it because mine is more interesting.

One thing I have learned travelling is that you can get anywhere by asking the right questions. "Where's the nearest fan zone?" I ask a cop.

"Ah... Newtown."

"Where do you catch a bus or cab to Newtown?" I ask another cop after wandering for a while looking for such a thing. The apparently thousands of mini-busses and busses were all coming in and becoming permanently stuck in place. There really wasn't an easy answer to the question and when one police officer directed me to "the other side of the stadium" (which looked like it might be about 30 miles) I strongly suspected she wanted me to become someone else's problem.

Finally I flagged a mini-bus that had extracted itself from the jam and was going back to Gold Reef, the park and ride zone, for more passengers. He showed me where to get a mini-bus toward Newtown.

It was the first time I've used Johanessburg's real public transport system. Generally the tourists are warned against using it, and they are never really advised about it. The owners of the B&B in Durban mentioned it, but explicitly said that it was dangerous, but then again, they are not exactly ANC voters, and one can't help supect that the main problem with the mini-bus system is that the mini-busses are full of local black people. Call me a cynic.

There are hundreds of them, all the time. They regularly beep their horns just to sort of say, "Here I am!" Each of them have established routes, but they can be hailed at any point. They are absurdly cheap to catch.

I was told how to catch them in detail on the first day of arrival from Mark. "Put out your hand like that eh? Five fingers eh? Randburg. Seven Rand 50 eh?" That particular trip was alternately a 10 minute walk so I never used it. But whenever I've needed a cab I've used metered taxis, Jay (a white local who has moved in on the people-moving business for lack of adequate service otherwise, and who also asks, "Eh?" at the end of every statement), or the provided busses.

The minibusses go all over Joburgh, and anyway now I was in one, in Soweto, heading for some place called Newtown. It was full of black, local people. About 4.00pm. I was on my own, out of the blanket-policed zone of control, without the immediate responsibility of my son, and the evening had started.

Of course I still had no idea where I was going. "Will you get me to Newtown?" I asked the driver. He nods. "How much?"

"Six Rand."

Almost embarassed, I hand forward three small silver coins. As people were dropped off and picked up along the route, the bus remained, miraculously, precisely full, without disappointing anyone. When people got on they passed their money from person to person through to the front, the driver would count it and then wordlessly pass any necessary change back over his shoulder to be passed back to the appropriate person.

Helpfully, a bloke behind me says, "I'm going to Newtown." I wonder if he's going to the fan zone, but think at least I'll know where to get off the bus.

It's about a twenty minute drive, and when we get off it turns out he is heading for the fan zone, and I am pleased for the company and the guide. We walked for about four or five blocks and there wasn't much indication of anything except light industrial urbia, but as promised there was eventually more people and we came to the security check and passed. Back into the foreigner-protected zone. But still at least 95% of these people were not foreigners. This was mostly a closing night party for the locals, and I was where I wanted to be, finally.

As pictured before heading out, I was wearing colours. Ben, a compatriot who was going to the game supporting the Netherlands in full kit (pictured next to Jacob below), had found the kangaroo and given it to me. Later in the bus I ripped the joey off and gave it to Ben, who still has it.

The kangaroo was a good prop, but the flag was essential, as I had earlier determined that for this last, celebratory night I must wear my own team. Jacob, on the other hand, is as Spanish as he could possibly get.

The flag was the main prize, and now, back at home in Brisbane with my beautiful fiance, it remains my most valuable momento.

Jacob and I walked to Randburg for the last time early that morning. Jacob was buying a jacket for Ben, who as well as being fairly promiscuous with the teams he supports is an extreme merchandise junkie, and wanted some more Spanish regalia for himself as well. I just wanted something destinctively Australian, as I'd given my scarf and hat away in Durban and my Socceroos jersey wasn't much good under the necessary layers against the cold. It had occurred to me tht a flag would be perfect, but knew that there would be no Australian flags for sale. It was all Spain and the Netherlands, with a few French and Japanese leftovers, and no flags.

But in the Randburg Mall there is hanging by the elevators a series of World Cup Nations flags. In broad daylight, Jacob casually informing me of how many people were watching, I managed to reach one of the pieces of fishing line holding up the Australian flag from the balcony of the second level. I carefully hauled it up, worrying that the rod the flag was hanging from might slip from the line with the vertical weight, until I could grab the rod and bring it over the balcony. With my teeth I cut the line on one side so I could slip the flag from the rod. I placed the rod, still attached to a fishing line to the ceiling at one end, on the ground, and we walked as casually as possible, myself refusing to even acknowledge that anyone might be looking, back through the mall and, after looking once more in a merchandise store for the Spanish shoelaced volleys Jacob was after (he settled for South African ones), outside and back to the Football Gulag.

There is much security and police, but little enforcement.

If the best the internationals can do is call us convicts, then we must oblige. Stealing the Australian flag, which I proudly wore, was my greatest yob act in South Africa. But to continue the story of the day...

I wasn't ready for a permanent companion so I lost my guide from the bus pretty quickly, despite him trying to establish a night-long relationship. What I needed was a toilet and a beer. And food. Oh, and cigarettes.

What I didn't need was for someone to paint a really terrible rendition of an Australian flag on my face and take 30 rand from me, but the guy did direct me to the toilets.

Generally you don't include the toilet stop in a diary-like account but I have a reason in this case. But even before I get to the message on the back of the toilet door I need to backtrack yet again.

Mark at the Gulag has brought up a concerning narrative several times in the past couple of weeks. He is absolutely certain that when the World Cup is over - now, but this weekend is when Mark thinks it's likely - there will be an outbreak of xenophobic violence against foreigners. "It's not IF it will happen ey? It will happen eh? If there's even a rumour violence might happen here then it happens. But this time everyone's saying it will happen eh? It will happen eh?" Etcetera. In Mark's opinion the 'bloodletting' will even be 'right' in some way. I tried to probe the point with argument, but didn't persist beyond the point of discomfort. I still want to think he's wrong, that he's just a freak, but for the record, watch the South African media this weekend.

And I had no other confirmation of Mark's viewpoint until I read the back of the toilet door at the Newtown fan zone, which said, "Any foreigners still in [an unremembered placename] after the 2010 World Cup will be burned with petrol to the ground." After that someone else had scrawled, "Racism will kill us all," and there was to-and-from dialogue after that from various contributors, but the headline was large-writ and dominated the door.

Food was easier to find than the toilet, and beyond that having my cigarette supply in order became a higher priority than beer. So I wandered from the fan zone to see what I could find.

A couple of blocks away I found a restaurant which looked lively, and beyond that a bar. The bar was black, with people playing music, smoking and looking very relaxed. It was still only about 5.00pm or so.

I shouldn't paint too much of an off-the-beaten-track picture of this place. It wasn't that far off the track. By the time of the game I guess it was 10% full of foreigners, and security guys were still about, but there were none of either there by 4.00am.

I still really just wanted some cigarettes. Rolling tobacco, which is cheaper and far less bad for you, is really hard to get in South Africa, so I often had to resort to cigarettes, which I don't really like. The guy at the door of the bar - overstaffed as everywhere - asked for 30 rand and went to get my cigarettes, rather than just directing me to the machine, so I bought a beer from the bar as he did so, naturally.

There wasn't any seats left but there was only two girls in one booth so I sat and asked if it was ok that I did. Their names are Amanda and Nelly, and I was with them for the rest of the evening. My apologies for no photographs - Jacob has the camera at this point and, incidentally, is doing brilliantly with it.

The girls are educated and intelligent, with Zulu accents. The Africaans accent is frankly disturbing. Like the German accent if you hear too much of it it kind of drives you mad, but it is a shame that we have come to call that the South African accent. The Zulu accent, like the Zulu people, is very cool.

Actually I find the white Africaaner people to be uptight, uncomfortable and slightly irritating in general. With rare exceptions, like Kevin, the guy next to me on the second flight to Durban, it's like they don't want to be here but insist on every excuse for not leaving except the underlying definitive one that they can't. The people at the bar - mostly Zulus I suspect - were not like the immigrant workers - mostly Zimbabweans - directed around by Mark back at the Gulag. The Zulus seemed a cool, proud people, who moved and resonated with grace and purpose.

The people I met that night were very pleased with my opinion of the Afrikaaners' accent. I think they were also pleased that I was there, blatantly an Australian yobo, by myself, at all.

"Are you scared?" Nelly asked soon after introductions.

"No."

"You're lying. You are scared."

I didn't feel that scared. "Maybe I am a bit, but it's a fear I want. I want to actually be here, for just one night before I go back to Australia."

I shouted the girls to dinner at the restaurant next door, where we bantered with a table full of Spanish revelers whilst eating meats and drinking coctails. One of the girls organised a few joints outside (I found out weeks ago that the standard price is five rand each) and we smoked one as we walked to the fan zone for the game. There was part of one left, which I pocketed for later.

The truth is that although there were thousands of people, the night was very cold. It was so cold that all my compatriots who actually went to the game didn't party at all afterward but went straight back to the Gulag on the first bus. It's hard to get beer, and another guy who had latched on to us had been extremely sleezy toward Amanda, so although we watched the first half with interest, and although I felt like a very smug yobo with my stolen flag and a pretty girl under each arm, it was not the best environment, so at half time we headed back to the bar. The bar, now, was quite packed.

And the whole place moved. Everyone, foreigners from all corners, locals black and white, were friends, as we somehow colonised a space and I did that sideways slither through the bouncing, writhing crowd to the bar for drinks.

There was attention of sorts for the game, but it wasn't easy to see the screen, and I missed bits. But when the whistle blew for full time, before extra time, the DJ within seconds had changed the sound to music and the place danced. Apart from the restraint of the game itself, the place wanted to dance, and dance it did.

When Spain scored the place went completely insane, and I lit the half-joint. I'd already met a few people, but a stranger, who turned out to be a player in Brazil's second division, smelled it and I passed it naturally without expecting it back from the crowd. The place was generally going off at this time.

Mbizo, the football player, grabbed me as I once more braved the journey to the bar. "Got any more weed?"

"I thought I did but my friend can't find it," I replied honestly. "Have you?"

"Sure man, I'll sort it," Mbizo said with enormous enthusiasm, "I'll smoke you up man. Fuck it I am going to so smoke you up." I liked him a lot. He had charisma and cool, and clearly was the dominant male in the small crew of blokes he was with. He grabbed me a short while later and, taking me outside, introduced me to his friends, the only name of which I can remember is Happy.

From that time on there were many, many joints, and although I was buying drinks and cigarettes at a fairly rapid rate by this time for quite a few people, they resolutely refused money for the dope. Once again, once I lit up inside they did too. I couldn't help feeling that if the foreigner could do it that they could to, but there was no holding anyone back once it had started. If there was still police and security around outside, I doubt they would have cared or noticed.

I can't hide that I was extremely happy with how the whole thing had worked out. However fleetingly, however superficially, I felt a great need to actually be with the locals. A number of times in the past month I have gone a bit off the beaten track, but I needed to really do it and that night I felt I got the closest. The guys clearly enjoyed my company, and I thoroughly enjoyed theirs, as we bantered about football, South Africa, life and peace between all people.

Most of all, until 4am when the place stopped selling drinks and finally closed, we just danced. Then the girls and a boy friend of Nelly's walked a couple of blocks with me to find an ATM, and I farewelled the girls with some money for a cab. The guy whose name I have forgotten (by this time I am, I admit, staggering) then walked me many blocks to some transit place with 24 hour taxis. I slept most of the taxi ride back to the Gulag and, checking that Jacob is safely in bed, retired.

Congratulations Spain. Ben was absolutely devastated, but Jacob had had an excellent night. Deserved winners.

The Final Four

2010-07-04T02:24:00.014+10:00

Four are left, three beautiful Europeans and a gutsy outsider South American.

Apart from just watching some brilliant teams play do-or-die soccer, the significance of day two of the Quarter Finals was that Jacob and I got to find out who would be the teams we will see live in Durban on the 7th.

Apart from our Socceroos scarves, I have accumulated just two. I bought a German scarf early on in reverence for the team that beat our own so comprehensively and beautifully. Later I bought an Argentina scarf as I succumbed to Maradona's cool and charm. So we negotiated, and I wore the Argentina scarf and Jacob wore Deutschland.

The organised collective defeated the reliance on flair. And Jacob gets the Germany scarf for the Semi.

What really stands out about the Germans is their apparent ability to not just have shots and get some of them in, but two of the four goals were a complete defeat of Argentina's defences. That is, they passed and dribbled their way all the way in to within feet of the goal before the shot. I just haven't seen much of that at this cup.

When it comes to Spain, who barely won the game against Paraguay, their control and passing is sublime, but the ability to actually defeat a defense is what they lack.

So for my money Germany is the only squad at this tournament who has demonstrated a complete mastery of the game in every part of the pitch.

The Irish curse was fulfilled and the Nike curse was fulfilled. The only living god at the tournament, whose team had the privilege of being kissed by a god before entering the pitch, is out, humiliated 4:0 by the masters. And the other random factors have been largely sorted too.

The Vuvuzelas have become background noise, however unfortunate. The ball has been masterd and corrected for. There are no teams who have not had time to prepare, who lack top level gametime, or who are not dealing with any foreign conditions. The four teams have played five top level games each in perfect practice conditions for the competition head.

So The Netherlands will defeat brave Uruguay, Germany will defeat the Spaniards (to my peril I am again ignoring the M&Ms), and, I believe, Germany will win the finals. Third? I think Uruguay will have more to play for, but who knows.

Round of Eight Day One - The Pagan View

2010-07-03T03:43:00.013+10:00

Netherlands v Brazil 2:1

Now regular readers of my writings are accustomed to incisive, educated analysis and poignant, accurate predictions, so I will not disappoint.

It was the M&Ms and, the Nike curse.

The M&Ms, you may remember, were very clear: the Finals, at which my son will be present, will be a Spanish victory over the Netherlands. Hence, I really should have known that Brazil was gone.

But for the issue of the Nike curse I cannot claim responsibility. The Nike curse is an astute observation by my Facebook compatriot Gav Gforce Cheesebladder.

The Nike ads, according to Cheesebladder (See what you miss when you ignore the advertising?), gave away the game with the slogan, "Write the future?" All the stars featured in the ads have gone home - Ronaldo, Rooney, Canavaro, Ribery, Drogba - except... Robinho. In Cheesebladders own words, "The Nike curse says Holland will win!"

But why a curse? Is it from FIFA itself?

A running theme in the local media is that FIFA has taken all and although South Africa has been gifted with a warm buzz, it isn't going to come off much better. One article developed the theme that, "Everyone in South Africa was under the rule of Law, now South Africa is under the Law of FIFA." So FIFA itself needs to be careful, because Africa is traditionally a big force when it comes to casting curses.

But a parallel theme is that FIFA is prosecuting all sorts of very small operators for appropriating copyrighted terms like "World Cup 2010" (I'm serious), yet Nike, who is not a sponsor of FIFA World Cup 2010, flagrantly bases its entire advertising campaign around it. Well Nike is being prosecuted by the fates. Robinho, it might be argued, was not only the last of their featured heroes to go, but arguably the only one that did not pretty much disgrace themselves before leaving.

Uruguay v Ghana 1:1 (4:2 on penalties)

Jesus. This was the game that both Jacob and I thought should have been cancelled for lack of interest. We watched the afternoon's blockbuster (described in precise detail above) at the fan-zone down at Durban's beach, which was very cool, but we came home and went to the same local pub, The Jackie Horner, for the evening's game, as much because we needed something to eat as anything.

Lets's summarise Ghana's journey by pointing out that it began in the Group Stage by scoring only from the penalty spot and ended by missing no less than three (out of five) penalties. I'm counting the one during play obviously.

We certainly didn't regret watching it. There was much great play from both sides, but from the beginning, once again, it was clear that Ghana was being nursed by the ref. Once again, I do not think it was intentional, but Uruguay is an expedable non-favourite and the entire continent, and much of the world, including most of the referee's family and friends, wants Ghana to win, so the errors fall in one direction more than others, and only in Uruguay's favour at the least decisive moments. That doesn't cover the non-errors however, and Uruguay's free kick was well deserved legally as well as karmically. What an effing kick!

In a packed pub of celebration and joviality, which built brilliantly throughout the evening, the lagers flowing, Jacob became the only person in the place openly celebrating Uruguay's triumph. I had long before had the sense to put my neutral observer face on, but it was time to leave the Jackie Horner. We left it in a dark, quiet, deeply glum state, and I must wonder how many millions of Africans shared that dire mood last night.

Once the penalty shoot-out began, most of the technique of the players became irrelevant and all of the tactics and coaching became irrelevant. The final call in our game, once two teams have battered one another into a draw, might be seen as rather stupid, or it may be seen as the highest drama of all.

Neither the big, beautiful African, nor the suave and swarthy Latin can win the girl's heart. She herself is torn between two lovers. The suitors have cast their spells in every gentlemanly way possible, for she would only love a gentleman. The time passes, and more time. If this destructive, relentless triangle is not to last forever, there really is only one solution. Swords or pistols gentleman? That's what a penalty shoot-out is.

As the game went into the hands of the gods, I for the first time fully expected Ghana to win. This is Africa: fiery, pulsing, magical Africa. The sheer weight of will of the hundreds of millions witnessing this penalty shootout from near and far must inevitably push the Ghanians to the virtually impossible place of a semi-final spot. Hell, at that point I wanted it to, for the sheer, absurd African joy of it.

And against this weight, Jacob kept his faith in Justicia. It was still undeniable that Uruguay should win. And he was right.

Sebastian Abreu, stepping up for Uruguay's fourth and winning penalty kick, was a man possessed. From the moment the camera found him there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to do it. He looked evil, like an undead creature embalmed with supernatural, irresistable determination. His walk was grim and mechanical. And then, in some sort of zone of fate and genius, he barely kicked the thing, but gently chipped it over the Ghanian keeper's shoulder.

Extraordinary stuff.

So with six teams to go we have only Europeans and South Americans - three apiece.

If anyone's gotten a bit over all the soccer games, I feel compelled to note tht there's only five to go, and these are the ones you simply must not miss. This is the good stuff.

Why Do We Care About Football?

2010-07-02T17:25:00.003+10:00

Book Review
Chuck Korr and Marvin Close, More than Just a Game: Football v Apartheid, Collins, London, 2008.

Most people are familiar with the famous line by one of those Pommy Soccernumaries, "Some people say that football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with this view. Football is much more important than that." A more obscure line comes from this book, from Indres Naidoo, imprisoned on Robben Island for many years and now a member of South Africa'a Parliament: "... we knew that sports is much too important to be just fun."

What do we do with lines like this? Of course the already converted know deep down that they're dead right, and say "Oh yeah!" but nobody can blame the unconverted for thinking that they're sheer nonsense. How can we say such things?

More that just a Game is a history of a football league, but it starts with a time when the prisoners on Robben Island (this is the place Nelson Mandela was incarcerated incidentally) were not allowed to play any sport at all. The opening chapters were my own first real introduction to the history of apartheid itself, the horrible repression that occurred and the barbaric, sickening conditions on the Island itself. And even for this I found the book valuable.

Of all things for the prisoners to lobby for - suffering beatings and periods of confinement and starvation to do so, over several years - the ability to play football was front and center. And they did not merely want to be given a ball to kick-about with. They wanted a League, and bit by bit, with meticulous organisation, and helped by outside pressures, they got it.

What is really astounding is this level of organisation. They drafted a constitution, had nine clubs at the peak, three divisions, rules for transfers, appeals processes and committees and a referees union. The thing that got the authors of the book going was the voluminous documentation of the whole thing, all handwritten but all in formal, legalese tone. Most of this, meanwhile, was done completely behind the prison authority's backs.

So while the sporting may have helped the prisoners' spirits and fitness, it was the organisation itself that educated the prisoners in skills that they now are using to run the country. Surprising and fascinating stuff all.

The book is not some side-story by football fans. It is real history, researched and written by historians, about a story which, if not told, would leave a real gap in accounts of the overthrow of apartheid. There is no exageration here as far as I can see, and it's not all flattering, as in the account of the 'Atlantic Raiders Affair' which is essentially a long-winded legal battle between typically self-righteous athletes over a referee decision. Even in the latter case, we see prisoners develop real skills of advocacy and argument, which would later serve them in struggle and in running the country.

Football on the island led to other sports of course, and we witness a version of the absurd tension between football codes that we are familiar with in Australia. Fortunately they come to the conclusion that the important thing is sport, and in my view Australian football codes would do well to learn parallel lessons - that the modern enemies of soccer are not rugby and AFL but apathy, bad nutrition, poor health, inadequate parkland and computer games. Anyway I digress.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and it taught me a lot about this strange, brave country.

So what's the answer to the question? Why is football, which let's face it is an arbitrary human contrivance with no real stakes, so important? Somewhere in the midst of reading this book I came up with an answer, and it's about freedom.

Those of us who believe in a religion do so because we feel obliged to. We must. We might believe in ideals or political causes because we see them as necessary. But we believe in football because we can, because we are free to. Millions are, of course (as were some on the Island) equally free to not give a shit about football and that doesn't matter a jot. But those of us who do, believe in it because we are free. It is a highly social, organised, universal, articulated expression of human freedom.

Incidentally, 1GOAL is less than 200,000 off the 10,000,000 mark. If you haven't signed up (costs nothing), think seriously about it. Education for all is a very worthy goal, and I believe in it because it is essential for the furtherance of human civilisation.

Official Interlude

2010-07-02T01:09:00.008+10:00

According to Harry Kewell, the Refs Favour Big Guns. I don't think it's Harry Kewell's place to say it actually, but he's broadly correct, and backs up my own and many others' observations.

Actually Harry Kewell is looking to me more and more like a poor man's Cristiano Ronaldo - brilliant, but a mummy's boy, a cheat and a whinger. One fan back at the Gulag reckoned he saw Harry dive five times in his 27 minutes. I counted just two definite dives, but impressions are real, even if they're not entirely accurate. Like Ronaldo, if he didn't cheat himself his whinging might have some credibility but as it is it just looks really bad.

But ad hominem is not an argument, and just because Harry is a cheating tool doesn't mean he's not correct. So what's happening here?

Well once again I don't think there's some official directive behind the bias. There's just a lot of close calls in a soccer game, and a lot where a quick judgement has to be made about a grey situation. Is it worth stopping the game for? Has the game gotten to a point where it needs bringing under control? Does the team being wronged have the advantage anyway? This mere mortal has to answer these questions in a flash and then, right or wrong, maintain his authority no matter what. The 22 blokes he's officiating are millionaires with egos the size of their BMWs. The pressures and the margins for error are quite mind-boggling.

So if there's some error, who do you reckon it's going to favour, overall?

If there's a broad institutional problem, it's that the refs are inexperienced at this level. In the language we would use when describing players, they haven't had enough recent gametime at a high level.

It is a FIFA thing that the World Cup must bring refs from all over the world. I think that's bullshit. The Mexican guy who gave Timmy a red card, and later officiated another game (I wish I could remember the one - help me out if you can), stopped the play for every second tackle and threw cards around like confetti. In short, quite apart from making some bad calls, he ruined the game and made it as stop-start as a rugby match.

He plies his trade in Mexico, a minor league at best, and cannot be expected to be up with the professional antics of the high-profile wankers who play in Europe. He's literally out of his league.

As the tournament has gone on my feeling is we've got some better refs, like the Hungarian guy who handled the USA v Ghana match. (I hope I can remember my mental notes correctly - I think this is the game that stood out for me in this way.) I loved it how he let the soft ones go, but still, when a decisive and clear foul was made, asserted his authority with a whistle and in the clearest cases a card. The game was allowed to flow. I especially love seeing a diving prick disadvantaged by his own antics as the play continues right over the top of his pathetic, prone body. This is good refereeing.

The Round of 16 refereeing has been better in general in this sense, in my very broad perception (I haven't kept careful notes or anything).

But the point is that given the incredible talent on the field, the speed of the game, and especially the sophisticated, highly developed techniques of both fouling and of diving, you need refs for whom this is part of their trade. That is, you need refs that regularly officiate Champions League games, EPL, Spanish and Italian League games. Otherwise, you don't just get bad decisions, you get crap games.

On a historical note, in the era of Pele and Maradona there were goals. But both of them in their biographies attest to the bruised, bleeding shins they would end the game with as defenders resorted to kicking and hacking their legs to attempt to stop them. This was bad, and it has largely been cleaned up. It's right that fouls are called and cards are given for this behaviour. But note that diving wouldn't have helped these two greats score goals, and score goals they did, because as proud athletes they kept running if they could.

Ronaldo and Kewell will never be this great, because they're habitual cheats. We need experienced, wary refs, and to reiterate another point made in previous blogs, we need post-match tribunals to properly punish the cheating (both fouling and diving) that the ref misses. It's for the good of the game.

Football and Freedom in Durban

2010-06-30T18:14:00.003+10:00

Well if anyone wanted to demonstrate the grace and beauty of the world game an excellent game to showcase would be the one I last wrote about between Brazil and Chile. On the other hand, if someone else wanted to demonstrate that soccer is a stupid, boring sport they could do worse than exhibiting yesterday afternoon's game between Japan and Paraguay. What an extraordinary contrast.

So thank the gods for the Iberian derby last night between Spain and Portugal. But really, this Round of 16 was so imbalanced, leaving mediocre teams like Ghana and Paraguay in the mix whilst we watched the brave and skilled Portuguese and Chileans eliminated.

In the end I guess, there is as much justice in soccer as there is in life - a bit, but not a lot, and not consistently.

I woke up this morning without a cough. The air is clean. At 8.30 we were served creamy porridge with brown sugar and a splash of whiskey (this is something I am going to try at home), fresh juice, proper coffee and French toast with bacon and mushrooms. There is no games on today so we're just gonna chill, read and breathe this air. Unlike Total Sports Travel, which I highly recommend that people avoid like the plague, Somerset Guest House in Durban is simple, tasteful, civilised and pleasant. Believe it or not - and this is the really criminal part - the price is not much different.

We were warned in Australia about the possibility of being robbed in South Africa, but we were robbed before we left by Australians. Sue me Total Sports: I dare you! Everything you promised is documented and the horror that you delivered is witnessed by over 200 people. The fact that I could have stayed at the place that was in your promotion photographs, the place whose address was listed, for one third the price, is just a little irksome. For my readers the important thing is that my complaints on this front are nothing to do with South Africa. South Africa has its problems, which provided the ultimate scapegoat for everything wrong with our accommodations, but I can love South Africa for its problems. Total Sports Travel are criminals from Australia.

Another important note is that I hold no ill-will whatsoever toward Dee and Keith, who were the employees alternately on the coalface at the camp dealing with us and our constant, reasonable complaints, whilst living in the same conditions. I'm sure you're hating it as much as I was, and you really tried to help us and make us more comfortable. To the two of you, thankyou sincerely, and I truly hope you find yourself another employer. I'll write you a glowing reference on request.

Anyway, I feel free to bitch freely now for the very reason that I am free. But at the same time, it's time to enjoy.

Jesus I hope they don't read this yet as we're back there in eight days for the final couple of days of the Cup.

The next live game we're looking forward to is in one week, Match 62, the last semi-final, and the possibilities are all mouth-watering. My guess is that it will be Spain v Argentina. If Paraguay beat Spain in the Quarters I will vomit into my own scorn (to use my favourite Bernard Black line), but the Germany v Argentina clash will be a genuine blockbuster between different cultures and styles, and I would keep my money away from the bookies. I guess I'm backing Argentina due to the general South American dominating theme, and my new love for the freak Maradona, but the Germans are so organised it's disgusting. Spain v Germany would be just fine, if that's how the gods would have it.

But today and tomorrow, in this first break between games, I am going to relax and enjoy this fine city in this beautiful country.

Brazil v Chile 3:0

2010-06-29T18:32:00.002+10:00

Chile has impressed me greatly in this World Cup. They came second in qualifying in the South American Confederation, an impressive achievement in itself, especially when you consider that, until tonight, not one of the five South American countries had been knocked out of the World Cup.

There's ten left. There remains one of five from Africa (Ghana), one of five from Asia/Oceania (Japan), none from North America and four from thirteen Europeans (Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands). This is all interesting enough, and finally it took a South American team to knock out the first South American team. Now so many of my predictions have been wrong that I have no right to self-congratulate, but I take some pleasure in noting that my broad prediction that this World Cup would be mad and that it's the South Americans that would best deal with the madness, has borne itself out.

Tonight's game between Brazil and Chile was, for my joyful sense of football wonder, the best yet. And a great team - in my opinion a really great team - came up against something more. Brazil's team are composed of gods, no less, and even the greatest of mortals cannot test the gods and survive.

Over the past couple of weeks a few people have pointed out that Brazil have looked a bit out of sorts, a bit "pedestrian" (to quote one), in general a bit ordinary. Meanwhile of course they have not lost a game and the thing is, they are so good that they can afford to play only as well as they need to. They have no need whatsoever to give their all against North Korea, Ivory Coast and (especially, as there were no stakes) Portugal. The latter Group game was, despite great hype and expectation, a boring 0:0 draw in which neither team saw the need to bring it.

If you did not watch the Brazil v Chile game I urge you with all the emphatic vehemence that I can contrive to find out when there's a replay or figure out how to download it, and watch the thing. This is the stuff that led me to sacrifice so much of my life to this sport in the first place, the stuff that turned watching a bit of sport for me into an act of worship. You'd be right to point out how rare a game like this is, but I would only reply that it is the rarity of such a spectacle that makes soccer the most sublime pursuit in the world. Millions try, and occasionally - very occasionally - 11 succeed.

Personal digression... Jacob and I arrived in Durban today and booked into a B&B. The air, as soon as we got off the plane, was noticeably easier to breathe, due to the warmth, lack of smog and lack of altitude. We had proper hot showers. We have our own bathroom, and the capacity to make tea. We lay on beds that are not thin waifs of foam laid over iron cleats. Our room is sealed, tasteful and warm. There are birds here. I wore shorts and bare feet in my first sojourn into the neighbourhood. We are indulging in 10 days of relative luxury compared to the frankly disgusting conditions of Total Sports Travel Football Village in Johannesburg. I already love Durban, and eff knows why the centre of the World Cup is not here, as it could have been so much better for South African tourism if it was.

We watched the Netherlands' convincing and predictable defeat of Slovakia on the TV downstairs. Then this evening we head out to find a pub, where we ate steaks and watched the above game in a very cosy and cool atmosphere. So life is on the up. We're gonna like this town.

But enough digression. Why are the South American teams doing so well? I have the beginnings of a theory. Spain and Germany have been the most impressive of the European teams in the sense of virtuosic football, the sort of football that Fozzie describes so well in his book and that SBS does its best to teach us to appreciate. It's a very sophisticated, developed football of short passing from the back along the ground, and highly disciplined tactical shape. According to many this is what we're all aiming for. Any of the lesser football countries are also in the process of pursuing this sort of football, including Australia, with its Dutch emphasis.

But both Spain, Italy and Germany have been shown up by gutsy, spirited but less sophisticated methods from Switzerland, New Zealand and Serbia respectively, and we all rue that Australia didn't at least have a go at the same against the Germans. It seems to me that 'champagne football', with all the time and effort required to develop, can become limited by its own orthodoxy.

The South Americans have highly educated coaches as well, and no shortage of sophistication, but they have something more. They dance, and I refer especially to the Brazilians and Argentinians. The long ball into the corner, the chip, the long switch and the completely unexpected are all part of their game as well as the short passing along the ground within a disciplined tactical shape. That is, their options are not limited by orthodoxy. All of these great teams from Europe and South America also have individuals capable of great flair, which has been a distinctive key to this tournament. My feeling is that however powerful a team of brilliant technicians within a highly considered system can become, if it becomes the whole objective the improvised dance and individual flair are somewhat sacrificed. At this tournament in particular, in an unfamiliar setting and with new distractions (like the bloody vuvuzela which stops anyone from even being able to hear themselves think, let alone be able to communicate adequately among one another), these more random factors come to the fore.

The sort of technical orthodoxy I'm talking about, which has become very popular globally as importing successful European coaches becomes widespread throughout the world, should not be undermined. I'm convinced for example that Australia should continue to pursue this sort of virtuosity. North Korea, for another example, had developed enough to hold out (mostly) against even Brazil, but they cannot keep it up against what is, for lack of a better description, a divine dance. And they have trained so much to achieve their desired tactical approach that their options against different teams are limited.

Like a great martial artist (and anyone familiar with the writings of Bruce Lee will best know what I mean), you need all the technique you can get, but then you must be willing to dance. A single style is not enough.

As this tournament goes on I'm thinking more and more that the Final will be a showdown between Brazil and Argentina. If that is the case don't miss it even for your own wedding.

Beyond Nelspruit

2010-06-27T19:37:00.014+10:00

Well the consensus around here is that changing the Prime Minister was an overreaction to the Socceroos failing to get through the group stage. Craig Foster and Jesse Fink are both convinced, for somewhat different reasons, that Australia 'failed' at this World Cup, and I think they do us a disservice with this view.

Firstly it is worth reiterating that on paper Australia's team is pretty crap. Our best outfield player, Timmy Cahill, plays for Everton. We have not one player that has played Champions League football. Not one. [Ed: Thanks to Jesse Fink (below in comments) for the correction - Brett Holman has played Champions League football.] Some teams, like Italy (oh dear), are stacked with them. Timmy and Mark Schwarzer are probably the only players in our team that would make the English team. So coaching them to a World Cup is a serious professional challenge for a coach, and anything they achieve is impressive.

There is no adequate apology for the game against Germany. Coach Pim took a large risk in essentially throwing the game and hoping to keep Germany's goal count down (ouch), and it was a stuff up. But Germany played sublimely and we lost our star to an unreasonable red card, making a bad situation worse.

As the group games unfolded it became clear that the African teams were not going to do well overall, and Ghana began to be called the continent's 'last hope'. This narrative went on with great consternation, even a sort of fear. Germany would clearly win our group but there was actual concern that Australia might pip Ghana. In itself this is pretty disgusting anyway, as I always thought we were to have a fair competition and that the idea was that the best team would win.

And Ghana really didn't show any class against Australia, even though we again went down early to another red card, and hence had neither of our best players on the field. We should give our 10 men credit for the point they held in that game, but really, Ghana did not look up to it at all. The media we get here (we don't get SBS or any Australian media) looked frankly uncomfortable.

I am not saying that there was any deliberate, conscious bias from referees, but the pressure was certainly on. Errors were going to go in favour of the 'desired outcome'. In that last game against Serbia, where Australia, still unable to field its best team, showed its spirit and quality, virtually every decision for the first four fifths of the match (before it was too late) went against us. Now I am a patriot and I am familiar with the bias of patriots, so to be sure about this I will have to study the game some time and do a careful count of incidents and decisions. But this was truly my impression, over and over and over again.

There was five minutes of hope, when we were 2:0 up and we heard that Germany was beating Ghana 1:0. Another goal for Australia and Germany respectively, and we were through. That's how close we were. But Germany had set up camp, content, in their half of the field, and our ref, as far as I'm concerned, did everything in his power to make sure we did not get any more goals.

And the Socceroos were brilliant in spirit, even as their journey ended. After the match they spent a long time tributing the fans, kicking balls into the crowd, signing things etc, even as they were clearly emotionally finished. Lucas Neils' tears said everything. Congratulations lads. That was no failure. That was a victory of a team who nobody in the World believed in except for Australian fans (the Australian media didn't). My love for you has only increased, and I am proud to be associated with you.

If anyone wants to read an excellent, informed post-mortem of the Socceroos campaign, I honestly suggest you bypass the mainstream media altogether and read Tony Tannous's. There's no big anti-media agenda in this recommendation, and he doesn't really even reflect my own views - it's just the best article I've found, and he's much more likely to be right than me.

Quite aside from the game, it was a brilliant day in Nelspruit. For once, more by good fortune than design I'm afraid, we got to the game with plenty of time to occupy a pub. It is a great pub in Nelspruit, and we packed every corner and spilled onto the street. Note to Total Sports Travel, and any other tour company: Soccer fans don't just want to get to the game on time for
kickoff; we actually want to have a good time - ie. It is absolutely essential to occupy a pub before a game.

Oh yes, let me tell you about transport to the Nelspruit stadium. Our bus parks near the pub, which is fine because we had heaps of time, but it can't go to the stadium. To get to the stadium, we have to catch a mini-bus which goes to a park n' ride area, where we get on a big bus to the stadium. It's hard to imagine, perhaps, how inefficient this is in practice. After the game, to get the 40,000 odd people back into town, the reverse occurred. We stood in a mass, coralled by fences, as about 60 people at a time were taken off in busses, to then again find mini-busses. There was no coordination of this and it seemed a minor miracle that we all managed to get back to our original bus. Mind you it took hours.

Anyway, for anyone who has been frequenting this site, I'm really sorry I haven't blogged for days. The day in Nelspruit I could feel myself holding back a flu, and the next day it hit me with full force. I also got a bit homesick and miserable, missing my shop and my beautiful fiance, and the conditions at the Total Sports Soccer Village didn't help. Alongside unreliable internet and the worst conditions for writing possible, these are my excuses. Truly I apologise.

I guess a new phase of this trip had started too. The patriotic part of the trip has finished, with the knocking out of Australia, and now it's just about enjoying beautiful football. I've bought an Argentina scarf as Maradona, tool that he is, has completely won me over with his cool and class. He operates completely out of the box and, for my money, the box sucks. Jacob and I are seeing Argentina play Mexico tonight at Soccer City.

Then tomorrow we are off to Durban for 10 days in a decent B&B. There I hope to relax a bit, get some writing done, and see the semi-final on the 7th (maybe Argentina v Spain). I can't wait for a good bed, hot showers and internet access.

Morning before Nelspruit

2010-06-23T12:51:00.004+10:00

There was dread as much as excitement in the camp yesterday about going to see Australia play Serbia today. The dread has little to do with the fate of our beloved team, who we will be happy to see play well, hopefully with a victory to ensure that Australia has not embarassed itself. The prospect of us getting to the Round of 16 is pretty slim after all. The dread is six hours on a bus, without much faith in the driver or the organisation. I'll be buying a half bottle of whiskey for the trip. Beer just makes you need to piss. You really don't want to know how people deal with this problem on long trips. We've also stocked up on sports drinks and lollies.

And it's crunch week for so many teams. Yesterday Groups A and B got sorted out. Proud Bafana Bafana have ended their competition, and I guess I hope that Australia can today finish with as much dignity (and four points). France of course has fallen hard, still mired in the curse of the Irish. Nigeria and Greece have also gone. Greece in particular, the way they played, was an embarassment to Western Civilisation.

The general theme remains of the South Americans doing well and the Europeans falling. But truly I see Portugal's 7:0 demolishing of North Korea the other day as a bit of a turning point in the Cup, and I don't think we'll see many surprises this week. Many teams can play like champions sometimes (like South Africa for the first half last night). Virtually no team can do it every time. But when the pressure's on, the great teams tend to get it together.

For that reason I don't think Ghana has a goose's chance of defeating Germany today, for example. England will beat Slovenia and the USA will beat Algeria - I consider these results fairly certain. But for the Serbia vs Australia game there's no clear favourite, and I honestly think the boys can do it.

And the glimmer of hope is that Germany will do a Portugal on Ghana, whilst Timmy Cahill goes crazy on Serbia's goal. If both of those things happen, we'll be booked for a game in Rustenburg against either England or the USA on Saturday June 26th at 8.30pm. I wouldn't put a lot of money on this, but while there is hope we will relish our dreams.

Last night we went to a sort-of mall called Monte Casino. It is bling city. In fact I don't imagine there's a place like it in my city of Brisbane. Maybe on the Gold Coast somewhere, but it would be for the very wealthy. Here it is, as far as I can see, for Westerners like myself to be made to feel very wealthy.

On entry you have to pass security and get scanned for metal. What you get into is an indoor medieval village. The roof is lit like clouds on a blue sky and there is a very good impression of being outdoors. It's weird realising that you can't smoke for example. You go inside individual buildings which are shops, restaurants, clubs and the like, then go 'outside' again, though you're still inside.

Then of course you buy, very inexpensively, five star meals (amazing steak, about $17), cocktails (about $2.50 each) and whatever the hell else you want. Of course you've got to get in there first, but 'World Cup fan' seemed to be the magic words.

I would hate to imagine how people are screened from places like this, but when I went outside (properly outside) for a smoke I saw a sign, a red line through a pistol, with the words, "This is a no gun zone. Gun lockers located on level 2."

Oh good.

Go the Socceroos!

A Dialogue with Hundreds of Years of Oppression

2010-06-22T14:21:00.007+10:00

I mention Mark a bit. He's white and sort of the boss of the infrastructure around here. He has long hair and a whispy beard, a little overweight and clothed like he hasn't had a girlfriend to sort out his wardrobe for far too long, but his face is handsome, and suits his prescription John Lennon sunglasses. I don't know if I like him, mainly due to the way he speaks to the black workers, but he's been a great source of local information and very enthusiastic to help us. He had advised us, for example, that the black guys won't join in playing soccer unless they're asked. Actually he was mostly worried about the prospect of his employees playing while they should be working, but the information was useful.

When Jacob came in from the afternoon kickabout yesterday, halfway through the Chile game, he looked excited. He reads my blog and knows my interest in racial reconciliation through football, and shares it I think. It had happened. A group of locals had been passing and the guys invited them to play. I wish I was there to watch, but apparently they were bloody good, including a couple of around Jacob's age, and a small kid. Small joys I suppose. I just think it's cool, and I'm guessing these guys will be back with their mates.

Owen is very black. He lives in a space that makes Harry Potter's cupboard look pretty roomy, at the front gate. He is security, and is there to let us in and out of the place day and night.

The whole place, about 150 metres square, is surrounded by fences topped by barbed wire and (in some places) electric fences. I've checked it out from the outside and it looks pretty breachable to me, which is not helped by some of the blokes' habit of burning parts of the fence on the fire.

There is no organised firewood really, though every day one of the workers brings a pile of all sorts of scrap timber from wherever on the place - there are corners of the compound that are full of all sorts of junk. It always runs out, and drunk boys burn things when it's cold. There are some boys that should not drink at all, as we all know.

I want to get back to Owen though. He is about 5'10, with a round likeable face. He's from Zimbabwe, and his English is poor, but he likes to communicate, and has a great smile. As with many encounters here, it took a while for his body language to start saying he was not inferior to me. This morning around the fire it was just him and I and for the first time he had no humble hunch. He was looking me in the eye and had his shoulders squared like a proud man. This was particularly important to me because I had never tipped him. Of course when there's money involved people get friendly very quickly, but the friendliness is cheapened by it.

But I still wanted to tip him. All the Australians (I think) are in the habit of tipping well and constantly - the amounts are not really that much, after all, and I think we're very conscious of how privileged we are here and the reactions make it clear how much a little bit can help. But although the bar workers get tipped, our security doesn't because there's no money changing hands to start with. Anyway this morning I gave him a hundred rand (about $15) with a short speech thanking him for watching out for us.

It was a mistake. He immediately regained his humble hunch and said, "God bless you" far too many times for a man's comfort. How can I regret giving it to him though?

I don't know who I am in this situation.

I'll talk more about the compound (I could use 'ghetto' but 'compound' is reasonably accurate) and the people from now on I think. I've wanted to from the moment I got here but needed some time to watch and collect impressions and think about them. This is a unique experience for me and my son and all of us.

Notes from Rustenburg

2010-06-20T21:26:00.004+10:00

Australia's bid for the greatest trophy in the world pretty much ended yesterday, but our pride was restored at the same time.

For myself, the shambolic five hour bus trip home (only about 150kms) was one of the most miserable experiences of my life, but Holman's goal was the height of the tournament.

The goal, and the 10 minutes or so that Australia led the game against Ghana, who were frankly playing like shit, was likely the greatest actual patriotic joy we'll get. After Kewell's red card we were devastated of course, and although the decision was correct, the succession of bad decisions against us had the crowd bristling with murderous hatred toward the ref. And we felt terrible, robbed, humiliated, violated.

And then we got to witness the real mettle of our great national team, as in the second half, in which at first I was simply waiting for us to be defeated, we first held the Ghanians out, then slowly began to dominate them. The players and the coach can both be proud, and today we fans do not feel as deflated as we did after defeat by the Germans. The Socceroos showed their quality. Love them.

The Ghanian fans celebrating after the game afterwards were colourful, spirited and so joyous that you might have thought they'd just beaten Brazil in the finals. It was kind of weird, and I just felt like saying to each of them (I did to a couple), "You do know you played like shit, apparently can't score a goal from open play, and barely managed to hold your luck against 10 men for over an hour, don't you?" Truly, if I was a Ghanian fan, I would be depressed after that game, and that probably reflects a general higher expectation we have of our team.

Was the referee one-sided? Is there an effort from FIFA to make sure at least one African team gets through the group stage, as it is percieved happened with Korea in 2002? Around here, if I suggested otherwise I would be called naive. There is a very, very strong perception that that's how things work and that, as one fan put it, "FIFA won't do small countries any favours."

Whether this is true or not, it looks like it. The resistance by FIFA to video technology for important decisions butresses this perception, and to many simply screams the existence of institutional corruption. So long as a ref's decision on the field has no accountability to anything, even if the entire world can see that it's wrong, then the ref can have any concievable motivation to make a decision. This stinks, and I hope one day our great sport gets up to date, even so that it can appear clean.

Of course it ain't over 'till it's over, and Australia still has two slender chances to become second in the group. That's the only time I've seen Ghana play (we were in transit when they defeated Serbia by a soft penalty), but from what I've heard what I saw is what to expect, and there is pretty much no way a determined Germany who have to win won't defeat them. But if Ghana do prevail, and we defeat Serbia, we're through.

The other way is for the Socceroos, through an inspired Timmy Cahill perhaps, to defeat Serbia by six goals minus the number of goals that Germany beats Ghana by. So if Germany beat Ghana 3:0 (certainly possible enough for an outside punt) and we do the same to Serbia (less possible, but not beyond hope if Timmy is in form), we'll be through on goal difference.

Pray to the soccer gods. Make a home shrine to Johnny Warren and sacrifice a pig or something. The gods are at work at this cup. I don't know if we're in their plans beyond the group stages but I am sure that they haven't had the last laugh yet.

For an analyst's view of the game, see Mike Salter's The Strength of Ten.

Morning Before Rustenburg

2010-06-19T12:54:00.007+10:00

Well I'm up early today to try to get some media-surfing and blogging done before the bus trip to Rustenburg for Australia's do-or-die against Ghana. There's no solid confidence in the camp, but more of a determined patriotism.

We're leaving at 10.30am for a 1.30pm game. That sounds fine because it supposedly takes about two hours. However, our experience is that 10.30 means 11.00 at the earliest, that bus drivers get lost as often as not, and that with only one road in and out of Rustenburg, the traffic may be crap. So there was an attempted organised effort to insist on a 9.30am departure. Total Sports Travel said no. If we are late for this game there will be a revolt. There is already pretty broad discontentment with the travel company, for all sorts of reasons, some of them reasonable.

But last night they did pretty well with the official function. Ok, Kevin Muscat is not the greatest of drawcards but even he came across ok, happily vocalising his discontent with the way Pim is running our national team. We did properly get wined and dined, and there was entertainment. Bad (but still kind of cool) African music, dancing (though pathetically, only one girl of all of us got up and danced) and we had our hands washed and our faces painted by pretty black girls. The food was really good, diverse and abundant - heaps of meats and fish and pretty much everything else you could easily name. There would have been more entertainment but we had to watch England destroy Algeria, which they completely failed to do.

All three games yesterday were surprises actually. Weird shit is happening at this Cup, which can only give us a bit of hope for Australia today.

But there's so much happening, and so much in my head that I think might be good things to write down, that I better tell a story at least before I hit "Publish."

A couple nights ago I had been surfing the net for World Cup news, with the rare treat of a late night with internet access, when I began to realise what was missing around the camp. Because the big screen is on pretty much 24/7, with games, replays, analysis and news, there's no stereo and hence pretty much no music. It was about 1.00 in the morning I guess, when thinking this I wandered outside for a cup of tea and a smoke by the smouldering fire. The only party left were the bar workers, very drunk, but playing music - not very loudly - with a phone.

So there was music, and it was really wonderful. Basically the guy put on Bob Marley's "Lets Get Together" over and over again, and it was good to sit with these guys, the colour of the night, smoking and chatting, alternately listening to them speak together in their own language.

I asked them if they felt all us white guys felt like brothers, and they were adamant that they did, that the past was behind, and that we were all just f***ing people on the same planet. They also feel strongly that the World Cup is very good for their country. Their faces lit up and their slurred accent became understandable when they spoke of it, even though their team had just been flogged.

Much earlier, before the day's games, I was sitting watching Jacob and others (about 10 a side) playing The Game in the park across the road from our compound (it does feel a bit compound-like). Jacob had come over to join just myself and another Ozzie, Matthew, who looks strikingly like a young Nicholas Cage. As we took refuge from the cold air in the sun, a very businesslike bloke, a 'coloured', came over to chat. His name was Peter and he was beaming with joy.

Peter explained that he had never seen a group of white people playing in the park before, nor 'coloureds' like himself. He thought it was wonderful. He thought that if people just started doing it, others would join - that there was still a barrier of fear. I glanced around at the barbed wire and electric fences on every property in sight, and wondered what the barrier was made of. But the point is he thought it was football that could help break down the barriers between the people in his own community.

Well, duh!

Like the black barworkers, Peter also felt that the World Cup was excellent for South Africa. It was warming that a group of Australian soccer fans might have played its own, small role in the process of reconciliation in this country. I kept watching the game and felt I could see the incongruency - the sense, from a certain point of view, that they shouldn't be there. The powerful thing perhaps is that the crew had no idea at all that they shouldn't be there. It's a park.

Then Peter started talking about God a bit and soon after I politely, with proper candour, mentioned that there was no point preaching to me he made his polite farewells and left.

Go the Socceroos! I will love you no matter what.

Some Bits n Pieces

2010-06-17T15:17:00.010+10:00

Jacob handed me the packet and said, "You can have the rest." I could feel that there were three M&Ms left. I'd just managed to aquire tickets for us to the Final, so I thought of who might be in it when I revealed the three M&Ms. Two red and and Orange. The M&Ms say it will be Spain vs the Netherlands, with Spain to win. You read it here first.

For any of the new readers, I did have a bold and foolish attempt to predict the whole cup. So far on my system of 1 point for a correct result and 3 points for a correct score, Jacob's beating me 11:10, from a top possible score of 60. So I wouldn't trust either of us there.

Now some teams will start to be knocked out of the competition and others, like South Africa last night, will be put on wood.

France v Mexico 0:2

As I have previously discussed, the French are cursed by the entire Irish population of the World. When I saw the Mexicans in their green, I could only see the shamrock, and France's humiliation was inevitable.

The game itself was a little tedious in the first half, but you could already see that the Mexicans had their group mind working and the French, with their superior team sheet, did not. This was the collective defeating individual flair.

Not good for South Africa of course, who were hoping for a draw.

One odd thing about my experience here is that I'm actually not getting much media about the World Cup at all, due to access and time. But I have no doubt that there's an enormous variety of game analysis in the mainstream press. Of amateur Australian bloggers, it's the same old that I'll recommend highly: Mike Salter and Tony Tannous.

Bafana Bafana

2010-06-17T14:26:00.007+10:00

Bafana Bafana, the official, very catchy name of the South African Soccer team, more-or-less means, "Go Lads!!" I think much of the World wanted Bafana Bafana to do well against Uruguay last night and get through their group. But sort of like supporting Australia against Germany, anyone who knows football also knew they had little chance. Unless they can perform a miracle against France (and it would be a brilliant time for a miracle) South Africa will be the first nation ever to host a World Cup and lose the Group stage. That's embarassing for a nation who the whole World was hoping would be lifted by this event. It's embarassing for Africa, which is unfortunate.

Off the field on the fan front, the Vuvuzela is South Africa's equivelent of Australia's, "Oi, Oi, Oi!!" Clumsy, loud and drowning. It is a vile thing. Jacob couldn't hear properly for two days after the opening ceremony and we have bought ear plugs. Worse than that when people go to games partly to experience the sounds and songs of the famous English, German and Brazilian fans, they are dissappointed, as all you can hear are horns. It has a very cool name but the fact is the Vuvuzela, which FIFA endorsed as a 2010 thing and fans from many countries have gotten into, is the lowest form of fan culture ever devised. It is more than embarassing - it is a health hazard, a disturbance of the peace (we're talking up to 140 decibels), and a clearfell of any other fan expression; a monoculture of sound. The Nations' anthems, thankfully, provide a very brief respite before the games.

I wonder if there is a parallel with the whole event being in South Africa. Everyone knew it was ambitious, some doubted that it was properly feasible, but everyone of good will hoped that South Africa would show that it had entered the modern world, boding well for the continent as a whole. Like the South African team, it has half-impressed, and to say, "Fantastic job," would be a little patronising, because it has not been a fantastic job.

Planning is the precise thing missing in South Africa. As we travel around we notice excellent roads, a variety of really interesting architecture and all the shops, cars and advertising that you would expect in a modern city. But it seems to be, like the Greek football team, randomly scattered across the landscape. There is apparently no town planning. When you get beer at the stadiums, there's beer, people to serve, fridges and the like, but to get a beer the worker has to travel five metres, negotiating obstacles and other workers, to get the beer, which is pretty much the only thing they're selling. Even a layperson could manage a better industrial design.

The World Cup has taken South Africa's infrastructure by surprise. The internet in particular simply cannot handle the influx of wealthy people skyping, exchanging photos and watching endless video on their computers. It's not just our bodgy little Soccer Village, whole areas go off line at once. Australia take note for its World Cup bid. Are we sure our broadband system will handle it?

So when South Africa were roundly put in their place last night, I had some worries apart from the fact that my chosen team in the game had failed. I worry for the mood in the country, which is stretched and tired as it is. And I worried for the overall message that seems to be being reinforced by the loss - that Africa is almost ready for the world stage. Now we get to see if the country has the professionalism to maintain the work and energy required without Bafana Bafana. Jacob has pointed out that if you want people to be instantly friendly you just have to say enthusiastically, "Bafana Bafana." What for when this becomes a very insensitive thing to do?

This World Cup has had plenty of problems already and anyone who doesn't think there will be many more needs to quarry their head. But there are good signs everywhere of development, a developing middle class, a real cross-racial patriotism and a bright future for a modern nation. Africa will get there, especially South Africa. You just have to wonder if it is a bird pushed from its nest a day too early; if by showcasing Africa's unfolding modernity prematurely it has merely been exposed as an upstart.

Please don't get me wrong. Africa is wonderful and this World Cup is a hoot. Perhaps it's even too early for me to express some of these things, but I think lots of people are already thinking them.

No Title

2010-06-16T19:27:00.002+10:00

But the Training Runs on Time

2010-06-16T17:47:00.003+10:00

I'm up after the Brazil v N Korea game, and I'm writing fresh. That is, I have seen no media whatsoever beyond the showing of the game itself. Regardless of whether I turn out to have unique and wondrous insight or be entirely full of shit, I think this is a valuable form of writing for the reader.

Unfortunately however I won't be publishing this in about half an hour as I should, but in the next day or so, because the internet here is inconsistent at best, despite the fact that wireless internet was the headline feature of the advertisements of the travel company. Who do I blame? The company, who is also frustrated and certainly trying? South Africa, where there have been five star hotels without hot water? It is easier sometimes, and less stressful, to blame the gods. Anyway I'm going to adopt a habit of writing off-line as much as possible and then just publishing the lot when I get on the net.

One result of this new procedure is that I'm abandoning pictures for now. I'll still take them and collect them, and will publish a selection eventually, but I did hope to use a lot of pictures in my World Cup blogging and have promised it, so I apologise. Blame me, Total Sports Travel, South Africa or all three.

Brazil v North Korea 2:1

Well that was quite something. Brazil, the king of the World, defeats the lowest ranked nation at the World Cup by just one goal.

What has North Korea done? Most of its players, unlike any of the great soccer nations, don't play in the big European leagues. In fact most of them play only within North Korea.

It's like this totalitarian state read the textbooks on how to train players in their technique and in their tactics, then with the precise military discipline that only a totalitarian state can bring to a sporting team, just did it. The result is a lesson for everyone, and in a sense backs up Craig Foster's thesis about football development, and about how to go about playing football.

Fozzie might have even advised the team, and if he had he would have been proven right to insist on open, attacking football, even if your opponent is superior. Fozz may be naive to think that it's possible in the Australian environment (I hope not), and we don't have a totalitarian system to enforce this stuff, but there it is.

The North Korean players lost the ball too much. That's the main mistake they made really. It's a mistake you make when your opposition is technically superior and vastly more experienced at high pressure games. It's because they lost the ball so much that they had less possession and were so often on the defensive. It doesn't mean they played defensively.

Every time DPR got the ball they played from the back and attempted to attack by dribbling and passing. They did so in a system which they had clearly drilled and drilled. Apparently it was a 4-5-1 system, as is Australia's, but as Fozzie says, the shape isn't the indicator of attacking or defending, but what the players are doing. If they didn't give away so much possession by mistake, they would actually look like a very direct, attacking team, because that was what they were trying to do. It's not easy to be tactically virtuosic, but they stuck at it. A few times in the first half they even nearly got there, but they lacked the individual flair to make the final punch.

I'm just assuming here what was absolutely apparent. Brazil are brilliant. Their touch and their game is so silky it's disgusting. Their defense is experienced and brilliant, and even the best team in the World would find it challenging. Their attack is sublime, and indeed it was pure individual acts of genius - something the totalitarian regime may have more difficulty producing - that won the day for them. It's hard to say that either one was due to defensive mistakes.

The thing about defending is you don't have a ball to lose, and therefore it is in defense that DPR really impressed, since losing the ball was the only thing they did wrong. They were, quite frankly, a bloody tough nut for Brazil to crack.

DPR switched from attack to defense in an instant when they did lose the ball. They did not run around like madmen the way Paraguay looked good against Italy for a half, until they were stuffed. DPR were efficient in movement, not lunging around, not tackling madly, but maintaining a disciplined, tactically polished system of three lines, defending from the front line and accomplishing overlaps forward or back on either wing when necessary.

Their defense was beautiful, but that did not mean they wanted to just defend. If they wanted to defend they would have just booted the ball forward each time. They did boot the ball forward - about twice - and one resulted in their goal. If you think that means that if you just boot the ball forward you will score more goals I reckon you're wrong. If that's all you do the main result is to allow the opposition to swamp your target man and overwhelm him each time. No, DPR played textbook football at an extremely high standard except that, to Brazil, they lost the ball too often.

What I suspect Fozzie might also say is that this demonstrates that you don't have to have a huge population to play excellent football, you don't need to be big (the Koreans looked half the Brazilian's size), and you don't have to have super fitness and stamina. You just need to teach the people who do play really well, and use the most modern tactical training as well.

I reviewed half of Fozzie's book, Fozz on Football in Reading (I hadn't finished it). I will review it fully some time but I will reiterate here that although Fozz is a nutjob, he is also right about the key things - which turn out to be the football things rather than his nonsense about politics, linguistics and morality. I recommend the book with the qualification that you'll have to choke on your own scorn a fair bit in between being extremely well educated.

Anyway, if North Korea can continue playing like this they could scare Portugal and Ivory Coast, and that was not expected.

Catching Up

2010-06-15T00:08:00.006+10:00

The infrastructure in South Africa is frankly pretty crappy, and stories abound. My own main frustration has been a lack of consistent internet, and once again I apologise. The following is dated, but still something I'd like to communicate.

It was a pretty subdued atmosphere in Total Sports Soccer Village the day after Australia's loss, partly deflation but also sheer exhaustion. It was a bloody long day.

This first photo is the fans gathering before departure in the morning. There's often a kick about going on, as in the foreground, and the only topic of conversation is soccer. Um... heaven really.

As I indicated the other day, the travel was always going to be arduous, with two busses and a plane each way, but the journey there at least was really fun, buoyed by the whole fan atmosphere thing. That first game between South Africa and Mexico was wonderful, as I've said, but in retrospect the only thing missing was the Socceroos and their fans.

Basically the journey was a party, despite quite a bit of chaos, including Jacob and I nearly missing the plane in Jo'burg (we had lunch and a couple hours free time at the airport for some reason). The party atmosphere waxed as the journey progressed, until the bus dropped us about 4 or 5 miles from the stadium in Durban, when it really started.

There was a confluence of fans on that walk - German and Australian (and sundry), and it was effing brilliant. We stirred the Germans as best we could. "We must respect our opponents; so don't mention the holocaust thing!!!" They were good humoured enough, but the convict comeback was a bit lame.

But I want to talk a bit about us Australian fans. In a sense I think we are as undeveloped as a soccer nation off the field as on it. I've talked before about the need to sing, and we did, in the final march, put up a prett damn fine rendition of Walzing Matilda, but really, we're pretty short of material. When we got on the plane someone got the, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!" going, to which the much smaller number of Germans replied with their national anthem (which unlike ours has a good melody and is really quite moving). I felt we were upstaged.

It occurs to me that this is a bit of a fan parallel to our deficiencies on the field. "Oi, Oi" and "Ole, Ole, Ole" seem to be desperation tactics, for want of a well developed tradition of play, parallel to the physicality and long-balls on the field. We just have so far to go.

Anyway, with the internet up I wanted to post something now, but Ivory Coast is now playing Portugal, so I must go watch. Hopefully I will be back soon and frequently!

Poetry

2010-06-14T19:52:00.004+10:00

Well what a magnificent display of football. 'Football' isn't a good word for it, especially in Australia when it puts the game on a par with Rugby and AFL as an artform, because football at its most virtuosic is so far superior to any other ball game that it should be considered alongside ballet or jazz rather than alongside these games.

I know I overuse hyperbole and um... bullshit, but I'm very serious here. You can't be a professional soccer player without having played all your life with very good coaching. The latter is still rare in Australia but steps have been taken to begin to rectify this - needless to say you wouldn't let a volunteer parent teach your child ballet or piano. In the great football countries, where the game is understood by the media and the public, it's virtually against the law.

To merely lambast the Socceroos for losing that match so convincingly, as much of Australian media is doing, essentially demonstrates ignorance. That German team is extraordinary (and yes, I must retract all my desperate attempts at optimism and say I was being ridiculous). It's hard to explain what I mean, especially because I'm a novice myself at this, but I'll have a go.

When you watch a team like Germany (and coming up I'd guess, Brazil, Italy and Spain), I encourage people to have a look around at what's happening off the ball. Try to see the 'group mind' I tried to describe a little while ago. When the ball is passed, try, just for a change, to watch what the passer does next rather than the person who receives the ball. Further, try to see what the third person in a triangle does at the same time. Watch the shape move, then (this is much easier with a live game) take a wider view still and watch the other shapes on the field respond in kind. Quite aside from the obscenely difficult skills of accurate passing, trapping a speeding ball and controlling a ball at speed, for a team to reach a high level tactically, as the Germans have, is a truly high art, to the extent that in a World of millions of soccer teams, it is extremely rare for it to be really there.

Of course it is depressing for a patriot to watch their team get so fully outclassed, but by half time I had moved from disappointment to a growing, awe-struck admiration of what the German team could do. They are no longer athletes. They are poets. More accurately perhaps, they are jazz musicians jamming. They were beautiful and I loved them for their beauty. I know not everyone gets into this - football for its own sake, for beauty, but I put it out there as a suggestion. When you see it, you will never regret it again any more than someone who's acquired a taste for opera will ever regret it.

The greatest regret for us from that game is not the scoreline of course, but the loss of Timmy Cahill through a red card (probably not deserved). Ghana and Serbia are much more realistic opposition for the Socceroos, but Timmy's loss will make it damn hard.

Anyway, our mighty Socceroos were roundly outclassed. We may talk about the 'dream generation' of 2006, but Australia has never played close to that standard. We may get there one day, but only if we want to make the effort as a nation. I hope we do.

I'll write more later. Still struggling with internet and photos.

Off to Durban

2010-06-13T15:43:00.006+10:00

Well today is a big one, which will seriously test the organisation around here. Bus to airport, plane to Durban, bus to stadium, game, then the reverse to get us back here by about 2.30am (all going to plan).

Australia vs Germany. Can we beat the Krauts?

Life around the Total Sports Soccer Village is pretty cool and relaxed. Games on the big screen are watched by a packed, engaged room.

The complex is surrounded by barbed wire and electric fences. A big guy hangs around at the front and lets us in and out. Actually pretty much everywhere you go there is a black guy sort of mooching around the front. No uniform or anything, but that's security.

Yesterday Jacob and I went for a 15 minute walk to the local shopping complex and market. These people are really wonderful - colourful and friendly. I could spend the whole day looking at (black) women's hair. From fairy floss silk to ropes, plaits, elaborate braids, every possibility. Clearly their hair is very important to them, and it's very cool.

Anyway, then we walked back, and at a crossing stopped next to a lady. She looked very uncomfortable, and I thought maybe it was us, so I just sort of tried to keep a little distance and act happy and cool. She told us she'd just that morning had her phone stolen at gunpoint. She was very upset, visibly distressed. Hmm. One of the workers around here who I've become mates with reckons, "It's really not that bad. I've lived here all my life and only been mugged eight times." Oh good.

Anyways, blah blah. I'm still working on my photo publishing technique. My notebook is not loaded with software (it can't handle Photoshop), so I'm uploading straight from camera to Picasa, and can't figure out how to save the pics at lower resolution. Any advice welcome.

I'll have more after the day's exciting ordeal.

Some Pictures

2010-06-13T00:33:00.004+10:00

The Journeymen

End of a long journey

Off to the Opening

South African's are mad. I love them.

Soccer City. Wow!

Just in case our ears hadn't already gone...

The ceremony was only about an hour, but it was very cool.

High as kites on love and soccer.

Happy cops.

Sepp Blatter blatting

The first kick of the Cup

Wow, eh?

A happy lad

Soccer City

2010-06-12T23:31:00.003+10:00

My sincere apologies for not posting for three days. I've already written about four posts in my head, but I have to catch up quickly, so I've discarded most of the material. The Total Sports Village, where I'm staying, is still being constructed around me really, but finally we have a wireless connection.

Whenever anything goes wrong here, it occurs with a grin and a, "welcome to South Africa."

There is no security at the airport - none. They looked at passports and waved us through. Many people have remarked on this.

But skipping a lot until yesterday morning, when we checked the place out a bit, kicked a ball around (though I retired when a few blokes who were bloody good started; Jacob later referred to it as 'like a jam') and generally dagged around. A number of people were off to the opening ceremony and the following game between South Africa and Mexico.

Two minutes before the bus was to leave Mike, the manager here, came outside and asked, "Anyone want two tickets to the opening?"
I glanced at Jacob and saw the excitement in his eyes. "Bloody oath, but how much?" I retorted.
"Well they cost US$750 each, but the guy just needs to get rid of them."
"I'll give you $500 Australian."
"Each?"
"No, I can't afford it. I'll offer $500 for both. But it's cool. I really can't afford it."
"Hang on... Look can you go a bit higher?"
"$600 Ozzie for both, but no worries otherwise."

The short of it is that Jacob and I were off to the Opening at Soccer City. F**k!!!!!!!!!!!

The drive there was all part of the show, and I took many pictures, but am so far struggling to publish them. I'm on to it.

Johannesburg is a party. Much colour and madness. But it also showed how not ready the country was for this event. For a trip of about 10kms, we had given ourselves three hours. It was not enough, and the 12 of us piled out of the bus, armed with the driver's mobile number, and walked the last one or two miles, along with the teeming, dancing thousands.

But the colour, and excitement and noise was already intoxicating. It didn't ebb, but only got more intense. [As I write, sitting here in the common room with the scren, Argentina just scored their first goal against Nigeria].

Going into Soccer City, where again there was virtually no security check, was entering a new space. New to me and Jacob. The colour and noise and dancing was apparently endless. 85,000 in attendance.

I simply cannot succeed in describing the experience. Some people said the opening ceremony was a bit crappy, and I can in retrospect see their point, but I simply didn't notice. In fact I was constantly distracted by the show which was us. Banter with the Mexicans, South Africans and a few Americans, around us, was easy and free and laughing. We took photos for each other and joked like old family.

Someone asked me a few years ago what the highest moment of my life was. At the time I thought about it and answered, "Australia's goal against Uruguay in front of 50,000 at Suncorp Stadium. That feeling of collective unleash of tension into absolute joy is unbeatable."

South Africa's goal against Mexico killed that experience, and relegated it to about a 4.5 on a brand new scale for me.

Quite simply, and Jacob said the same (over and over, as did I) that was the most extraordinary experience of my life bar none. In the way that Peter Brook's Mahabarata fulfilled my quest for perfect theatre way back in the 80s (I saw the 9 hour epic in Adelaide), my soccer passion feels fulfilled. If I die tomorrow, I haven't got any unfinished business on that front anyway.

As I say I can't explain it. I simply can't. It's the 85,000 people, it's a brilliant game (it really was very open and creative from both sides, and I'm sure this crowd lifted the locals), it's the stadium design I think, and it's the two particular cultures involved. But I can't do it. Everything vibrated with rhythm. My plastic beer bottle in my hand felt like a vibrator, but pulsing with the movements of noise. The air itself seemed to resonate. The crowds danced and sang and hooted those horrible plastic horns (in rhythmic unison, as they synchronised a movement of them from in front of them to up above their heads). The seething masses around us moved in waves and pulses.

There was an organism (which the stadium design suggests as well), and I was a cellular component of its life. The object - stadium, players and fans - was one and it was alive.

No I'm not on drugs. This was much, much better than that.

Back with more soon.

Final Day in Brisbane Town

2010-06-09T14:42:00.009+10:00

Last night I went out to watch the last football game I'll see before the World Cup. The Ligers, a mixed futsal team I played for for a little while (pictured), who had made their semi-finals. The game was spirited as usual, but my friends were soundly defeated.

It seemed appropriate, since I am about to be absorbed in the most elite football competition there is, that I touch base with this grass roots, such a large part of my soccer passion, one last time. Thanks guys. You rock.

Driving and walking around Brisbane this last week has been a bit of an existential la la land. I love my city, and I'll even miss it. And I know I'll be back, but not as the same person. So the little things have been attracting my attention. Just shops and creatures and the blue of the sky - that sort of thing.

I've been planning this trip for almost two years. From the beginning it was proposterous and if anyone had asked, "Can you afford it?" I would reply, "I don't know but I will." But, you see, soccer sort of saved my life, and has quite tangibly filled a big spiritual space for me. Think of that what you will, but now I stand on the precipice of my journey with a type of awe, a feeling like I am about to take my dance to a new level. Forget it. It's not really explainable.

It's not just Brisbane I'm leaving for a month. Since beginning the planning for the trip I've fallen in love and gotten engaged. From the beginning of the relationship I had to explain that there was this big thing I was doing and that it wasn't necessarilly conducive to new romantic bonding. So here and now I want to thank Dawn for her love and understanding in this. I love ya baby an' I'll be back in more ways than one.

Needless to say I've been writing plenty of crap for the past few weeks, but from this point on I will be exposed to actual content, so expect the blogging to get a bit more diary like, with more pictures and more action. We'll see where it goes.

Thanks to my readers so far, and I hope I can provide an interesting and entertaining supplement to your World Cup reading. I'm pleased to say Football Down Under's readership is higher than it has ever been (about 30 of you a day), for obvious enough reasons I suppose, but there's also less comments than ever. Now if you don't feel like commenting, don't, of course. But don't hold back anyway. I'm friendly and attempt to maintain courtesy in reply even if I think you're a twat.

Anyway, before I am overwhelmed with fresh content, here's some silly things that are fun:

Timed alongside the FIFA World Cup is, in Singapore, the Robocup 2010. This is where geeks pit robots against one another in soccer. Their objective is to one day defeat a human team, but they've um... got a way to go.

And while we're on the futurism theme, doesn't Beckham look at home on Tatooine? (Thanks Josh for this one.)

With a prayer to the gods of travel and pilgrimage for safe passage there and back again of myself and my dear son Jacob, I'll see you in South Africa.

Doing the Dumb Thing

2010-06-08T21:59:00.009+10:00

Well for months I have trawled media and read long-winded comment threads about coaches, teams and players. I've tried to see through the natural inclination of sensation in the professional media, and to decipher the mind games of the coaches. I've tried to see the wisdom in conflicting arguments of people who clearly know much more than me. I've watched Australia's friendlies and carefully read hundreds of reports of other teams' friendlies.

I still have no idea what's going to happen, and gain solace only that much better educated and informed football minds than mine clearly have little better idea.

The teams, however, are chosen. The friendlies have been had. In about 33 hours my son and I will be on a Qantas Aeroplane, leaving our beautiful city on... a holiday? My brother in law Michael struggled to find a word to give for what he wanted to wish well. An adventure? "A pilgrimage," I said, and thought that was as good as any. As every Muslim at some time in their life is obliged to make the journey to Mecca, I guess the soccer fan eventually is drawn to the World Cup.

Anyway it's time for me to do the stupid thing. On the right, near the top of the side bar is a link, "The World Cup Tipped." There you will find listed every game, from the groups through to the Final, with my predicted score. I will be giving myself (and Jacob if he plays) a point for a correct result and three points for a correct score. Same system as for the Bloggers' Cup, if anyone remembers.

If anyone wants to join in feel free. Just give tips in comments. You don't have to give them all at once, and I reserve the right to change my latter tips as the group stages unfold.

Now I'm not going to rationalise every choice I made. As I've said before I think there will be an extra element of randomness at this Cup, with some new and curious conditions. In general I think this will be hard on the Europeans, especially in the Group stages. This will be a Cup for the South Americans I believe, with a decent sub-staring role for the Africans.

Brazil will win as it did in Korea/Japan in 2002. I think this not merely because Brazil is obscenely talented with an international record second to none, but because it is travel-wise at the same time. If the players can make the transition from Brazil to Europe, as most have, they're going to be hard to surprise. Actually I think that's one of Australia's strengths as well.

I guess apart from Australia's remarkable success the most controversial thing I've predicted is that Germany and France will both bomb completely. For the former, despite a suicide, five injuries (including the Captain) and an arrest, despite showing some inconsistent form even before that, despite their team being relatively inexperienced, especially at the front, I just keep hearing the historical argument: they are a machine that always does well. It's not enough to convince me, especially given the destabilising conditions. Experience will mean everything at this World Cup.

The French, I insist, are cursed by the Irish, and I reckon the South Africans have come into form and into pride at just the right time to be lifted by their home crowd to a good group result.

Australia? Yes I've been rather optimistic there. Can I just add to the prediction that when Brazil beats Australia 4:1 in the Final, the Australian sports media will declare that the whole thing up to then was luck and that the game revealed once and for all that Pim was crap.

But I have chosen for Australia the path of unfinished business. By winning the group we shall go on to play the USA, second behind England in Group C. That I consider unfinished business - it's been far too long since Australia and the USA have had a good competitive match, and that last friendly just didn't satisfy. Winning that will have us up against Argentina in the Quarter Final, with the opportunity to fulfil Maradona's prophesy that we would have the tears of joy one day. By scraping through that (on penalties) we get to Italy. Now there we have real unfinished business. Once again, we just have to hold them and beat them in the penalty box. Crude, but I'm trying to envision the most likely scenario for success.

Anyway, there it is.

For a fantastically designed single-page guide to the World Cup, bookmark this.

For a brilliant, extremely professional tactical analysis of Australia's team, we are in debt to Zonal Marking. I've been hoping (I thought vainly) for this blog to do a feature on Australia and it came through. It includes pictures and fairly elaborate descriptions of what we might expect the different players to do.

Can the World Cup Save the World?

2010-06-07T06:28:00.014+10:00

Anyone who frequents this blog will be accustomed to the ravings of a lunatic so I must emphasise to begin with that I didn't make the above question up. Part of FIFA's explicit agenda is to save the World.

In terms of the history of institutions, FIFA is a doozie. It's mind-bogglingly big, federating more nations than any multinational and indeed more than the United Nations. It turns over multi-billions of dollars, allegedly as a non-profit organisation, from its headquarters in Switzerland, where it pays bugger-all tax. FIFA is utterly corrupt and, given its lack of accountability, quite possibly so from top to bottom. Its obstinate rejection of any video technology to aid in referee decisions only reinforces this impression. Its corporate, non-national structure means it does not answer to any constituency, even indirectly.

The political power of FIFA should not be underestimated, and if any international political scientist is not accounting for it they're missing a biggie. One of the first steps a new state will make (with the Balkanisation of Eastern Europe for example) is apply for membership of FIFA. This application has actually been prioritised over an application to join the United Nations in cases.

The main thing long-time President Sepp Blatter insists upon is that the government does not interfere with the national soccer. From time to time national federations are suspended from FIFA, when they will flurry to adjust to Blatter's demands. It's quite a lot like insisting upon the seperation of church and state, and I invite readers to think about how powerful that makes this bloke Sepp Blatter. Bloody powerful.

I am a big supporter of Australia's World Cup bid, but we should not be naive. Australia would not be running it. South Africa had to agree to forego a lot of sovereignty to FIFA, whose perks included tax free status and an unlimited and unimpeded license to move money in and out of the country in any form.

Now as I suggested in the beginning, FIFA has an explicitly progressive agenda. A few years ago it insisted that all national federations raise the minimum percentage of their funding for women's soccer from 10% to 20%. 220 odd countries, just like that. It doesn't even sound much to a Western mind (the USA had a constitutional decision that government sports funding must be 50% for women - and it shows in their women's sport), but note that this requirement is insisted upon from Kenya to Iran, from The Solomon Islands to Ecuador. It's very proactive stuff, and the governments move to comply.

I can feel a digression coming on when it comes to FIFA's major campaigns against racism in soccer. Australians who have been exposed to not much more than popular press might even find them ironic, because soccer is still often associated with hooliganism and racism. A football game can not produce racism of course, it just provides a jolly opportunity for racism to come to the surface in an ugly way, and we've seen it often enough.

FIFA and the European football federations tackled racism head on with advertising, stadium redesigns, modern crowd management and heavy policing, including with lifetime bans, utilising continental blacklists of hooligans, and the rest. They've had enormous success in combating the racism and the hooliganism, but from what I've read the cycle has gotten going as strong as ever in Eastern Europe and the potential remains everywhere.

The problem is, as many governments have discovered over the past century, soccer is too big and too popular to ban. So the only solution is to confront the problem directly. The effect, in my view, is that racism in society is actually tackled.

In Australia we failed to utilise football as an opportunity to tackle racism in our society. Ethnic rivalries between clubs is the standard scapegoat of all the problems of the old Australian National Soccer League, even though the Crawford Report mostly pointed to corruption and an archaic voting system as the problems. The solution was to lock all of these old clubs, with their decades of tradition and community connection, out of the A-League. It was a monumental mistake in my opinion, but I've digressed too far...

The 1Goal Campaign

The flagship progressive feature of World Cup 2010, apart from the fact that it is in Africa, is the 1Goal campaign. For my own part I am almost shocked at how perfect the goal of this is, which is to eliminate illiteracy, insisting that every child on the planet be schooled. This is an achievable goal and a basic milestone in the stabilisation and development of World Civilisation. I would argue that it is about the single greatest World priority actually, quite independently of my obvious neurotic passion for soccer, and have done so. Clearly it goes with the whole Africa thing, as that's where most of the work will need to be.

As I write 8,154,180 people have signed up to 1Goal. I am one, and I heartilly recommend you add your name. Just go to the site and do what you're told.

So how does 1Goal propose to address this problem? Well explicitly it doesn't want our money, and as far as I can see it is pure lobby, a global petition to, "the governments of the World." Fair enough, but I do question how wholehearted FIFA is, given there is no link to 1Goal from the FIFA World Cup front page.

The thing is I see a real potential for this campaign, and do in general believe that what I call 'the globalising middle classes' do have a real political role to play now, but it doesn't seem to me that the campaign is really being pushed, beyond its stylish, star-studded launch and then automated internet collection.

What I would love to see, and what could actually make an impact, is the campaign featured, maybe for 90 seconds, before the World Cup Final in front of a billion people. This billion people would include, for the overwhelming part, all the leaders, corporate and political, all the journalists, judges, generals and pop icons. In short, every player is watching, aware that a billion others are watching. That is the moment of maximum opportunity, but I doubt that it will be taken.

But sign up I reckon. It would be great to get to 10,000,000 anyway. I think it is a unique lobby, without borders, without particular cultural biases, or even a common language. Despite my cynicism about the 1Goal campaign, I think the goal itself is actually achievable, so I think it's worth humouring FIFA en masse, to see what might be pushed.

Humbled by Uncle Sam

2010-06-06T09:04:00.015+10:00

United States v Australia 3:1
Pre-World Cup Friendly

Well, Australia may have been exhausted from fitness training, and I will still maintain my optimism the best I can for the World Cup, but according to my own declaration yesterday, I won't be putting my money on them. For not only was the Socceroos' run of very close victories ended, but they were ended decisively, with any reputation for a rock-solid defense of multiple clean sheets shattered by the 3:1 scoreline.

Now once again I think we do have a very effective attack. I don't know how many times I saw the ball come down our left followed by a beautiful cross from Chipperfield into the box. Again and again. That's called a successfully executed attack. But Josh Kennedy looked buggered and wasn't getting to them. We know Josh can get these because he does it for his Japanese Club regularly, but he wasn't doing it last night.

But there's not much comfort to be drawn from the possibilities of missed opportunities because the USA missed a basket of opportunities as well whilst our defense was cruelly exposed.

And I guess that's one of the trade-offs for the 'old, experienced' defense, where after a tough day's fitness training (Friday was their peak fitness session) they simply didn't have legs for it. As Jason Cullina said, it's no excuse in itself, but we can at least be comforted that before the German game these old soldiers will be fit and rested. Fingers crossed, wallets closed.

I had to laugh at my own overplaying yesterday of the difference between the FIFA and ELO tables with regard to Australia's and the USA's rankings. If you were following that narrative, note that that game placed the United States one place above Australia on the ELO table, from four places behind. Seems a reasonable correction to me.

Here's a final positive I can find from this game. Australia's best chance of anything, in my view, is the first game against Germany. I'm not understimating them, but they are relatively inexperienced and will be viewing the game as the first of a long campaign. It is our only chance for surprise. If Australia had flogged the USA, after its long, successful qualifier and then victories over New Zealand and Denmark, successively tougher opponents, the other teams in Group D would have been put on high alert. To be beaten, especially comprehensively, at this stage, is to duck under the radar once again, at the best possible time. No I don't think it was the plan, just a way in which fate may yet be working for us.

Once again, I am still hoping, though the evidence is getting shaky, that the Socceroos overall preparation is on track and that the team which runs on the field on the 13th will be at their peak of fitness and tactical understanding, and will have topped off this brilliantly concieved plan with a day of light training then a full day's rest. And thence, things will be glorious.

I'm a patriot ok? I will try to be honest in my observations, whilst doing everything I can to keep the faith. If it comes to it, I will wear the ignomy of my optimism being utterly wrong as a war wound, a badge of honour in our country's battle for the ultimate glory. But at the same time I'm serious. The Socceroos have every chance to go a long way at this World Cup.

Just a thankyou to the Pig n Whistle (left), a rare dedicated soccer pub where I've enjoyed the last two friendlies. My impression was of an established culture of Pig n Whistle goers, brought to my attention by the rousing participation in the National Anthem, which, apart from the fact that it is a crap song in every way (hardly their fault), was impressive. There were screens everywhere, including in the courtyard, and you could even see the screen from the smoking area. Keep it in mind, I reckon, as a good spot to watch a game with the public.

For analysis of the game itself the best blog I've found so far is by Dom on the World Cup Blog. [Later Ed: Mike Salter, always worth a read, has published a blog about the game too.]

Australia v USA and Betting

2010-06-05T07:21:00.012+10:00

It is just a little bit tempting to be distracted by tonight's tennis game. I gaped in awe at the news that Sam Stosur actually beat Serena Williams, as I thought that could only ever be done by a Serena Williams clone. Note to any future genetic engineers: if you're going to make a sporting superhero, make sure you make two, so the competition can stay interesting. The Williams sisters definitely give the impression that a genetic engineer has got my memo already, along with another more technical memo about a time machine. Anyway, of course it took a Queenslander and tonight Stosur has a shot at winning the French Open. The game competes with the football, and I will not be any further distracted, but from Football Down Under, Go You Queensland Woman!!!!!!!

Australia vs United States
10.30pm tonight. Australia v United States. Third and last warm up friendly before the World Cup games. Live on Fox 3.

A training run or a rare opportunity to bloody Uncle Sam's nose? It's within the question that we could play the United States in the Round of 16 incidentally, but can we let a chance go by?

As a fan I am presented with these two potentially contradictory pathways, which I'm sure is a tension in the team itself, although our Dutch coach wouldn't be having such problems. In a way it would be better to have these friendlies against teams we'd never heard of, as then they could be unambiguously for training. For when Australia plays the United States (and New Zealand for that matter), it is hard not to feel obliged to concentrate purely on the slaughter.

Australia, I can't help thinking, has a patriotic duty to defeat the yanks, regardless of any other circumstances. The fact is that doing so would bring enormous national joy regardless of any other World Cup results. However it's also hard not to be aware that that's exactly how the Kiwis felt about playing us a week ago, and it didn't work out for them (they lost and picked up an injury).

Winning is more fun for David than it is for Goliath, after all, but riskier.

Without bringing too many factors into play the only real inequality between the USA and Australia as nations is that the former has 51 states in their federation and we have six and a half. The similarities in language, culture, income, institutions and the soccer environment are clear enough. Soccer of course, as it is played between countries with equal rules and equal personel with an impartial referee, is the equalising competition, unlike war, that ugly, dangerous, archaic, environmentally destructive approach to international conflict. In the case of these two countries, with no home ground benefit for either, we might expect the USA and Australia to look equal on the football pitch. And so it is the case.

Just a brief word on international ranking. On the official FIFA ranking table Australia are currently at 20th and the United States is at 14th - a significant difference, though within a pretty tight part of the table. That table is updated monthly, so this 26th May calculation will be the one referred to for the whole World Cup period, regardless of any of the friendly warm up games occurring now, or any WC games to come. Quite aside from the fact that it isn't updated game by game, FIFA's ranking system is inordinately complicated, calculating factors from up to five years old and, frankly, doesn't always reflect what's going on.

No system can really see everything of course, but there is a better system. The ELO Rankings are based on the ranking system for international chess, annotated with soccercentric factors. That they're updated game by game, and you can see on the page the calculator's impact from each game, is helpful in itself. I often use this page just to get a quick list of the latest international games.

When Australia was about 38th in 2006 on the FIFA table and that was clearly too low, ELO reflected that. Then when we hit the lofty heights of 14th on the FIFA table, with which most commentators were openly uncomfortable, ELO reflected that as well. A lot of the table looks about the same of course, but the differences are distinctive (Portugal ranking 11th rather than 3rd for example) and, in my own engagement, better reflect an attentive observer's intuitions.

This might be useful information, but the reason I bring it to attention now is very superficial. On the ELO table Australia is currently 18th and the USA is at 22nd. There's still not a lot of space between us but Australia has the edge. Once again, this edge in Australia's direction better reflects my own intuition, though the betting totalisers support the FIFA model. No doubt the FIFA table has a real bearing on the totalising as well.

There is no other possible conclusion from these two sets of data except that Australia and the USA are about equal.

As usual I have not the slightest idea who, if anyone, will win tonight. Craig Foster, in that book that I am still excrutiating my way through, claims that, a) he has powers of observing a football game parallel with the powers of Keanu Reeves character in The Matrix to read the matrix, and, b) that after about 10 minutes of a given game he basically knows what's going to happen. If this was the case, even to a degree of 5%, people like Craig Foster would not be reading the sports news (watch his face very carefully when he reports on AFL and rugby - he cannot conceal the grimace) but would be the wealthiest men in our society.

Just to reinforce the observation that noone really has a clue, some readers will remember the tipping competition I conducted on this blog for an A-League season and a half, The Blogger's Cup. As a set of data, the main conclusion you can draw from these soccer bloggers' attempts to predict the games (they range from experienced analysts to rank amateurs like myself) is that none of them did much better than they would have if we had of had a sweep from a hat, and the mean was about the same. The leaders tended to be those whose teams were winning. (No taking away from Mike Salter, who won so strongly in the end that perhaps he should consider devloping a betting system to retire with. Hope you enjoyed the single malt trophy mate. :))

I'm going to raise a challenge to the universe. I'm going to bet $50 on Australia to win by one goal. If Australia wins by one goal I am going to place another $50 bet on Australia to win each of its World Cup games by one goal. As far as I can see the most I can lose is $50, and the emotional journey of winning or losing will smother any impact of the outcome of the bet anyway. And if Australia doesn't win tonight, my betting at this World Cup is over.

Now betting with totalisers is a fool's game, since they are carefully constructed to win and for you, statistically, to lose. I actually love gambling, but only when I sense the odds are in my favour - I guess that's the basic instinct of a businessman. To bet with a betting agency is so transparently a poor investment vis-a-vis risk that it is remarkable that anyone does it at all. So I'm not investing $50 at all. I'm spending $50, that I reckon I can afford, for what I reckon is about $50 worth of fun.

Beyond the moralising, if you must have a bet, consider this blog's one and only sponsor, linked to the right, PartyBets. I am under no obligation to plug them but it seemed a juncture where it would almost be odd not to mention them.

I couldn't find any good blogs reviewing the game properly, but News Limited's David Hall gives a little bit of insight. If I find good stuff during the day I'll link to it here.

I'll be watching the game at the Pig n Whistle.

Reading

2010-06-03T12:31:00.013+10:00

With six sleeps to go before Jacob and I leave on our historic and sacerdotal witness, I thought I may not be the only one wondering what to read on the plane. Each of these three books is Australian. Each is aimed at an extremely different audience. Each has as a common theme the most beautiful game yet devised, a game that has become the most universal language and religion, the crowning cultural artifact of human civilisation to this date. Three new soccer books.

Paul Connolly, The Mighty Bras: A Suburban Football Story with Balls/Intestinal Fortitude, Affirm Press, Victoria, 2010.

For a plane trip to Johannesburg, straight up, this is my highest recommendation. If reading is how you pass the hours, you'll probably finish it (190 pages), and it will only have done lovely things to your state of mind for your arrival.

The Mighty Bras is a biography of an amateur women's soccer team in Melbourne written by its coach. Sound indulgent? Gloriously so. The characters are brought alive with great humour and empathy, and everything about the read is fun. I laughed out loud frequently. It might have helped that the team reminded me often of Dawn's team, The West End Partisans, although the Bras do eventually win some games. (Dawn is my long-suffering fiance.)

Adrian Deans, Mr Cleansheets, Vulgar Press, Victoria, 2010.

My fantasy: a 40 year old goal keeper from Australia gets a trial with Manchester United. How the author keeps this believeable (just) is the real mystery. This is a read for a popular audience, but at 525 pages will take a few plane trips and you might want to start it before you head off. I couldn't put the bloody thing down and it kept me up for a few nights. Football, sex, violence, crime, intrigue, juicy characters and an underlying comedy of plot without any of it being a comedy. It's like the author dares you to drop your suspension of disbelief, deftly maintaining your interest as you repress, page after page, the urge to laugh at what must be his ultra-dry absurdist sense of humour. I can say no more without spoiling the journey. For me it was a hoot.

Craig Foster, Fozz on Football, Hardie Grant Books, Victoria, 2010.

Now Craig Foster is a freak. I mean it, and I am an authority. The man has a unique mental condition, a cross between Anthony Green (replacing political data with soccer data), Billy Graham (replacing black n white religious evangelism with black n white soccer evangelism) and Timothy Leary (replacing drug euphoria with soccer euphoria).

I must immediately point out that Craig would never use the word 'soccer' as loosely as I am doing so for it is the wrong word. AFL for him is not 'football' at all, despite the fact, easily verifiable, that everyone calls it that. I've written about this absurdity elsewhere (ok, twice) so I won't go on about that. Suffice to say that I couldn't care less what you call the game and that 'soccer' seems a useful term in a media environment with multiple football codes.

Anyway the first four or five chapters were hilarious for their relentless polemical passion, replete with exageration, hyperbole, the rampant overuse of superlatives, blind contradiction and a happy smattering of fascinating football anecdotes that you would be better off picking up from Simon Kuper's excellent books. The chapters are really short essays of five or six pages each, which made it an excellent bedside book, but honestly, I nearly put it down and reviewed it as crap without continuing.

I'm very glad I didn't do that.

To get the unique gift that Craig Foster has to offer you have to see past Timothy Leary and Billy Graham and get to Anthony Green. It's when Foster got to his detailed raves about what good football is that I started concentrating because I realised I was learning a lot very quickly. His essays on the system, on space, on speed, on the touch each show us things we can watch for, ways we can watch the game. It's no secret that the intricacies of the soccer game fascinate the eff out of me, and Fozzie describes each aspect with the deeply considered understanding that only an obsessive nutjob can truly attain.

Anyway the book is still by my bed and I'm only half way through it. I do need something for the plane you know?

All of these books seem to be available in regular bookshops, but I don't have them in my own bookshop, because it's second hand. There's not many soccer books in my bookshop unfortunately (Archives Fine Books, 40 Charlotte St, Brisbane), because I've hoarded them all.

Mateship and the Group Mind

2010-06-02T09:13:00.013+10:00

In a way this is the third in a series of blogs attempting to grapple with the factors involved in the question of who will do well at the World Cup, Parts One and Two being The Gods Must be Cheeky and Getting into the Zone.

In Getting into the Zone I mentioned the factor of getting into a team zone, of developing group mind, and described it basically as too mysterious to describe. Well now, foolishly, I'm going to attempt to describe it a bit.

Firstly there's no real alternative to training in a system, which is what the Socceroos have been doing under Verbeek for two years, and last night's win over Denmark seemed to indicate that this was coming together. It's this time in camp, in the relevant environment with the same ball and with the team largely settled, which will see the Socceroos playing as a single intelligent unit or not. The third and last warm up friendly against the United States this Saturday will be the final indication to us fans whether or not it's happening.

It's been noted how different this World Cup build up is to that in 2006. In 2006 there was almost unanimous joy, optimism and faith in the coach and the team. There's a lot of reasons for the difference, including just the loss of novelty, but the fact that we haven't been able to watch the Socceroos play since the last World Cup unless we have FOX TV is not appreciated. I enjoyed watching the game last night at the Pig 'n' Whistle, but I left Jacob at home, Dawn had guests, and there was no kids there. The game would have had five times the Australian audience if it were on free to air.

Before I go on I want to emphasise that this difference (between 2006 and 2010) is not merely in the media and the response for us fans. There's no question that part of the overall winning formula in 2006 was the mass national support behind the team. The team is naturally affected by this. For them this campaign has a profoundly different feel, and they are going to need to find a different formula for finding their group spirit.

My thesis, re: the group mind mystery, is that as well as all the training together and team bonding experiences the team requires a singleness of spirit, a fiction in which they all unquestioningly believe. In everyday parlance this is called 'Ozzie spirit', and it's a real group-psychological phenomena, even though it's based on what can only be described as a fiction. Clearly Australia has no monopoly - many countries have a tradition of strong patriotic spirit - but it is fair to say that some countries have stronger patriotism than others. When it comes to it Australia's institutional egalitarianism helps, whereas in England that is compromised by the class system, and in Ghana and the African countries, I am guessing, it may be compromised by the tribal system. I can't see how North Korea can maintain any genuine team patriotism, especially since their fans can't even travel for fear of them defecting.

Anyway the thesis is not merely about patriotism, it is something, a group fiction which boils down to a belief that 'God is on our side' or more accurately, 'the gods are on our side', or more accurately still but with decreasing poetic impact, 'more gods are on our side than are on anyone else's'. Ok, it's a belief in your luck. It's a proposterous belief, but absolutely necessary for a winning team's mysterious ability to enter a group-zone on the field. It doesn't matter how it's understood, so 'Ozzie Spirit' will do me.

There is a reason I'm not unduly worried about the lack of support Pim and the Socceroos are getting from much of Australia. The media response - and I'm referring to large numbers of commenters as well as bloggers and 'football analysts' who have been busy elaborating on why the Socceroos are effed for months now - is in large part emotional cowardice, a version of cultural cringe fairly typical in Australia where we want to make sure we can appear superior even as we acknowledge the inadequacy of the society we come from. Much better for the whole situation to have a bit of belief, but risky to the old credibility. We can always be 'pleasantly surprised' afterward.

If the Socceroos fail to get through their group, Jesse Fink and others will be 'I told you so'-ing like a fog horn and belittling the ignorance of those who believed in Verbeek. But if the Socceroos do well the sound of mea culpa will be a very small, soft sound. I will not, if my optimism proves correct, say, "I told you so," and in my view nobody gets to do so with anything but the candour of, "I guessed right." What I will claim, is that it is in the national interest to support the team, that I will more likely be right in my optimism specifically because of my optimism. The pessimist also has this advantage, but does nothing for the team.

I have digressed too much. The reason I think the Socceroos can overcome the lack of nationalistic support from home is another Australian myth, that of mateship. 'Mateship' is overused, especially if we note its origins in the trenches at Gallipoli. It was over there, according to C.J. Dennis's character Digger Smith, one of the key popular sources for all these Australian myths, where "we learned what mateship really was."

Now I have probably already overused the war analogy for soccer and clearly, although there are many similarities between international soccer games and warfare, the lads are not actually under fire risking their lives. It is arguable that the profound feeling of solidarity the diggers called 'mateship' is only really possible in the crucible of ultimate risk, but there is another important feature of mateship which might be relevant right now. Again and again, from all manner of conflicts, we hear from old soldiers that when it came to the fight they were no longer doing it for what's right, or for country, or for their officers, or even for their families. On the coal face of conflict, the diggers found that the reason they gave their everything was for fear of letting down the blokes next to them, and that was it.

Can the Socceroos find that now? They kind of need to.

I think they are. Pim has no doubt sealed them from the media to a large extent and they know from experience the importance of deep team solidarity, which they reportedly enjoyed in 2006.

Last night I thought they did really well against Denmark. There may even be a bit of room for mea culpa already but I note the pessimists' doggedness. Some of the criticisms I'm reading are actually funny. One commenter is concerned that Kennedy up front was never chasing down Denmark's defenders, where that was quite clearly part of Kennedy's brief, as a lone striker, to preserve energy. Another lamented the lack of intensity, which was a feature of both teams and was clearly part of the 'friendly' agreement, to ensure no injuries on either side. The ball, and perhaps the altitude, was causing problems for both teams, as long passes would fly off the field, and at least once the bounce of the ball completely wrong footed Dario, but this is a major reason both teams are playing - so they can get used to the ball and the conditions.

What I saw last night was some really good triangles, moving together fluidly and working even in tight spaces, and several prolonged passages of possession play which demonstrated that the team is getting what Pim is asking of them. This is not a system that will attack a lot, but when it did it was coherent, Kennedy playing his central role well, and the three midfielders advancing together, often outnumbering and outwitting Denmark's defense. Our own defense looked much better than the game against New Zealand, giving Denmark's frequent attacks little chance. Schwarzer's skills were only really called upon once.

Now these are friendlies and can't mean much either way, but we should at least note that Denmark is a very good team, that we have only lost two of our last 19 games, that most of them (including last night) have had clean sheets, and most importantly, that the shape and cohesion of the Socceroos is visibly improving right now (good timing, let's face it) and therefore that the Socceroos are not easybeats. We are hard to score against and have effective, albeit infrequent, firepower up front - better than frequent ineffective firepower, and less work. Aside from bloody mindedness of some sort, there is no reason to be pessimistic.

Now even if this blog had a high profile the Socceroos would not be reading it because on the whole I doubt they're reading any media about them. I wouldn't if I were them anyway and if I were Pim I would advise them to ignore the media completely during this time. But with the vain conceit that they may read this, my only message is, ignore us all. We're a bunch of ignorant cretins. You are on the coalface of a great conflict and now is the time to play for one another. Australia is a bit insecure but we all really do love you and your success will bring us enormous happiness, but this is your gig now, and we can barely comprehend it.

I haven't actually made my predictions for the World Cup, or even for Australia's group. I'll do so after the third friendly against the USA this Saturday. It'll still be a guess, but it will at least be as informed as it can be.

Meanwhile, if one more defender and one more midfielder must be dropped, make it Moore and Grella. I love them both, but the new hungry faces look good, and it's their time, in my opinion. As always, the coach knows much more than me, and I will have faith in the decisions that are made (by tonight).

Just as a post-script, any regular readers of my blog will know that I am far from against criticism of coaches, teams and clubs. As Jesse Fink, Craig Foster and others will always point out in their defense, disagreement and debate is very healthy and fosters deeper understanding. It's just a question of timing. Right now, on the eve of competition, when the system is well into development and the personel have been chosen, there is no benefit to any outcome in criticism and pessimism. None.

Goodness what a ramble. For anyone who has got through this whole essay, get a life.

Congratulations to the Champions of Asia

2010-05-31T19:36:00.008+10:00

Women's Asia Cup 2010 Final
Matildas v North Korea 1:1
Matildas win 5:4 on penalties after extra time

Oh it was wet and it was muddy,
so both sides were playing cruddy,
but the stakes were high and the Ozzies were game
and the Matildas laughed at the rain.

Sam Kerr popped one at fifteen minutes!
No one yet knows this young girl's limits.
But the brave Stalinists came back near the end
to force the time into extend.

But the mud and the crud meant no more goal
could be scored in extra time, although
it was bloody close once or twice
for the bad guys, so the gods were nice.

Sally, Kyles, Kate, Heather and Kyah
scored penalties to finish North Korea.
Australians all doff hats and bow
to the Champions of Asia, right about now.

A drink to el captain, Melissa Barbieri,
And to the good coach Tom Sermanni.
There are leaders aplenty in this group of women
and no shortage of spirit (whether runnin' or swimmin').

And we wish the wounded all the best:
De Vanna and Sarah Walsh, and all the rest
with bruises, cramps, scrapes and weariness.
You have earned your glory, defeated your nemesis.

Girls of the Matildas, we drink to you all!
You have done Australians proud, one and all,
and when you are next year in Germany to take on the World
we know that you'll give it a damn good burl.

Cheers Matildas
I'm sorry it's the best I could do.

For good raves about the game, it's the same four good bloggers, Fiona Crawford, Merryn Sherwood, Mike Salter and Eamonn Flanagan.

Matildas, Right Now, You Are Australia

2010-05-29T21:16:00.012+10:00

Well it's 12 sleeps 'till the lad and I head on our merry adventure, but just hold the whole World Cup thought for a bit.

Tomorrow evening in Chengdu, China, the Matildas, Australia's most important women's sporting team, will be playing to be the Champions of Asia, against North Korea. It's a grand final. We're there.

In getting there we lost our best striker, Lisa De Vanna, to a broken leg, and she will not be playing for some months. But the semi-final against favourites Japan was won without her, and the team seems to be bursting with talent. All the best Lisa for some rest and a quick recovery.

I won't go on too much about the almost comic book contrast between the two teams, Australia and North Korea, except to just bring it to this brief attention. It is the United States' most loyal ally against the same's most foul foe. I daresay it is the most free country in Asia versus the most oppressive. It is a long-haired, feminine team of joy and friendship versus a Stalinist machine of military-cut girls who look like boys. It is Athens vs Sparta. I guess I couldn't have laid more prejudices into those few lines if I tried, and of course my caracatures are generalised and limited, but if you don't believe my description describes something that every observer is forced to make some sense of, do look for yourselves.

Live tomorrow (Sunday) night from 9.30pm on ABC2.

The Women's Asia Cup is real silverware, the stuff that glistens in the light. It should be glistening in the bright stadia lights held aloft by Melissa Barbieri, the Matildas' captain, brilliant goalkeeper and (arguably) hottest babe (unfortunately married), about this time tomorrow night. May the gods have it be so.

May it not become an icon of the great Leader, the propaganda accessory of a Stalinist State.

The Matildas have had a fair bit of turnover in their squad in the last 12 months and at the same time coach Tom Sermanni has discovered remarkable depth available to him. So it is perfect timing to hit a stride, twelve months away from the Women's World Cup in Germany 2011 (for which they also qualified in making these finals). The 2007 Women's World Cup was one of the highlights of my soccer watching career, and the Matildas exceeded all expectations there, making the semi-finals (I wrote about it here). In 2011, unlike the Socceroos in South Africa 2010, The Matildas will be shooting to win, without any obvious denial of reality. They are true stars for our country, and I love them.

For good articles on the Matildas Asia Cup progress so far, including much better analysis than this, see Fiona Crawford, Merryn Sherwood, Mike Salter and Eamonn Flannagan.

I adore you Matildas. May the good guys win. ;)

Getting into the Zone

2010-05-28T09:23:00.004+10:00

As the 32 World Cup squads are finalised, the weight of neurotic speculation from fans and media pundits has shifted from which players will go to which teams will win. I'm not above such speculation, and will cast more specific oracles of my own closer to the games, but right now, as in The Gods are Feeling Cheeky, I'm interested more in the question than the answer. What factors will decide?

My general thesis (well, it's hardly mine, but I've adopted it) is that different conditions make for different winners, and that furthermore South Africa will present us with new conditions that will throw the order of things in ways we can't yet see.

The factor of fate, 'the gods', or in the vernacular, luck, is a constant in every competition, and nobody can tell us what it will decree or why. So far the gods are working for Australia. The latest is that Essien is officially out of Ghana's squad, which makes Ghana a much less formidable proposition. Think of the Greek army against the Trojans when Achilles stayed in his tent and you get the idea. We cannot trust the gods of course, and should almost expect a counter-attack in our own camp. Pray that Athena is personally guarding and tending Harry Kewell.

One condition I haven't mentioned is that Australia was the first outside team in South Africa, nearly three weeks before the game with Germany. Germany arrives five days before the game. Acclimatisation is always an important factor, and with the rarity of a winter (Southern Hemisphere) competition, Australia doesn't have as much of it to do anyway. We come from approximately the same latitude. Another thing in our favour is the Socceroos are probably the most experienced at working in varying conditions in between travel than any team in the World. The Socceroos do away games in utterly different environments throughout Asia, as a matter of routine. Even the A-League, I should add, has our local teams routinely engaged in long distance travel between a variety of climates. Travel and hacking difference should continue to be a strength of our team.

But that's all just catch up. I want to get to the real point here. The coalface of the actual outcome (who gets goals and points) happens in the stadiums between whistle blows, with no other than the 2x11 blokes on the field. And once the whistle blows, and all the training, luck and conditions have come together in a single constellation that we shall call a moment, the game will be won or lost in the minds of those players on the field. In short it will all be about to what extent those players, every one of whom are capable of brilliance some of the time, can "be in the zone," right then, in exactly those (90 minutes of changing) conditions.

As individuals they need to find the zone and, even more mysteriously, they need to find a collective zone, where the team approximates a single mind. But I'll make a feeble attempt only to explain what I mean about the individual.

What is 'the zone'? I'm assuming a bit that readers kind of 'know what I mean', especially those who've played sport or maintained motorcycles, but I'll have a go at elaborating for the exercise.

Brains are plastic things and the zone is constructed in years of training. There was a study done on London taxi drivers (distinctive in that they are required to know the streets of London before they can get a cab license) which showed that their brains physically grew, and that what grew about them was the neurological database of London streets and the ability to know which was the best way from one of them to another. When you think about it it's an enormous task, but I think it's fair to say all of us develop software packages according to what we do. For myself, since dealing with books, I think my bibliographical brain has increased in capacity, sort of a recallable, efficient, store of authors, titles, publishers and other details that would give the impression that I actually have a good memory, which generally I don't.

A language is clearly a distinct package of software in our brains which can be developed to varying degrees and accessed at will. Musicians, dancers and soccer players, who dedicate a large portion of their childhood to practice, must, I think, develop a formidable neorological equipment dedicated to nothing but their craft. They also develop a capacity to access that software, even when they don't feel great or when things are distracting.

But as with language or playing the ukelele, the trick is to have the software working with no conscious interference. Most of us who have been driving a long time know the moment of arrival when you simply can't remember the journey because you were thinking about something else. It's like with enough practice you can put your body on automatic with just a watching brief for your conscious mind. Call it the sound of one hand clapping if you like. Every striker just like every golfer and archer knows that at the moment you strike, your brain cannot be interfering at all. Your body knows best, just as it knows best when to next make a beat of the heart.

But the soccer player cannot rehearse everything like a musician or dancer, and neither does he have the luxury of pause and poise that the archer and golfer has. Maybe he's a bit more like the driver in traffic, though in a far more challenging and difficult environment, and with the grossly difficult factor of an opposition.

I've heard soccer players say they can't remember anything about a goal except the ball hitting the net. In my forays into amateur sport I know that my own neorological and physical equipment, even barely trained, can, if I can find 'the zone', work brilliantly. A pro is someone so well trained that he can find it most of the time. Meanwhile, the greater mystery of the collective zone of a team, however non-understood, will then be the decisive factor.

In a way, when Pim says he's happy with his system but there's more work to do, he's saying that the team hasn't yet developed the personal and team software for the system to really work. With three weeks he's confident he can achieve that with them, and we must wish him luck.

There's no question that everyone on the Australian team can play football very well. When the whistle blows on the 13th June they will either enter a zone better than the German team or not. If they don't, as they didn't really on Monday night against New Zealand, they will lose. If they do, and the relative German inexperience (at international level, together) fails to do so, we will win. An important point behind all this raving is that when the game is on, all the history and statistics are playing zero part. What's happening is only what's happening right now, under these conditions.

That 90 minutes between Australia and Germany, like many 90 minute periods in South Africa, is going to be a very interesting 'right now'. Inherently, there's nothing predictable about it at all.

The Gods Must be Cheeky

2010-05-27T01:27:00.010+10:00

Trying to intuit what will happen at the World Cup does my head in. There are so many variables that the situation does approach chaos. But it's not quite chaos, because some teams are better, right? Yeah, a bit.

The World Cup in our age is a contest of Homeric proportions, and for this one there are already signs that the football gods are engaged in their own parallel battles. Meanwhile, past the statistics and history, which is, well... in the past, picking which teams are better than others is not as easy as it looks. 'Better' here, as in Darwinian evolution, merely means, "the most suited for the conditions," whatever they are on the day. "The conditions," of course, means approximately an infinity of things, from the nature of the opposition to the intestinal bacteria of your holding midfielder, from the ref to the weather.

The advantage of home crowd and the disadvantages of playing away are well documented. Apparently Kuper's Soccernomics (which I haven't managed to purchase yet) gives the home side, statistically, one goal on average. These statistics ring true with a peruse of World Cup history, with host countries always doing well and particularly with European countries doing better in Europe and South American countries doing better in their own continent.

There's a strong suggestion that some of the upset, including the strong success of the South Koreans, at the 2002 Cup was because it was outside any of the traditional territories. If this factor has anything to it at all, and if many of the teams are really not much more than one goal apart on average all things being equal, then this factor alone could give rise to all sorts of surprises, statistically.

Remember that home teams have an extra goal on average, over the studied games. Personally I think the home advantage for all the African teams, with a huge fan presence drumming and blowing those horrible horns, and easilly out-chanting, out-dancing and out-partying the rest of us, will be at least two goals. I haven't ruled South Africa out for getting through Group A, and Ghana, especially if Essien is on, could do anything.

Meanwhile the gods are keeping many of the heroes at home. Ronaldinho, of all people, has been left at home. Ballack is out (and prepares German fans for humiliation in parting). Even if Essien plays, he won't be the great we know. Our main opponent Germany is being attacked in camp by the gods apparently, with one player after another sucumbing to injury, but they're not leaving us alone either. "The gods" may be merely a cute metaphor, but they express the factor at play here well: fate, completely out of anyone's control.

Russia, after a run of great form, was knocked out (by our own foe Germany, incidentally), under no other coach but Australia's saint Guus. That's a bit like King Odysseus sitting out the Trojan War.

France enters this competition with an open curse upon it from the entire Irish population of the World. I for one would not take that lightly.

Meanwhile the recent friendlies have been weird. A full strength Portugal can't score against Cape Verde at home? Australia very nearly embarassed by New Zealand at home? Ireland, who really should be in rather than France, beats Paraguay? I think we might have already left the script behind.

The English population are whinging anyway of course even though their team just beat Mexico, but then that is what English fans do. I'm digressing here but I sometimes think that Australian fans are a bit too desperate to emulate the great English football tradition, because there's been a lot of whinging at our coach who has done everything asked of him to date.

Here's something I will predict with a certain confidence: There will be upsets at this World Cup. There will be heavyweights knocked out in the group stage and there will be surprises from the ranks. There always is a bit of that of course, but I think there will be a lot. Brazil, Italy and Spain are the only ones I would bet upon getting through the group stages. Of Germany, France, Portugal, England and Argentina, I reckon two or three won't make it, but I wouldn't dare guess which ones.

Star players who are there - I can't guess who but I have my eye on Rooney and Ronaldo - could flop (in the context of their teams), and names we've never heard of will be being spoken of all over the World.

Pim Verbeek will either be deified or damned for all time.

This World Cup is exciting. It's on new territory which will challenge every team in new ways. There's chaos in the atmosphere, the chaos of drumming, dancing, poverty and race; the chaos of injury and best-laid plans. There's a backdrop of dramatic politics, the coolest and wildest animals on the planet and the usual seething, unpredictable national tribes, including about 30 travelling away (I doubt North Korea will have much of one).

I'd say stay away from the betting shop.

The Goods

2010-05-26T17:39:00.004+10:00

Socceroos vs Kiwis 2:1

2010-05-24T23:04:00.014+10:00

That did not inspire confidence. I know pretty much everyone is going on and on about how shocking Australia played tonight, especially in the first half, and, well, I know I've vowed to be positive but it was pretty bad. This is going to be tough to put a positive spin on, but here goes.

In fairness to begin with, this was not our first team. Hopefully Adam Federici's and Brad Jones' debuts in goal will not be crucial to prepare them for World Cup games, because Schwarzer really is a key part of our game. I'm not saying either were too bad, or that Schwarzer could have made the save necessarilly, but I think our whole defensive line reflected the lack of Schwarzer's usual direction, which as a rule is constant and reflects enormous experience. So to start with, we need Mark at the back, and with him there we are a better team.

But as was much publicised our leading strikers were being rested too. Now obviously Pim intended from the beginning to play Timmy for only a half, in which we were supposed to go one up at least. But note that Pim took Timmy and other experience off, and put even more new blood on, with no apparent strategic purpose (I for one don't credit the improvement in the second half upon the subs), probably according to his original plan. That is, it was more important to see his players than to win the game, and rightly so.

And of course there's hubris, and we can be safe in the knowledge that Australia will go into none of its World Cup games thinking that we will certainly win. I fear that was the case tonight against New Zealand, and when I saw the utter determination on the Kiwi faces during their national anthem, I did see the danger. The Kiwis had much more need to beat us than the other way, and they played their first team and gave it their soul like there was no other game to be played again. It was their opportunity and they damn well nearly pipped us from our perch. But they didn't, did they?

And at half time it was quite clear to me that they weren't going to. If New Zealand were two goals up I would have been worried. But although there are other commentators saying the Kiwis played us off the park (Fox), I didn't see that. I saw glimpses of passages of play that, although too infrequent to make the difference, were of a higher technical and organisational standard to the best New Zealand offered. I also imagined the appalling scene in the dressing room at half time, and the grilling they would get from Pim and one another. We do know that Australians don't quit, and they were only going to come out firing a lot better. New Zealand had no extra to offer - they were already giving their all.

I have two witnesses: "2:1 to Australia," I declared at half time to Dawn and Jacob, and I wasn't joking. That's what it looked like to me, for all of the above reasons. And I didn't give up, for which I am personally proud. A little while after Dario's goal Dawn declared her prediction of a draw. At extra time I explained to her how so many goals statistically happen in extra time. After two minutes and forty-five seconds of extra time she was looking pretty smug, and I calmly spoke that I had not given up. My cheering is generally pretty insane, but 30 seconds later I'm not sure if I was cheering for the goal or for the fact that my confidence in the team had not flinched once and they had delivered in the final second. Only a sports fan knows that feeling.

Congratulations to Dario for his game and his goal. I'll be looking forward to watching him in South Africa. Holman really didn't convince, but I think Pim wants him so good luck to him scoring again in better competition.

Look, I'll call a spade a spade. The Socceroos played like shit in the first half, and although they got it together a bit weren't that great in the second either. I don't say that with the kind of self-righteous, pseudo-expert mockery that I hate from too many soccer (oooh sorry, football) fans. I say it with the knowledge that Pim and the blokes would probably nod in agreement, knowing they can do much better. I say it with respect.

My confidence is not rocked. These lads perform best when the stage is at its largest and the stakes are highest. We will be kept on the edge of our seats, but the Socceroos can get through their group. I actually think they will, but I'll get to my reasoning on that soon.

Post-script: It's the next morning and I found out that Australia was not the only one to be embarrassed in a home friendly yesterday. Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the failure, could only manage 0:0 against... wait for it... Cape Verde. Don't effing ask me; look at an atlas.

Singing, Matildas, the WC Team

2010-05-19T07:38:00.005+10:00

Ok, the song was too ambitious. And, especially without a high profile campaign, Australian fan singing culture will take some time. Thankyou to those here on on facebook that came up with other excellent suggestions for songs Australians could sing.

But I remain unapologetic for my advocacy. Here's one of my favourite You Tubes to give you the idea of what the sporting community can aspire to. Note that these are pretty everyday folk, most of which would not sing much, and they are singing a song. They are not singing it feebly, like they might dutifully back up a Happy Birthday. They are using their lungs and their bodies to make full sound. It is an ancient form of worship, and there is good evidence that it is good for you and that it is one secret to a long life. Singing is good, but try saying that to the great unwashed with their stereos and Ipads. The football game can teach the World to sing, and the football experience is better for it. Magic, but yes, it will take some time.

Just a couple of pointers, for those interested in what's going on. The first Matildas Asian Cup game, vs Vietnam, will be televised this afternoon on the ABC at 5pm. If you want to know what's going on with the team, Merryn Sherwood provides the best blogging (amidst a virtual silence of media incidentally).

Anyway, this Asian Cup campaign, which is also a qualifier for the Women's World Cup, could have been tailored as a curtain opener for the World Cup South Africa. And I do love it that I've seen most of the team play live watching W-League games down at Ballymore.

Calling for a national campaign to promote a football song is only one example of my naivety. I also called for fans to close ranks at this time, because there is simply no good outcome available for criticism of the coach or players. We might be God's answer to soccer genius, but if we support the Socceroos campaign, the only way to help them now is by support. We can tear them apart like dogs afterwards.

Anyway it was naive. The bloggers are at it. 'Pim's hopeless', 'his selections have doomed the campaign' etc. Pim's the guy I know is an expert, so I choose to trust him. Les Murray wrote pretty intelligently on this theme, and I think now that a week has gone by since the naming of the 30, there's the odd 'Hey, let's support the team now' type comment here and there, and fans are calming down. In retrospect it would have been more realistic of me to expect a week of undisciplined sledging and expression of anx, and suggested that then we calm down and support the team. Then again I could just face that advocacy is a waste of time.

But if you want an excellent technical account of the team, why Pim selected them and what we might expect Pim to do with each of them, I humbly refer the reader to Tony Tannous. He's a highly informed technical writer who writes well, and he doesn't seem to bother with grinding axes. In fact if you're a Socceroo fan who wants good football-educated journalism about the World Cup as it unfolds, bookmark him now.

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. I've got a lot on before I fly.

Go the Matildas.

We Must Sing Australia

2010-05-12T13:06:00.005+10:00

Thirty Effing Days.

And I thought the activist had had the stuffing knocked out of me. Well here goes…

Australian fans at this World Cup shoulder an enormous responsibility, and I'm being more serious than usual. Certainly we have to provide a stout twelfth man for a team fighting uphill, and that is important enough. But we also have to show the World that we deserve to have the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Business as usual, however distinctive and cool - I refer to the travelling Socceroos fans - won't be good enough. I think we need to make sure we impress anew. I think we have a direct opportunity to influence the World Cup Bid, and if we don't take it it would be shameful.

It's very pleasing to see around the blogs and media comments a sentiment against "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie… Oi, Oi, Oi!" It's a gross chant, and it makes us look like the bunch of yobs that we are. But at this stage, if we want to show the World we're more sophisticated, not screaming, "Oi, Oi, Oi!" would not do that - it would just show us cringing at ourselves. The Paul Hogan side of us is real and, let's face it, it's fun, so when it inevitably comes up (some dickhead will inevitably shout the "Aussie Aussie" bit (please don't), our "Oi, Oi, Oi!!" must be loud, distinct and tight - we have no choice but to try to improve our military precision for this one as there is no melody or complexity to work with. But the trick for us is to add something much, much better to our repertoire.

For a few years a friend and I have come back to a conversation occasionally about fan songs. He's an AFL fan but clearly this is good common territory, especially between those two codes. For a large crowd to sing a song, not just a chant or a ditty but to actually hold a melody and a learned section of lyrics, is glorious, perhaps one of the most powerful collective acts 20,000 people or so can pull off.

It's impossible not to admire, wishing the word 'awesome' had never lost its meaning, the massive crowds singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." This song stands king of the football songs. However unoriginal, even if the Australian fans could pull a damn good rendition of this, it would look good. But clearly that's not what we're after.

My friend likes "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", both of which have been used well in Rugby League matches. They're rough, but they're songs the crowd can get behind, and lots of people know the words. Clearly, they also lack in originality, and they're not Australian.

I have the song we need. It's going to take a lot more than my effort, but it starts here. We can do something very sophisticated, very Australian and very, very beautiful. It is a bit of effort, but we are asking a lot of our team after all. This is something that we, the fans, can do, that really will make a difference, and show the World that Australia really is an extraordinary, richly cultured place, who love their soccer team like Romeo loves Juliet, no matter what.

I have changed the words just slightly to the last half of Hunters and Collectors' You Will Throw Your Arms Around Me. I think the whole thing is too cumbersome and ambitious, but it is a song of two halves, and the second half works well. The alterations are emboldened. They are there to direct the love song at our football team, but are subtle enough that it wouldn't matter if people sung the real words if they know them.

I dreamed of you at nighttime
And I watched you in my sleep
I saw you in high places
I watched your heads and watched your feet
So if you disappear out of view
You know that I will never say goodbye
And though I try to forget it
You will make me call your name
And I'll shout it to the blue summer sky...
And we may never meet again...
So spread your wings and let's get started
And you will throw your arms around me
Yeah, you will throw your arms around me

Now this is a love song with a strong melody. That is, it is ambitious. But it is not only possible - it is right there in front of us. All we have to do is disseminate the idea and learn the words. All of us. This is the football song - a deep love song to our team - which can challenge You Will Never Walk Alone. But I think it says much more. Fans of the Socceroos, check yourselves. We can make the Socceroos more brilliant with our own efforts.

Now my general point, which I think every thinking fan should agree with, is that we need to sing. So as well as the above we need a bit of a repertoire and we need to know it. So if you're going to the Cup (even if you're not you can help) learn the following as well, and practice them all, belt them out in the shower or in front of the mirror. Practice with your mates (have some guts you wimp!) Breathe deep and own the songs from your soul. We are going to war and preparation is everything.

These songs are all real parts of ourselves, and together say a lot. And it is our patriotic obligation to rock them out of their seats in Durban. We must.

Waltzing Matilda (This alone, if we could sing it together loudly and proudly, could almost do the trick, and we must use it, but it's not new).
Advance Australia Fair (Only before the game thanks, but it too says something of us that is real, and we must belt it out proudly rather than be ashamed of it.)
Land Down Under (Even if we save this for moments of victory - fingers crossed - we should be belting this out as a mass. Know the words!)
Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree (Belting this out would be wonderful irony, and would sound, with thousands singing it, deeply, powerfully Australian)

But Throw Your Arms Around Me is the song. This is the one with which we could bring the house down.

I warned you about the activist thing. But I'm serious. I may fail, but it is my endeavour, from this 30 day mark (a beautiful day incidentally) to promote this repertoire and this song to fans from now until the Cup. Please, please, if you get what I mean about the beauty of mass collective song, help me out.

On You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H2Dl4bfySM

The Call Up

2010-05-09T19:05:00.012+10:00

32 Days.

Tomorrow is the official FIFA date that a preliminary list of 30 players must be officially named by each World Cup squad. Some of these have been named, including that of our group rivals Germany and Ghana, but Pim Verbeek is to make his list known tomorrow, probably of 27 players. Closer to the date this must be made 23, basically two teams plus an extra keeper.

Those chosen, for the next two months, will become very important people indeed, the players of the Glass Bead Game of our world civilisation, competing on behalf of our national house for the symbolic military domination of the World.

No wonder Kevin Rudd chose this day to release the Budget.

There hasn't been much World Cup media since the draw, and most of that has been speculation, criticism and advocacy about who will be called up, as well as reports of injuries and form, to the same end. Tomorrow attention will begin to focus, as the national volunteers are selected.

Completely lost, incidentally, has been the Women's Asian Cup beginning on the 19th of this month in Qatar with the Matildas playing Vietnam. It's less than two weeks away and not a peep about it from anyone. Sure it's being shadowed by the biggest event in the World, but the Matildas actually have a hope to win it. It is the ultimate curtain raiser for the Australian football audience. Will it be televised? You tell me.

As the severals of readers of this blog know, women's football is one of my passions. One of the good things about it is also its main flaw for many, that it is slower. It's possible that I'm a bit slow myself, but being a recent appreciator of the tactical dimension of the game, I actually like the slower speed. I also note that referees are more likely to get decisions right, which I suspect is because they can actually follow it.

What I'm getting at is that for anyone getting excited about the World Cup who knows jack-shit about football, the Women's World Cup would be a great way to get a bit of education about positioning, tactics, the offside rule etcetera so that you have at least a preliminary grasp for the full-throttle version. The spectacle of football can be a lot of spirit and grunt, and indeed most football codes get away mostly with the same, but soccer is also a very fine art, which takes most of a dedicated childhood to learn well enough to play professionally, and which is never perfected, and soccer tactics are complex even if you assume every player has identical skills. In other words, soccer tactics are, like chess, virtually infinite and, also like chess, there is no stage when a coach can't get better at it.

My apologies for this little rant, dear reader. Of course millions of people enjoy a good sporting contest without giving a shit about tactics. And I really don't mind if people enjoy the World Cup just for the spectacle, for the feeling or for the sexy boys. I myself (and I'd put my expertise quotient at about 2.2) am enthralled by soccer tactics, and find them, at any speed, one of the most fascinating and satisfying worlds of mental engagement I've ever encountered. A Glass Bead Game of sorts indeed.

So Pim Verbeek earns a lot of his money when he, an effing foreigner himself, chooses the 23 Australians who will represent our country. Now I haven't done a whole lot of speculating about the team. Many others have but it's too late now, and I'm frankly not qualified and if I had a go by googling around and making choices on instinct I'd be being mightilly pretentious. But I've thought a bit about what it is to choose a team, and I think it's an extraordinary mustering of technical knowledge, experience, informed instinct, and a plan.

To old hands I think this might be boring, so by all means move on. But I'm trying to articulate my understanding of what Pim is doing when he chooses these players.

Pim has a formation that he likes to use. There's a lot of argument about it, but essentially it is a defensive formation (most critically, there's only one player based up front), designed to work well and maximise the possibilities against stronger teams. He might have other options up his sleeve as well, but he wouldn't intend to use them. In my view we may well have qualified through Asia with a much more attacking formation, as some argue we should have, but Pim was trying to build a team that would face, well, Germany, Ghana and Serbia. In short he did the right thing in my view. It's our best chance, and that's what Pim's paid to provide.

So clearly it's not just the best 23 players, it is the 23 most appropriate players for 11 specific tasks, now. The Socceroos are not like a big Club where you can shop around the thousands of top international for the player you want in a position. It is a pool of merely dozens of players around the World. They are largely sorted out just by which League they've managed to get a job in, and then by how much they've been playing and what their recent form is like. As Pim rightly says, reputation should not have anything to do with it. Pim, theoretically, should choose the players who have best demonstrated that they can deliver in the respective positions, now. If none have, he must choose the next best, the least inadequate, and the most coachable.

Then of course Pim has to coach them, to make the formation work. Once again, given his limited time, the more Pim can select players already actively in game-habit of doing exactly what he is going to ask of them, the better. He's utilising the coaching of other highly-paid professionals in fact. Then, depending what compromises he is forced to make - and Australia has no great wealth of talent - he must finish them with coaching and the three friendly games, and all of us must hope and pray for the best.

Whatever he chooses, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth among the fans. With my small voice I'd like to declare that this is not the time. There is a time to throw stones, but now is the time for us to gather our stones together.

Pim is doing a job of enormous qualification. He is the General now and from the time those players are officially named until the time we are dismissed from the World Cup, I think it is incumbent upon Australian people to support the man and whichever personel he chooses.

Besides, I wouldn't have a clue whether Nicky Carle would be better than Brett Holman, and I'd have even less of a clue as to which observers I should trust. I just don't know. I can tell you Mark Schwarzer will be the first keeper, or that Lucas Neil will be a centre back, that we rely like hell on Timmy Cahill, and that Grella, Kewell and Breciano will all be there if they're fit enough, but anyone can tell you that.

I bow now to the wisdom of the gaffer. May the spirit of Johnnie Warren guide your choices mate. I wait with baited breath.

Dear Craig Moore

2010-05-04T11:49:00.006+10:00

Hi Craig. I haven't communicated for a while. Hope the family is well and the home is happy.

I feel a bit responsible for your current predicament. You see, when you announced your retirement from the Socceroos, I plead with you for you to change your mind, and you did. Thankyou, but although I didn't say you should not be in the 2010 World Cup squad, I left it open. What I said is that we really need you for the qualifiers, which I believe we did. You were in Australia, you see, and we needed you (like really needed you) to play the role for the second string team that you had played so brilliantly in the Roar. You have experience, and the professionalism and communication skills to be an excellent leader. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for helping us through.

This is what I said:

"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?"

And later:

"... we actually need Craig Moore to make himself available if needed. Like really, World Cups are the real written history of our country's game, it is warfare between nations for the greatest sporting prize there is. 'Retiring on a high point' is all very well, but if the country actually needs you, there's a certain moral pressure I reckon. Craig, we need you, even if just to help Australia get there. My hardly technical or emperical observations tonight were that our defenders have fine skills but require experienced leadership in the middle - someone who can play and position himself well and scream instructions to the younger blokes at the same time. It's Moore's experience that the Socceroos need back there, especially if Neil is out. And it wouldn't hurt his game with the Roar to get a few extra good games either."

Clearly I did not intend for you to actually be in the squad for the World Cup. Essentially, you had seen the writing on the wall clearly, and had stepped down from international duties. I called you up again for a specific duty, which you did patriotically and competently as expected. With the greatest of respect, it's time to revisit that original decision. You are past this level of football, and in Australia's first squad your leadership is not as indispensible.

Passing the prime of your skill is hard for any sportsman or any professional for that matter. I think it would be discourteous to not show some appreciation for what that skill actually was, and what it will always be in precious memory. If I had the skills, the time and the patience I would love to put together a YouTube of your moments on the field. There would be a series where a forward would be about to score a certain goal, only the keeper to beat, when into the frame would come Moore's foot, at a time and place of such exactness that a computer animator could not have improved on the timing. I haven't thought of a soundtrack but I'm looking for a military "They shall not pass" theme.

When you took a penalty it was a 100% professional act, you were a tradesman hitting a nail with a hammer for the millionth time, with simple, predictable efficiency.

Then there's a regular trickle of cracker goals from open play. Even they could make up a YouTube worth a watch.

As you got older you were an active and effective inspiration and guide for the rest of the team, on the field and off. You lifted the game of everyone around you. I think Ognenovsky learned a lot of his trade from you, as did many others to different extents.

There's an inglorious moment I cannot leave out because it left an impression on me and also because I have been reminded of it several times from my son, who was clearly inspired by it. You scored an own goal in a crucial match, and didn't flinch. We could all feel your moment of heartbreak, but we didn't see it. You carried on your game as professionally, competently and energetically as ever. That is mental strength, and that is why you were a truly great defender and leader. I wonder if this moment could be captured properly on YouTube, with the right soundtrack.

Thankyou Craig, and good luck with whatever you decide to do. I have no doubt you could continue to play a critical winning role in many leagues around the World. But with the highest military honours you are dismissed from national service.

Yours Sincerely,
Football Down Under.

Australians and Germans at it Again

2010-04-10T09:55:00.011+10:00

The Alternative to War

Last Sunday on Radio National's, Australia All Over Macca repeated the proverb that war will be with us always. I don't think he's right about this. War appears to have largely disappeared from the World in fact (with a long view), and I can easily see a future where it is seen as archaic as is slavery and monarchy.

Shit, ok I've got some explaining to do. There's still war going on all over the place right? Small wars in Africa, insurgent wars in the Middle East and southern Russia, and let's not mention Palestine. But here's the curious thing. There's less chance of a new born citizen of the World being killed in war now than ever before in history.* To understand that statistical fact we have to get all anthropological, and answer those who claim that war was in fact infrequent and low-level in most tribal society. The problem is that if you had a bit of a scrap only every few years - over a hunting ground or a woman generally - and only one young warrior was killed - then the casualty rate is very high among a tribe of only dozens or hundreds, and every male has a very high expectation of dying by violence in his life.

Believe it or not the statistic is true, and even with reference to only 100 years before, even for the generation who was born into the great 20th century wars. Although they were World Wars, most of the actual expanse of World remained at peace.

Our first conception of a world at peace is pax romana, the recognition during Roman times that despite the fact that Rome was built by military violence and that the military were highly visible, all of the space within the empire was in fact at peace, and for many of the peoples involved, unusually so. The Greeks did not war with their neighbours during this time for example, and even more unusually they did not war with one another. Ideas spread throughout the area fluidly. It was not a great step for a political thinker to conceive that by conquest World peace was possible.

The more recent and more interesting example of course is Europe, a continent that has been at war pretty much since Rome fell. Pax Europa is pretty compelling - with Europe's continuing integration it's hard to see Germany, France and England ever again scrapping it out. Historically, that is extraordinary. Did it happen by conquest? In the end, no, but war had a lot to do with it. It came as a result of bringing warfare to its logical conclusion, where everyone loses and nobody wins. War only really works (for the victor at least) when technologies are vastly unequal, a historically unsustainable situation, and moreso with globalised information. Friedman, in that book I read a bit of, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, reckoned that no two countries that have an established branch of McDonalds has ever warred with one another. I don't know how well that's borne out over the last decade, but even if exceptions can be found I think it candidly illustrates a truth. With economic integration between nations, which for technological reasons more than political or military ones is unprecedented, war becomes less and less likely. Arms dealers may still relish the prospect of war, but most businesses, highly globalised, specialised and integrated, simply do not. Politically, at least since Vietnam, war has also become a political nightmare for governments, especially in the West.

There's a much deeper argument that war cannot end, to do with human nature. It says that we are warlike by nature, and can draw strong arguments from evolutionary psychology. Our ability and constitutional inclination to divide the human world into an 'us' and a 'them', and indeed to feel warlike toward the 'them', seems to be a part of our nature which we can thank for the survival of our family trees for the past million and more years. We can't throw it just by a bit of state indoctrination or mass participation in flower workshops. It's a strong argument.

Those famous ancient Greek city states, who would often have jolly good scraps with one another during the summertime, would cease warring every four years for the Olympic Games, where they would compete in a more civilised manner. Through these games, a tradition lasting hundreds of years, before the Roman Church banned and repressed it, the Greeks maintained an identity bigger than their city-zenship, of a single people. The games, in terms of the free expression of our human nature (with all its gruesome evolution, its barbaric tribalism, competitiveness and false collective pride), were a direct and explicit alternative to war.

Was it a coincidence that the Greeks, the inventors of a viable alternative to war, also were the inventors of participatory sovereignty - ie democracy? Probably. Yes, I think that was essentially a coincidence.

It's no coincidence though that the World Cup has expanded to include every country in the World in this time of relative peace, and it's clearly no coincidence that the World Cup was cancelled during both the 20th Centuries World Wars. The World Cup is part of globalisation of course, but it is big enough that it also drives globalisation, and has from the beginning been limited mostly by the forefront of technology. The global focus upon it this year will be, as has been the trend, more complete than ever. There will be billions either watching or closely aware of the Final, and everyone on this planet will know who holds the Cup within a few days. Everyone.

On the 13th June, Australia will do battle, in the civilised manner, with Germany, in Durban, South Africa. Let's be clear that the stakes of the World Cup, in a civilised manner, are nothing less than total World domination. The winner is presented with the most beautifully conceived trophy of all time, a pair of hands holding a ball… no not a ball, a globe. You win, symbolically, control of the planet, and hence become the custodian of pax universal for four years.

The Matchup

Australia and Germany have battled before, and the stakes in the wider competition were also no less than World domination. Like Durban 2010, Tobruk 1941 was not a home game for either side, but was on very unfamiliar territory. It may also be prophetic that at Tobruk Australia played a deep, sustained defense, with speedy, incisive counterattacks following each German advance. Rommel's Afrika Corp had never been defeated and Germany were clear favourites to win.

This battle did not just concern the poor bastards in Africa doing the scrapping. The German and Australian people were both following the battle as closely as information would allow, and were intensely emotionally involved with every gleening. Psychically the nations were at the battle, willing their side to win, supporting in any small way they could, needing the elation that would come with victory, even despite the horrible sacrifice, and dreading in the darkest possible way the prospect of defeat. I don't blame the newspapers. I think we're just like that.

The apparently weak Australian lineup was written off by strategists on both sides, but it held. Goalless draw, with Australia winning on penalties. In Durban there will be no tie-breaker, but a goalless draw would be good. A flawless defense with a minor miracle from Timmy Cahill would be better. Don't tell me that's not possible. It's one 90 minute period.

Just for the exercise, and perhaps because it was ANZAC Day the other day, can we consider for the moment the reality of Tobruk. Our Australian grandfathers really did fight their grandfathers. They killed each other, did everything in their power to make the others' life and death hellish, whist enduring the same. They made one another's mothers weep, orphaned one another's children. Australians and Germans really did this to each other. Fucking crazy but true. Globalisation, of which The World Cup is a profound, even crowning, expression, has given us hope that Germans and Australians will not organise to treat one another with such incivility, even in passionately patriotic competition, ever again.

But on that football field, on the 13th June 2010 in Durban, Australia begins its humble but spirited campaign for World domination in a battle against a superior foe. May the game be fair, well refereed and have no serious injuries.

45 Days. Fuck.

* My "statistical fact" comes from Stephen Pinker (maybe 7 or 8 years ago), either in The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate or How the Mind Works. I can't remember which and can't be bothered looking for it. Aside from any cynical questions about my memory, I understand Pinker to be in the habit of using a high standard of peer reviewed research.

Loyalty

2010-04-06T11:00:00.004+10:00

It was about three and a half years ago that I began this blog, on a high of enthusiasm for the new sport I have quickly grown to love. September 2006 was my first post. No mysteries about the timing.

The World Cup itself was over though so I launched automatically into following the A-League. Soccer has absorbed me since, and I count it as an important part of spiritual life, but I can no longer think of any compelling reason to follow the A-League.

Some may think I'm being mean or spiteful. "Why dis Australia's League?" they might ask. After all, it can only get better with support. If I love soccer then I should support the A-League anyway, right?

It's a reasonable argument, but really I just think I'm being honest about my response as a consumer. Regardless of how you do it, it costs money to follow the A-League. Not just $5 or something either, but hundreds of dollars a season - as much as a hard-core music enthusiast would spend on concerts, say. It has to be worth it. It's not. Increasingly it just looks like a circus, but without the quality entertainment.

The short of it is that the Brisbane Roar cannot repeat its original seduction of this consumer. This time they're going to have to realise a product that is worth it for me to seek out.

The next clamour of voices I hear are going on about "Loyalty." How you can't abandon support for your team when its down. There is allusion to the great English club traditions where fan-loyalty is tatooed onto a person's soul if not their body. I'm interested in this phenomena.

Now I have trod a twisted path so far in this life, having been involved in religious groups and political groups. I've heard the call for "Loyalty" before. In my mind it comes from a time of Protestant vs Catholic, English vs Irish, worker vs boss, a time of sharply deliniated and highly destructive divisions in an industrialised anglo-celtic world. "Solidarity brother!" "Discipline comrade!" "The workers, united, will never be defeated." "Manchester, United, will never be defeated." It's an old world, and not one that can avoid critique, especially as it gave rise not just to colourful fan cultures but to tribalism, hooliganism and violence. So sorry there, the Loyalty thing just doesn't rub. I'll make independent decisions about what I'll spend my money on, thanks.

Meanwhile of course The Brisbane Roar and the A-League are about as far away from the sorts of communities that evolved these fan-cultures as David Beckham is from Garrincha. Quite clearly they are businesses, as cynically run as any, who have no regard for the loyalty of these old fashioned fans whatsoever, especially as these loyal fans are not where they expect any growth to come from.

The modern Australian clubs are selling a product to consumers. That's absolutely fine - I'm not some sort of anti-capitalist - but let them sell it! There's a lot of good, inexpensive competition for entertainment. There's much better soccer on free pay-TV if you love the game itself, and if you just love supporting a team, it costs practically nothing to support the Brisbane Strikers, who, like the Brisbane Roar, are great for amateurs.

Anyway, the World Cup is the gig right now. 65 Days. Soccer is life. Life is soccer. But the A-League is an overpriced product.

A Family Outing at Skilled Park

2009-12-27T11:31:00.009+10:00

Gold Coast vs Brisbane at Skilled Park. Well it sounded good, and I pretended it was a Christmas present to myself, Dawn and Jacob.

How could one resist it? Boxing Day afternoon and it's the first highly accessible 'away game' for the Brisbane Roar, hence the first away game I have attended. Brisbane were clearly the underdogs, and fighting the perfect evil Goliath - Clive Palmer's Bling Toy FC. Adding to the spice is Charlie Miller's recent defection from Brisbane to the Gold Coast - yes the very man who punched the last significant defector's head in an equivalently soon matchup (referring to Robbie Kruse and the incident leading to a match suspension for Miller).

It got much more complicated than that on Christmas Day. My family (Mum, sisters and sundry) came to my place for lunch, and they're all staying on the Coast, at Mum's place. So when asked if I have any plans for Boxing Day and mentioning that we're thinking of going to the game it quickly turns in to a 'great idea' for a mass family event. I resisted at first. "What? We're just going to the soccer ok? If you think going to the soccer would be good, then go. Why do we have to organise anything?" I mean I'm talking about my family here - they're not actually people or anything. Besides, we were planning on sitting at the away end and Mum and sister Margo at least should really go for the Gold Coast, geographically speaking. The others are Melbournites, sister Gay, her hubby David and their daughter Beth.

Two events turned the situation into a more organised family event. One, my mother stole my best knife, and two, they left the ham behind. The robbery was fascinating in that it was done in broad daylight. I watched as Mum opened the drawer, took my best knife out and packed it with her stuff. I asked rhetorically, "Are you sure that's your knife Mum? We didn't actually use your knife or carving fork and I never saw them." "Yes that's it," she insisted, lying. "I just washed up the knife and the fork," she lied. So in a sort of zen bemusement I left it alone. She's a bit dottery ok?

Mum (pictured) called the next morning, on Boxing day. She'd found her knife and fork, so was naturally repentant. She had herself decided not to attend the soccer but had devised a plan whereby she'd meet me at Nerang train station or the stadium, get the ham off me and return my knife. The flaw of course is that I might not be allowed to carry a 14 inch chef's knife into the stadium with me, not to mention the bore of carrying a large ham on the train. So I succumbed to a family event, we drove to Mum's place, exchanged belongings and caught the Nerang train to the game.

The train was strictly standing room. Even on the platform (in Nerang) there were more Roar shirts than we see at Fairfield Station on the way to Suncorp, and a lot of the travellers on board were in orange.When we got there the crowd looked like the picture on the left. Estimates I've read here and there vary enormously, but I think I'm being completely reasonable when I guess that half of the 10,000 crowd were Roar supporters.

I bought the tickets. The lady selling them helped me when she asked, "Are you Brisbane or Gold Coast supporters?" Rather than enquiring as to why the fuck I would be wearing a Roar jersey if I supported the Gold Coast, I politely replied, "Brisbane," being as truthful as possible within the small number of multiple choice answers available. She said, "Well I'll put you in the away supporters area then," to which I innocently replied, "Oh yeah, I guess so," before distributing the tickets to my family.

I'm glad we were there. The Den was out in force and the atmosphere they created was terrific. Like really, hats off to them. They rocked. It certainly occurs to me, in the context of the Roar's apparent crowd problems, much discussed including by myself, that the fans the Roar has kept - say 8,000 odd hard core - are extremely loyal, despite all sorts of difficult circumstances and bodgy management. You simply can't say the Roar hasn't got a decent fan base, it's just that the stadium (Suncorp, 54,000 capacity) is too big. Most A-League clubs would love our fan base.

And no I'm not going to tell the sorry narrative of the game as it's been written about elsewhere extensively. Catastrophic obviously. My sister Margo, a rugby follower but with an extraordinary capacity for astute observation, noted with no previous knowledge of the team that Tiatto when he came on was the only decent looking player on the Roar. I agree, and it has been said elsewhere as well, but it was interesting hearing it come from a pure, ignorant but intelligent, perspective.

This team just isn't there. Moore should be worried about his World Cup spot. Reinaldo looked ok when he came on. Oar looked good too, but Zullo was clearly challenged in his new role at left back. Overall the team doesn't have the spirit to win and, in my view, that reflects on the Coach and the Club.

Ange? Should he be sacked? Is he a terrible coach? Honestly I don't feel qualified to answer this question. The only thing I knew about him is that he completely failed to coach Australia's youth team to the Youth World Cup, and I remember Fozzie hammering him on the World Game for this. From some of the snippets and circumstances that I've gleaned, one could interpret Ange's style as one suiting youth. The older players seem to be going for example, and Miller's comment was that Ange, "doesn't want players to have a life." So do we have a (failed) youth coach trying to coach a team of youth, maybe not up to mentoring the older lads? I don't know to assert, but I do raise the question.

I no longer get depressed when the Roar lose. Since I've become progressively pissed off with the management, for reasons I won't go through again here, I guess my emotional attachment to the Roar has waned, but the fact is I still love the team and want them to win.

It's about my city. I love Brisbane and have been defending it from stuck-up southerners (and culturally cringing locals) for 25 years. Soccer is the ultimate game, global, tribal and spectacular. Brisbane fields a team. The Roar board would pretty much have to start sacrificing children before each game for me to actually not support the team. But I do despair generally. And I will continue to attack the morons in charge with prejudice, because I have discovered that love of a team does not mean loving its management any more than loving my country means loving the government.

So what can I say? What does my spirit have to say to these young men representing my glorious sub-tropical city in the iconic sport of our time? Not much. Just this: For fuck's sake, come on guys!!!

We Believe In Brisbane

2009-12-16T22:36:00.005+10:00

The Roar - Its Woes and its Women

2009-12-15T10:12:00.007+10:00

Marco Monteverde over at the Courier Mail is often worth keeping an eye on because he breaks stories. The headline of the linked article, "Roar is banking on Robbie Fowler to lift crowd numbers," hides the true importance of the story however, much of which is exclusive quotes from Roar chairman Chris Bombolas. For some reason the Courier Mail failed to publish my comment on the story, so I better blog...

The headline does reinforce the basic tragedy we are witnessing. The Roar is clearly in trouble. Bombolas states, "I'd be lying if we didn't say we were worried... The bottom line is we need to get some results now. Winning might get a few more people back. ... We keep making excuses and we keep talking it up, we keep saying that we had all the chances, but we're just not winning." Coming from the top these are seriously concerned comments, and they are the context for the hope that Robbie Fowler will bring a crowd to Suncorp tomorrow night. In short, there is just no hope here.

We've had the big talked-up 'game we have to win' against Melbourne a few weeks back, and we lost, and the publicity barely brought any new numbers. Then we lost again, against bottom-of-table Adelaide, to the worst crowd ever. It was over a year ago that we gathered the Roar was in trouble, needing an average 15,000 at Suncorp to break even. All the information is there for us to know, regardless of any new spin, that the Roar is in very serious trouble indeed; that the Roar is in danger as a franchise.

But are they learning? No they're not. Sure they stupidly tried to get the books balanced by radically increasing ticket prices, but now that they've 'listened to the fans' (cough) and made them cheaper than ever they've managed to a) piss off the season ticket holders who rightly feel ripped off, b) fail to bring back the crowds and c) made it even more glaringly obvious that their trouble is chronic and not just a blip. If they weren't breaking even before, now we're aware with every game that they are digging a large pit of debt.

Sacking Frank Farina, and hence (apparently) losing their high profile players, was also stupid, but I guess there's no going back. They are left with a team that is not only failing on the park and failing to draw crowds, but is not even more implicitly interesting than, say, the Brisbane Strikers, who are virtually free to watch.

They're left with a humble, but surprisingly loyal, fan base following a humble, but surprisingly gifted, team. All is not lost but the whole operation clearly needs to adjust its boot size downward.

But we get this news: "Despite the poor crowds the Roar remain committed to signing a new tenancy deal at Suncorp Stadium."

Are these people completely stupid? "To have 5000 in a 52,500 capacity stadium is a crying shame, but we've got to stay at the best stadium that will cater for corporates, the general public and the players," Bombolas says, then asks, "Where is the alternative?"

Well Ballymore is fine for the 'general public' - actually I love it. I can't see the problem for the players, but hell, give the dressing rooms a paint job if that's necessary. The real ones that Bombolas is clearly concerned about is 'corporates'. What I want to know is who? What's the story? Which sponsor is it who have threatened to pull the plug if they leave Suncorp? Reading between the lines, it is clear that at least one has. Is it Coffee Club, Luxury Paints, or someone else? Whoever it is, they're going to kill the club.

"You can't expect corporates and sponsors who put in their hard earned dollars to be in facilities that are very dated."

Which ones have made it clear to you, Bombolas, that they won't support The Roar at Ballymore?

"Ballymore's not ready."

Ah, so by this can I educe the excellent news that there are efforts to make Ballymore ready? No, I can't can I? There's no Plan B is there? We stay at Suncorp, which utterly fails for the small fan base, because the 'corporates' won't support a smaller venue. I've never been brilliant at maths but this is an equation I can cope with. Answer: The Roar is fucked.

See also on 442, Roar's Ghost Town Fear.

The Good News

Thank the soccer gods for the Roar Women. They won a tough semi-final against Central Coast on Sunday and will be in the Grand Final against Sydney away this Saturday. It's being televised on the ABC at 3pm (Brisbane time).

Along with my progressive disillusionment with the Men's team, and with the Roar Board and, let's face it, with the FFA, I have had the delight of watching the W-League throughout its short season and loved every minute. It has been very inexpensive ($5 for home games), I've got to watch one game on free-to-air TV every week, it has lived up to its 'football with style' slogan with free, attacking, uncynical football, and has been played at a wonderful stadium with free parking (Ballymore). To Westfield and whoever else helps this competition happen, my sincere thanks.

For a pre-match review of the Grand Final, I can't compete with Fiona Crawford at 442, who has given great coverage to the W-League all season, along with blogger Merryn Sherwood at Girls With Game.

World Cup Blogging - Sweeping Team Review

2009-12-11T15:04:00.016+10:00

It's six months until the opening match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I've mentioned several times that I'll be attending with my son Jacob, and that I intend to blog about it. This post is meant as a sort of introduction to the blogging project.

My intentions, none of which I'm willing to be held to in the final analysis, are to provide an interesting diary of my World Cup journey, including photographs and discussions about the teams and the experience with the fans on and off the field. Actually I could talk about anything, but it will all be about my World Cup Trip.

An initial overview of the teams is in order, but let me make it clear from the beginning that I consider the World Cup to have begun, not in Uruguay in 1930, but in 1915, with very few rules and no refereeing and lasting nearly five years. Of course the rules of war and soccer have some key rule differences, and I'll get to that in another blog, but suffice to say that they are both the determined struggle between nations for World Domination, and although there'd been previous, more localised competitions for domination, the very first true World Cup was World War I.

World War I, upon its completion (the USA the clear victor), gave rise to two extraordinary institutions, both of whose purpose it was to end war (as we've known it) for all time. The League of Nations failed of course, but FIFA has had some success.

The rules have only been suspended once since for the World Cup, in World War II (where the USA once again won the grand final), and for two whole olympiads. Since then the conflicts between nations without rules and referees have thankfully remained mostly local, though many of the countries in the South Africa World Cup have been in battle with each other since. Actual World Cups have been kept to the soccer format.

Soccer is, of course, a much more civilised manner for countries to seek World Domination than war. It's interesting to have a look over the participants of South Africa 2010 with a view to their current status in the World. A fascinating pattern emerges in this case.

In short, the thirty-two countries virtually define the anglocentric sphere, indeed the Western block of the world. For the first time USA, England, Australia and even New Zealand are all competing. The breadth of representation is theoretically there, as there is even a representative of Oceania, but New Zealand is the most anglophilic nation in Oceania, as is Australia, the leading qualifier in Asia, the most anglophilic country in "Asia."

Let's be clear I'm not trying to overlay any political judgements of my own here; I'm just making observations. All of the white cricketing nations are at the World Cup and virtually none of the non-white cricketing nations.

Although 'Asia' is represented by four countries, there is no representation longditudinally from Serbia East to... Australia. The other three are all adjacent to each other, two of them the most pro-American countries in Asia, Japan and South Korea, and then perversely North Korea. Fully flanked by America's allies in the region (not to mention the key American bases of Australia and New Zealand), North Korea, a dangerous and ridiculous caracature of both Asian authoritarianism and communism, both of which it alone represents. And its placing alongside the Portuguese block (Brasil and Portugal no less), and The Ivory Coast, could have been designed to make the caracature to be a spectacle of failure.

Every other World Cup contender is a respectable social democracy, from an anglo-American perspective.

There are no Arab states apart from Algeria, to the very West of Arabica. Notably the US's greatest potential geopolitical rivals, Russia, China, India and Iran - most of which have World Cup histories - are absent. Israel is perhaps the most notable of US allies to actually be missing, but so are all her enemies. The Middle East in fact is not there at all. Not even the ambiguous 'allies' of the USA like Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who often are there.

Note the distinct blocks of participants on the World Map. European countries (including Algeria and not including only Serbia and Slovakia, close by and themselves a strange little couple of the most white and western East European lands) forms one geographic block. North American countries, with Honduras just across the water from Mexico, is a distinct block. If you go to the southernmost of South America with a latitudinal ruler and work your way up the continent, the first five countries you encounter are the World Cup representatives - all the wealthiest and most powerful countries, all politically close to the West. The Carribean and Northern South America is barely represented by Honduras alone. Asia is a small block of the Koreas and Japan, and then of course there's Australia and New Zealand geographically and culturally allied.

Africa is represented of course, but barely. Again there's Algeria in the far North, a Mediteranean country trying to represent North Africa and Arabica at the same time. Then South Africa in the far South, the most Westernised and affluent African country. Apart from these two all four countries are all-but adjacent in the Gulf of Guinea, or Ivory Coast, area. This is the relatively Western, affluent area of Africa, where the oil is, and generally with cooperative governments.

South Africa has a number of official languages, but it speaks to the World in English. The only non-European main-languages spoken at the World Cup will be Japanese, Korean and Arabic (by Algeria, which also uses French). The vast majority of the background chatter will be Spanish, English, French and Portuguese, with Germanic languages also represented. Latin and Greek based languages will be spoken by almost everyone.

All the classic Western countries are there, as well as all the major colonialists. France, the symbol of liberty, Greece, the symbol of democracy, England, the symbol of pluralistic democracy (as well as soccer itself), Swizerland, the symbol of neutrality, Spain, the symbol of piracy and loot, Italy, the symbol of ancient empire, culture and catholicism. The West is there in full force. All the seats of the major empires of civilisation are there - ooh, except the pre-Western ones of Persia (Iran), Babylonia (Iraq) and Egypt.

In short this is an Angloamerican World Cup, and even moreso than usual. An American ally, a capitalist westernised democracy, will win it. American Civilisation will win it. It represents a World just about the way the Americans might wish it was if they could.

I'll be talking fairly freely about the various contender's political histories, and especially about any engagements outside sport the various pairings of countries have had. Germany and Australian teams have fought one another, for example, in both World wars - I'll be examining who won these battles if anyone - mere group rounds for these unruly World Cups - and how the teams looked then.

Father and Son Discussing Australia's Chances at the World Cup

2009-12-06T15:58:00.007+10:00

The following conversation happened on Facebook Chat:

Jacob: Lol. Good prediction by me (:. Bring that to South Africa we'll see how right it is.

Hamish: Ha ha. I'm back to my position that it's gonna be damn tough for Oz in group D though. Ghana has this Chelsea striker who wasn't playing when we played them, and a couple of other gun Euro players.

Jacob: Were they playing in their qualifiers? If so then they still didn't do great so we're fine.

Hamish: Fifa puts us as favourite for 4th place. Topped their group. The game Serbia lost against Lithuania was when they'd already qualified and was a second team. And they did top France.

Jacob: They didn't beat France though.

Hamish: They did once, I think. But they did top them in the group.

Jacob: No they drew and lost to France. And they beat Romania 5-0 after Romania knew they couldn't get in so wasn't like they were all determined or anything.

Hamish: Sure. From the analysis I'm reading neither Ghana or Serbia can be underestimated. But it's good for Australia if people underestimate us, so it could be good.

Jacob: Indeed. Hang on I'll read your link...

Jacob: They don't say we're tipped to be fourth.

Hamish: They seem to be giving them in order, and they definitely give Ghana second.

Jacob: They just say Serbia's great and all and really qualifiers didn't look too convincing to me. They didn't beat France. Ghana didn't have to beat any good teams Dad seriously, though they're obviously good.

Hamish: Neither did Australia.

Jacob: Japan is higher ranked than Ghana or any country they versed, so yeah, we did.

Hamish: Ok, but Japan beat us in the Asia Cup, and we could only draw against them away.

Ranking means shit at this level - well it means a bit but not too much. Like Serbia is one more than us but they had to qualify against much harder teams.

Jacob: The only country that was good in Serbia's group was France and they didn't even beat them.

Hamish: I just reckon it'll be bloody hard - that is, every game will be bloody hard. Ozzie spirit is our best hope - I hope they bring extra supplies.

Jacob: It's not even our only hope though.

Hamish: Honestly, I reckon the best hope is against Germany in the first game.

Jacob: You're not positive enough.

Hamish: Ha ha. It's usually the other way around.

Jacob: I know.

Dude, Germany is impossible. It's like Brazil. We just won't, but Ghana qualified over countries that are not as good as us or our competition, and Serbia had one overly hard country in their group who they beat on the table without winning against them.

Hamish: No, it's not impossible. As Shane Davis says, we don't suit their game, and as Dario says (from Germany), they reckon we're easy.

Dario reckons he'll be wearing his Socceroos Jersey to training to stir them.

Jacob: What a mad guy. Dude!!!!!!!!

Hamish: Yeah cool.

Jacob: How can you be positive against fucking Germany and not Ghana or Serbia for fuck's sake? Urgh!

Hamish: Ha ha.

Ghana have some killer players - prob better than Timmy and Harry - and they are at least as tough and physical as us - which is our strength. Then they have 30,000 Africans drumming, singing and dancing for them. There's nothing easy about that.

Serbia I'm less sure of, but from what I read they're extremely good on the ball, and will be much better technically. Maybe we can beat them with our strength, stamina and spirit, but still no easy match.

Germany think they're the shit, but they're outside their territory, will underestimate us in their first game of what they think will be a long campaign, and their style will struggle against our physicality and stamina.

Honestly, the odds say about two of the favourites will stuff their group, and Germany could easilly be one of them - the other likelies are England, Portugal and Argentina.

Jacob: Ok for your Ghana bit. They will be strong.

Hamish: Of course anything can happen, but yep, they're no easy beats.

Jacob: But we've shown that that's not a problem before. I know they didn't have some good players but you can't underestimate Aussie. For example...

Harry Kewell... ex Liverpool player (top 4 club in EPL);
Timmy (top 5 club in EPL Everton);
Mark Schwarzer, Middleborough keeper, probably one of best in world. Never lost a professional penalty shoot out;
Lucas, he's in Europe;
Craig was in europe.

They're a good bunch of players. Just 'cause Ghana has some killers doesn't mean we can't match them.

Serbia... I havn't seen them play but again their qualifiers aren't convincing to me.

Hamish: I love your optimism. Go Ozzie is all I can say.

Jacob: Ghana's toughest opponent is ranked 47th Dad. Sure ranks don't matter, but to be 47th means you're not good, simple as that.

Hamish: Fair call, but they've kicked some arse at World Cup level before too, and you know the continental system skews rankings. It's pretty hard to say.

Jacob: WE HAVE KICKED ASS AT WORLD CUP. Lost one nil to the winners by a bullshit penalty. You're underestimating us Hamish!

Hamish: Ok ok. We'll see, personally. And I can't wait to sing Advance Australia Fair, Waltzing Matilda, Land Down Under and even bloody Oi Oi Oi.

I'm going to publish this conversation on my blog. So any final comments?

Jacob: LOL. Alright. Wait. I'm not done.

Hamish: Ok.

Jacob: Serbia... hang on!

Hamish: Ok.

Jacob: Apart from France none of Serbia's opponents are ranked in the top 50, and they never even beat France. For eff's sake think positive. France obviously were not fielding their best team anyway because they lost to Austria.

Hamish: Ok then... anything to add?

Jacob: Negative. That will be all.

Jacob's Ladder

2009-12-06T11:24:00.017+10:00

Here is my son's predictions.

I love it that all over the world, in pubs, lounge rooms and work places, there are people now working on these important documents. They write them on notebooks, beer coasters, whiteboards, walls and in the dust with sticks. These documents forge alliances, bond peers and patriots, start arguments and ruin mariages. All of them, of course, are nonsense, but this is the stage of dreaming, of celebrating imagined futures and ignoring the pessimists.

The invitation list is done. The tables have been set. The world furiously speculates while it waits for grim reality to prove us all frauds and scheisters.

Roar Women Dodging a Hubristic Bullet (BR v AU 2:2)

2009-11-23T09:11:00.005+10:00

Hubris: excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

What the dictionary.com definition doesn't say is, "eventually it gets you." Many times as I'd marveled admiringly at how well the Brisbane Roar women have done for so long, a little voice - the classically trained part of my brain I guess - said, "It's only a matter of time." The principle isn't just that success can't last forever, which of course it can't. It's that with continuing success, eventually, inevitably, there comes a time when you let your guard down, when you take your success for granted, when, however unconsciously, you assume that you are inherently better, and that your superiority exists regardless of vigilant training, effort and concentration.

I heard that little voice at various times during the week. I realised I was guilty myself! How could the champions lose against a bottom-of-the table team who haven't won a game all season and have only scored three goals in seven games? Impossible! A friend of the team noted that this might be the Roar's chance to beat the W-League scoreline record of 6:0! In the language of hubris, that is very dangerous talk, but how could I disagree?

So how could they be down by two goals after 25 minutes?

Clearly they thought they had the game in the bag and dropped their guard. Brooke Spence, such an experienced, tough and hard-working part of the Roar's formidable defense, was out with a broken foot. Sure there's depth to replace her (in Pam Bignold as it happened), but any adjustment can have teething problems, and the coach apparently decided to throw even more caution to the wind by giving the second keeper, who to my knowledge has never played a game at this level, a chance. Now I mean no disrespect to Kate Stewart, but especially in the disastrous first period she was showing her inexperience and I daresay Casey would have stopped the first goal. Her distribution also took some time to get confident. I can't blame her. What could anyone expect?

Up front the ever-present Beutel was also left off the squad. I could be wrong but it looks like the coach thought he'd 'try some things out' against the easy-to-beat team.

But that's not all. In the first half the spectators were treated to a mess, especially compared to the purring machine we have seen before. I suspect the girls wouldn't mind me saying this because they must know it's true. There were mistakes all over the park, desperate long forward kicks to nowhere, easy dispossessions, air-kicks. I have a nasty theory.

Half these girls live on the Gold Coast. Their average age is about 19 or 20. Schoolies week started on... Saturday night. My imagination has a conversation running something like this...

"One more drink eh?"
"No way. We have a game tomorrow night."
"Ha! It's Adelaide. We'll be right."

Hubris.

Full credits to the come back. First a glorious individual effort from Tameka Butt, cutting straight through the middle of Adelaide's defense to slot past the keeper one-on-one. In the second half we started seeing the lovely passing again, the complex combinations and the skill. Claire Polkinghorne deserves special mention for her constant work, often single handedly ending an Adelaide attack and then making a play in the same sequence. She is fantastic to watch.

It was the rallying come-back, showing buckets of discipline and mental strength, that dodged the bullet. The Brisbane Roar girls remain undefeated, but only just. Possibly it's a lesson at the perfect time, with two road games to go and then the finals rounds.

The two games away to come, against Perth and Newcastle, are easy on paper. I don't doubt for a second the Roar can win both of them, but not if they think they can't lose.

After all that, I must say I had a great evening as usual, and to top it off, I asked Casey Dumont to sign my W-League shirt. She did much better and brought it around to the whole team. Thanks so much girls. I'll treasure it and, risking hubris myself, hope to be wearing it to the grand final.

GO THE ROAR !

Rolling Rambling Rave (and a Recovering Roar)

2009-11-22T11:49:00.009+10:00

Now after several very critical blogs about the Brisbane Roar my dear son Jacob is insisting that I write a positive one, and there was some real positives from last night so I shall concentrate on them. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), John over at A Seat At the A-league did a pretty good job of the negatives, so I get to play good cop.

But first an aside about my lad Jacob. His indoor soccer team, 'The West End [censored]', is undefeated after 8 rounds and top of their table. Yesterday they won 21:5 (3 to Jacob). The problem when they're thrashing a team is their game falls apart as each one of them starts taking turns to run at the goal and shoot by themselves, rather than using it as a training game for their real nemesis (The Razor Blades) who they haven't played yet. Their defense fell to bits and they conceded 3 goals in as many minutes (to a team who has only scored 10 in 7 games). I've discovered the strategy of cheering loudly for their opposition to stir them up. Yesterday it seemed to work, and they started slotting their own again, except with decent crossing and maintaining their shape.

I'm also still playing futsal on a Tuesday night, though no longer with the Red Eye Pirates, who are disbanded unfortunately, but with the Ligers. All fun. I might write about this crew some more some time, but yesterday I heard a cool rumour about the futsal centre (at West End Primary School) which I intend to check out tomorrow night. No other than Roar striker Sergio van Dijk plays in goals for a futsal team in that same centre on Monday nights. I'm told his keeping is pretty crap, and I guess it's just a fun way for a bit of extra fitness and sociality for him, but I am very keen to see for myself.

Ok, back to the Brisbane Roar, and the game last night. 0:1 loss to Melbourne, as we know I'm sure. But here are the positives as I see it:

1. It cost Jacob and I $25 to get in. That makes it affordable. It makes it more of a, "Hey, let's go to the football," than a ($65), "Ah, I'll just check my finances to see if we can afford to go to the football." This issue is exacerbated for me as I'm saving my biscuits for the big trip to South Africa in June next year. Much more expensive I know (about $20,000 for Jacob and I for three games), but let's just say I reckon it's worth every penny.

2. The advertising was good. The adds had a parochial (Brisbane) theme (which as I've written before is probably the best angle). I saw one during the final Rove program on Sunday night (the most overrated comedian in Australian television history, but popular all the same). Then I saw one during the shorts before 2012 at the cinema (this movie should be cut to 45 minutes, abolishing all the actors, renamed "The End of the World" and put to a rock n' roll soundtrack, after which it would be quite brilliant viewing). There was some print adds too I spotted, and generally I'd never felt so exposed to a game beforehand as this game. I suspected that this was a big reason for the increased crowd, and it was confirmed anecdotally by a friend I met at half-time who said he saw adds a few times before deciding to go with his girlfriend. He also noted the excellent timeslot, but I know that's more-or-less out of the Roar board's control, especially at this stage of the season.

3. Now, I try not to let my impressions be too educated. That is, I try to reflect what I actually felt at the time, on the assumption that this authentic viewpoint will be shared by many everyday (as contrary to hardcore) punters. So I already know that many people disagree with what I'm about to say, and that perhaps it reflects my hopeless ignorance about the game, but keep in mind that most people are at least as ignorant as me. I thought the lads played as well as I've seen them play. I can not name one player that played badly.

John's comment that we are too slow up front certainly rings true, but all that can be said for sure is that the Melbourne defense beat the Roar's attack. Without an elaborate analysis with high-tech equipment it's really impossible to say whether we were too slow or Melbourne were exceptionally quick to defend. We certainly seemed to dominate and make more convincing attacks, starting from about 90 seconds into the game.

For reasons to do with one of Jacob's mates I was watching Packer's game in particular. I love a wing back who attacks, and his combination with Tiatto attacking up the wing was great to watch. In general there was plenty of combination play. Henrique showed both his speed and inexperience, and missed one good chance in particular, but I still couldn't say he played badly.

But I can't with all integrity get through this without some criticism of the experience. As has been said over and over, the refereeing quality is shocking and inconsistent. Without a replay nobody in the home crowd knew why an apparently clinical goal was disallowed. I had to surf the media to find out. At another point we were sitting precisely behind the linesman, perpendicular to the sideline, when the linesman who was actually looking away incorrectly called Henrique offside. I completely participated in hurling abuse at the stupid bastard, and the crowd around me felt pre-riot. There were other incidents less blatant, and the totality of the experience was... I'm searching for the right words... deeply disturbing. Just left a lump of gunk where your fan's heart is supposed to be. It utterly ruined an otherwise positive experience.

This evening (Ballymore 6pm) I'm off to the last Roar women's homegame of the season, and the reffing issue made me consider one of the reasons I love it so much. Clearly it's not that the reffing's better - that would be a foolish claim I think. It's that the quality of refs and officials can keep up with the relatively slow pace and hence get most things right. Poor decisions on the part of officials, especially when you are denied a replay and have no way of knowing why a decision is made, I am increasingly convinced, is an enormous detraction from enjoying the game.

Anyway, I can't wait for tonight, when for $5 I know I'll have a really wonderful time, win or lose. The girls put the lads to shame when it comes to fair play (see Fiona Crawford's blog on this). When one stays down you know she is injured and you immediately feel for the player's pain because you know it's real. (All the best for a speedy recovery Brooke Spence).

Jacob is too much of a man to enjoy the women's game. He prefers boys. :) Truly, I've even explained to him how many chicks there are of his age there watching, and he's still not convinced. He prefers the pace - along with the diving, theatrics, poor reffing and long journeys on public transport. I can see his perspective of course, but it is my job to give him shit. He gives as good as he gets.

Well that was a ramble. To anyone who got this far, my apologies.

Go girls!!!

Fantasising About Women

2009-11-15T13:47:00.002+10:00

Fantasy #1

The Roar women are champions and so far are in the champion position this season as well. To be accurate and fair, and to avoid being too hubristic, they have some serious competition this year in Sydney, Melbourne and Central Coast. Yesterday I reckon they barely outplayed Melbourne at Ballymore, but it couldn't be said that Melbourne didn't deserve their point (1:1). It was a brilliant struggle and the 1400+ fans got a great show from both teams. But it is also absolutely fair to say that Brisbane remain the favourites, still undefeated this season, and clearly a very special bunch of women.

The situation begs for more competition. I would just love to see this team play the American champions, or for that matter a top women's club from anywhere in the world. I honestly don't know if they'd win, and I guess nobody does until it's tried. But I can't help thinking such a match possible commercially. Women's teams and women's competitions could, I believe, attract a variety of sponsorships that the men's game might not. In the United States the women's competition is much more established and attracts big crowds, which is why I think it would be the best place for such women's champions games to be held. Surely the U.S. fans would like their heroines to face higher competition as well, and would be very tempted by the prospect of a tour by Australia's most successful women's team.

Fantasy #2

As a general rule female players would not cut it in professional men's teams, but I think it might only be a general rule. For a team like the Brisbane Roar (men) in the A-League I can see a window of possibility which would be very exciting for the A-League and soccer in general. A female keeper, defender or even midfielder is probably out of the question. 90 minutes with the boys is also probably out of the question. My speculation is for a high quality striker, like Brazil's Marta or Perth's De Vanna to play an impact role up front off the bench, Timmy Cahill style.

So far as I know it's not against any rules and if it is, why?

For one thing the defenders would be under pressure to defend legitimately and not foul them, with the fear of chagrin from both the ref and the fans in the back of their minds. And if that were the case Marta or De Vanna could carve up your average A-League defense. I'd love to be proved wrong, but I don't think I would be. Once again I don't think they'd be effective for a full 90 minutes with the pace of the men's game. But in that last 15 minutes I think they might be uniquely effective.

Can you imagine the attention this would attract?

When comparing men to women playing soccer - and it is clear that men are, all things being equal (as such), bigger, stronger and faster - it is important to keep in mind that some of the distance between the quality is just about resources, coaching, professionalism and training regimes. That's not to say the gap could be closed, but it might not be quite as great as we think.

I have other fantasies about women but I won't be writing about them on this blog.

Why the Roar Need a New Board

2009-11-09T19:37:00.007+10:00

The financial crisis has highlighted a dilemna in capitalist society, especially so in the United States. Simply put, some corporations and institutions have been deemed just too big to fail - the damage of letting their poor decisions break them would be so great for society that it is deemed in the public interest to bail them out. The dilemna is that if they can rely on being bailed out they are, given the normal forces of competing self-interest, likely to continue taking careless risks, knowing they'll be bailed out if their gambling fails. It's a very difficult area for governments, balancing public interest and the need to maintain the fear of failure as a basic incentive for institutions to make the best possible decisions.

It seems reasonable to me, and to many others, that if a company is just too big to fail, and hence has to be bailed out, that at the very least the entire board of said company should be replaced as a part of the bail-out package, and that the departing board members lose any extra entitlements. That seems to be the best compromise - it maintains that crucial fear of failure for the individuals on the boards at least, even if not for the institution as a whole. I know from innumerable informal discussions that many people share this basic view, and judge the decisions of governments and the actions of such companies on more-or-less this criteria.

Same goes for A-League clubs. The FFA clearly (and rightly I think) believe that it is better for soccer and for the A-League to help a club financially that to let it go bust. But doesn't that give the respective boards the message that even if they take ludicrous risks and make stupid decisions, it'll be ok because the FFA can't let them fail? Well, yes it does. Bailing them out is fine, if that's what's deemed in everyone's overall interests, but, well, you can see what I'm getting at. For the same people to continue to run the said club is absurd. The individuals involved must go if they have failed, as the only basic incentive for them to be very careful to make good decisions.

The board of the Brisbane Roar have made so many poor decisions, and have shown such incompetence in building the club in what should have been the most perfect market for an A-League club, that they really can't hold any respect whatsoever. Let's go through a bit of it.

They immediately set out to alienate soccer fans. I mean that. Oh they tried to develop 'community relations' all right, but not with Brisbane's enormous soccer playing and soccer watching community, but with some fictoid 'family' base, that doesn't drink, smoke, swear, dance, have sex, make rude gestures or actually have any passion for life. Since becoming a soccer fan a few years ago I've met hundreds of real soccer fans, mostly amateur players, people who kick about in the park on a Sunday afternoon (in Davies Park, West End, every Sunday at 4pm, incidentally), and people who have kids in teams. Guess what? Most of them are not Mormons, but Australians, of every colour, gender, religion and sexuality to be sure, but real live Australians nevertheless who live in a real world. They don't follow the A-League, almost without exception. It's not just that they haven't been reached out to, it's become increasingly clear that the Roar don't want most of these people because they don't fit into the fluffy pussy mold that the Roar (and the FFA, to be fair) is apparently aiming for.

I got a warning I'd be thrown out once for yelling the F word, and later heard stories of even the Orange Army being told that "shit" was out of bounds. Is this the real world they're trying to market to?

Now getting to the recent past, in that infamous away game against Melbourne where frankly I was disgusted by the violent bullying of Robbie Kruse by the Roar older boys. The Roar board cracked down of course... oh no, actually they didn't. They fined Tiatto an 'undisclosed sum' for giving the finger (ooh so rude!) and completely ignored Miller punching Robbie in the head. The thing about violence is it is not just a fluffy Christian issue, but an objectively ugly behaviour. False morality exposed. Later on they actually claimed that they held back on disciplining the players because Frank told them to. Um... So the Board doesn't take responsibility for its decisions? It's Frank's fault for 'telling them to'. I have to laugh but I want to cry. And meanwhile I can't help suspecting that their claim that Frank 'told them to' is utter bullshit, given their clear motives to scapegoat him.

Suncorp was ambitious in the first place, and I can't complain about that. Hindsight is not really fair, and I was among the many who thought it was fantastic - best stadium in the country, wonderful reputation as 'the cauldron' etc. But at a certain point there has to be a swallowing of ego and a recognition that it's not working. The small crowds actually made it an anti-fortress - great pitch and facilities with the intimidation factor of a possum. The away teams just loved it, even as the Roar lost money every week.

I have heard the Roar had the opportunity to buy Ballymore Stadium outright. If so, not doing so has to be counted as one of their follies. Ballymore is also a fantastic stadium, albeit with half the capacity (but still plenty for the crowds we were getting). It is also the recognised home of Brisbane soccer.

Central Coast model anyone? Wellington model? I like what the Fury is doing as well. Attempting to build a sustainable support according to reality, and engaging with an actual rather than an idealised, largely fictional community.

The FFA offered last year to buy a part of the Roar and help them out, but the offer was refused. We start to get the picture of a bunch of petulant egos that have no idea but who simply can't face it that they've fucked up.

The last stupid decision they made was sacking the coach who has had two moderately successful seasons and is himself a Brisbane soccer icon that every soccer player/supporter over 30 knows. He's probably Brisbane's number one soccer identity in fact.

It wasn't just stupid because Frank is a good coach and a drink driving charge is simply not grounds to be sacked, but let's just make the point that noone on the Board would ever be sacked for the same thing, and that there are journalists, engineers, judges, politicians and doctors who continue in their employment despite losing their licenses for DD. It was also stupid because it's going to cost them $300,000. They can't afford it. Oh that's right - it's ok because the FFA won't let them fail.

I could go on. The response to two years of dwindling crowds was the classic accountant's folly of raising the prices. "Watch my calculator - see, if you put the price up we're in profit!" Then, when crowds inevitably bottom out even more, they drop prices - twice in three weeks - and congratulate themselves for "listening to the fans." Don't make me fucking choke. We're just back to last year's model, except with even greater financial losses.

The Roar is being run by a bunch of rank amateurs and I strongly suspect they're there for the trough rather than the sport. They have no idea and they deserve zero confidence from anyone. I have no doubt that the players despise them. The FFA must be embarassed by them. Most of Brisbane's soccer fans don't follow the Roar anyway, but the few who do have zero reason to have any faith in these people at all.

The Roar - or at least the flagship men's team - have completely lost this fan. I've gotten right into the women's game, which at least has the advantage of being attacking, uncynical football. The stories about the Homeless World Cup inspire and move me. Following Jacob's team is absolute joy. Playing myself is grueling but extremely rewarding. Watching a good game on SBS gives me the pleasure of witnessing virtuosity at the highest level. If the Brisbane Roar wants my support, it's going to need a new board, a new plan, a new vision for where it wants to go.

Of course the FFA must move in. The operation must be rationalised, moved to Ballymore and concentrate on developing the support of the real soccer-loving people of Brisbane, as we find them, rather than as we want them. Of course it must be moral - it must emphasise fair play, zero tolerance of diving, falsehood and violent behaviour. Swearing, gesturing and getting pissed have nothing at all to do with real morality - they are subjects of religion.

But first and foremost, we need a new Board. Let me know when that happens will you, and I'll get back to you. Meanwhile, I'll keep loving soccer, and there's plenty of it to enjoy without stretching patience and credulity with this bunch of tossers.

Brisbane's Champion Team

2009-11-01T12:31:00.005+10:00

A few times over the past few years I've noted the obvious word play, "The Roar purred." I guess it would have been used more if it was true more often, but even when they were really getting it together, like toward the end of last season, it didn't quite work as a metaphor.

Yesterday against Perth at Ballymore the Brisbane Roar Women purred.

Now I'll get a caveat out of the way. People will inevitably point out that the pace is slower in the woman's game. It is. And the slower pace is distracting, at first. But you get used to it, and frankly the pace is the only difference. Obviously I'm blessed by being able to watch a genuinely brilliant team, but in many other ways it's straight-out better. I'm beginning to think much better.

Brisbane played no long balls. I'll spell that out - they played z-e-r-o long balls. Even the keeper, the young lioness Casey Dumont, played the ball out to the defense virtually every time. On the odd occasion Brisbane lost possession, they fought like animals to get it back all over the field, but then in possession, they kept it and played it everywhere. They were a machine. I was honestly more in awe of the brilliant, tactically clever, technically highly trained, consistent demonstration of dominance than I have ever seen before. Ever.

Brisbane did not stop attacking for the entire game. 3:0 at half time. 6:0 at full time, the final, by my personal favourite striker Sasha McDonnell, at 90+1 minutes. Not an inch of cynicism.

There was not a hint of diving or theatrics throughout the entire game. To those who knowingly sneer that the women's game can never be as good as the men's, but who also spend a lot of time complaining about cynical defensive play and diving, I ask this question: "Are you sure?"

The women's game is slower, but if you can get used to this, are you sure that the women's game doesn't better fulfil almost every other criteria for spectator enjoyment of a soccer game?

My frustration is that I think Brisbane has something VERY special going on here and very few people realise. I can say with a straight face, unlike for any other Australian soccer team, that this team could play it with ANY TEAM IN THE WORLD. That this is not even being explored is wrong.

Is anyone looking at playing Brisbane (already the Australian champions and premiers) against the champion US women's team? Sure it would cost money but women's soccer is big in the US so there would easilly be enough of a market to sell the TV rights and come up with a sponsor or two. The tragedy, and the reason it may seem far fetched here, is that noone in Brisbane knows about its most formidable sporting team.

I am in love with them all, and the home games at Ballymore are among the most satisfying and enjoyable days out that I have had. $5 people. Kids free. And you can buy beer.

Next week is away against Canberra, the closest thing to a nemesis Brisbane has (Canberra is the only team to have beaten them, once, last year). It will be televised on the ABC at 3pm (Sat 7th).

Then there are just TWO home games left before the finals rounds. For what it's worth with my humble Brisbane readership (there's at least 3 or 4 of you) this is a PLUG. The Brisbane Roar women rock, right now.

vs Melbourne Saturday 14th November, 6pm
vs Adelaide Sunday 22nd November, 6pm

Love to see you there, but please don't talk to me during the game. :)

Enter Sasha

2009-10-19T16:37:00.010+10:00

Enter Sasha McDonnell, the first professional woman player who caught my attention, somewhat by accident a few years ago. One of the reasons I came across her was she's a Brisbane girl, so I was mightily annoyed last year when she signed with Canberra.

Sasha (second from left) just after her goal

The way I discovered she had signed for Brisbane this season, believe it or not, was Wikipedia, which also had the W-League table updated before the official A-League site. Sasha is still not on the team web page.

She wasn't even on the bench for the first game. She did play away last week against Melbourne and apparently had a good game, but I was very happy when, at 0:0, they gave her a go in the 81st minute yesterday against the Mariners. Two minutes later, with her first touches, she scored the winning goal.

She's a poacher not a play maker, but she looks great, is very fast and is clearly a handful for defenders. My honest view is Sasha is not as versatile or as capable of making plays as Courtney Beutel, say. But love isn't always rational.

Congratulations Sasha for scoring your first goal for your home town's team. May there be many more.

I went to Ballymore yesterday alone and it was, once again, an entirely positive experience. Yes I love the team but I also fall further in love with the stadium every time.

Having a smoke at half time I got chatting to another smoker, as you do. He unashamedly told me he never went to the men's games because he hated public transport and it cost too much. But his daughter was a footballer who played for Oz U19s. He told me a RUMOUR. I'd never heard it, it concerned me, and just in case it's true I thought I better write it.

He said that there was someone with money ready to put a lot of money into a QUEENSLAND women's team next year. That the competition would still be 8 teams but that the GC and Brisbane at least would be combining for the W-League. If this is true, it a) sucks, and b) will leave me with no reason to have an orange scarf at all. (For the time being, I'm guessing for a month or two, I just couldn't be bothered with the men.)

My own dream is that enough BRISBANE people support these girls - possibly Brisbane's most successful and in-form sporting team at this time - to make a change a big risk. I sometimes wonder if football administrators don't need a workshop on how tribalism works. Sure you can make a fluffy competition and hope it's a good option for family family types on a Sunday afternoon. But it's going to be the most fickle audience in the world. And who is going to tattoo "South East Queensland" on their chest? BRISBANE is its own cult, and if we want fan bases that a) grow, and b) stick around, the only chance of doing so is around a civic cult.

Just incidentally, exactly which 'families' are we going for? I come with my son and his mates to games, but I swear, drink and generally believe that a good dose of wickedness is essential for an ethical life. Where are these morally pure families that will be offended at unchristian behaviour? If they do exist, are they really a fan base?

Anyway I hope the rumour is wrong, but if it's right, you read it here first.

Found a great women's soccer website: Girls With Game.

Incidentally, Jacob's Indoor team won 18:0 on Saturday, their third straight win. Satisfying of course, but not as rivetting as a hard-fought 2:1 win.

On other private news, I'm worried about my beautiful fiance Dawn. She seems to like soccer. That could either mean that, a) she's as mad as I am, or b) she loves me very much. Either interpretation is fine.

Roar vs Mariners 0:3 and the Rest

2009-10-18T15:36:00.007+10:00

What's there to say?

The coach is sacked, a whole lot of laundry is aired, some no doubt utter bullshit, other true. Frank is scapegoated for a long period of administrative incompetence in the Roar and the FFA.

At the same time - quick, someone mentioned a 50% hike on the already most expensive tickets in the league might have 'contributed' to the disappearing crowds - the Roar announces a 15% price cut and a special promotion letting kids in free. According to John atA Seat At The A-League they were giving tickets away outside. Anyway I took advantage of this and brought three kids. A sign of my waning loyalty is that for the first time I just bought the cheepest ticket available and then sat wherever I bloody well wanted. So $29 for four people was pretty good!

7,400. Lowest crowd ever, to watch a 0:3 tragedy.

Now, no matter how atheist, naturalist, secularist and humanist you are, is there no point at all at which you wonder, however fleetingly, that the universe is trying to tell you something?

Frank Farina was a scapegoat for a disastrous period that noone but the Board can ultimately take responsibility for, but are we sure the universe isn't trying to tell us something else too?

What is the 'Suncorp curse'? At one point it was almost miraculous in its absurd consistency - certainly for long enough to tell us something.

And the women at Ballymore? Well into their second season now at Ballymore they have been defeated just once, and reign as premiers and Champions.

If we are AT ALL superstitious, the ides all point to Ballymore. "Goooo toooo Ballleeeemooooore", the universe chants, over and over. Actually a bit of old fashioned common sense says the same thing, but I'm trying a new tack in frustration.

Look we've got 8000 fans still if we can halt the rot about now. Even at Suncorp, can't we just close the whole second tier and the whole eastern side. The ground, with its patchy concentrations in several disparate parts of the massive stadium, speaks of someone holding out with, "...but what will we do if 35,000 show up." Someone is continuing to be ridiculous, and that person hasn't been sacked yet.

Meanwhile at the beginning of the season there was a name change to Brisbane Roar. Now a name change is a big thing, and the timing to have a big splash of renewal was perfect, but the change came behind nothing, almost a feeling of blushful embarassment.

Look, there are two seperate things the Roar need to do NOTHING about.

1) Soccer is the World Game. The game itself is constantly publicised on every channel and everywhere else. Constantly there are massive world competitions, gossip about the world's richest sportsmen etcetera. The game happens to be highly skilled, accessible and beautiful at the same time. Even in Australia junior participation has been greater than the other codes for a long time. Soccer can and does speak quite well for itself.

2) Brisbane is a large, growing and increasingly proud city. I'd say the civic cult is going from strength to strength. Idiomatic titles like Brizvegas and Brisburgh illustrate this, but many people I know who live here openly love their city and say so.

All the Brisbane Roar has to do then, with a realistic home at Ballymore, is state the message, and repeat the message, that Brisbane Roar represent BRISBANE in the WORLD GAME. If they keep emphasising those two things, they are effectively mobilising a multi-billion dollar promotion strategy.

Suncorp 'the greatest stadium' isn't going to sell it. 'The Brisbane Roar is wonderful' isn't going to sell it, even if it's true. 'Fun family day' isn't going to sell it on its own due to the expense, even if the prices were more reasonable. 'Soccer is really cool' is redundant. 'Soccer is the real football code' is insulting to Australians everywhere.

Ballymore is Brisbane's traditional soccer home and it is big (25,000), homey and intimate. I for one would love to support my city there, in its efforts to compete against opposition from across the world in the greatest of all sporting contests, the lingua franca sporting code of the world.

Meanwhile, sack the accountant and the PR graduate and hire a bloody seer. You would do better Brisbane Roar.

Good Luck Frank Farina

2009-10-18T13:00:00.003+10:00

Dear Frank Farina,

You were the best coach the Roar has had and if we find a better one in the current circumstances we'll be lucky.

The board were stupid to sack you, and you are clearly correct to point out that you are being scapegoated - to the extent that you didn't need to say it.

False moralism, of which you are a victim, is sickening, anti-creative and anti-freedom. None of the real crooks and incompetents are being sacked.

My love stays with the boys, who apparently supported you 'till the end. I won't blame any of them if they want to move on now, but for those who stay and any new lads the new coach brings in, I hope they manage to pull a good game together.

I love the lads, but can't stand the Board or the FFA.

But my respect for you is undiminished. All the best in the future in whatever direction you decide to take.

Sincere Regards,
Hamish Alcorn.

Writing the World Cup Guest List Part 2

2009-10-11T11:16:00.005+10:00

Overnight the peoples of Ivory Coast, Chile, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Mexico popped the champagne. Now there are 19 on the party list, and there's mass patriotic emotion attached to the competition for the final 13 places. I'll have a look at some of the more interesting ones (to me ok).

Last night New Zealand held Bahrain to a 0:0 draw on Bahrain's turf. By the reports it was not an amazing game and Bahrain dominated, but it's an amazing result for our cousins, and sets up the decider between the two teams on 14th November in New Zealand.

For either of these countries qualification to the World Cup would be a kind of miracle.The New Zealand Herald calls the coming game, "the most important 90 minutes in New Zealand football history," as they would. Australian fans are naturally behind the kiwis, but over at the World Game Scott McIntyre makes a compelling case for backing Bahrain. It is a country with 4000 registered footballers (Australia has about half a million) and a brilliant coach. Getting this far for them, beating Saudi Arabia in the play off for Asia's half spot, is already an enormous miracle. It's more of a miracle than New Zealand defeating the rest of Oceania that's for sure.

My guess is that Bahrain will best them. Bahrain has been through a long campaign, with an inspired coach. New Zealand is relying on spirit and the luck of the gods, but Bahrain will be short of none of those either.

The most interesting thing happening on the South American front is that Argentina just might not make it, which will make their star coach Maradona look really bad. His star-gloss has already taken a battering since his glory days on the pitch, but failing to get Argentina to the World Cup, if that transpires, will outshine all of his previous sins to the Argentinians.

I've been following Chile from the beginning and am glad they made it. The other teams still in the mix for the last definite spot or the play off (with North America/Carribean) spot are both proud footballing nations, Uruguay, who play Argentina in what will be one of the most passionately followed matches of this Thursday (there's 32 qualifiers on Thursday all up), and Ecuador, who will be hoping that Chile will relax a bit now they've qualified and be overwhelmed in their last game, which would give Ecuador the play-off spot. South America as a whole at the moment is emotionally schitzophrenic, with resignation in Bolivia and Peru, the dawning of final despair in Venezuela and Colombia, smug fulfilment in Brazil and Paraguay, uproarious celebration in Chile, and anxious, hopeful anticipation in Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador.

It's the fans from these South American countries I'm really looking forward to partying with.

Europe, needless to say, is even more emotionally divided right now. I suppose we had to invite the Germans, but I'm hoping the Greeks make it, for personal hellenophilic reasons. Guus Hidink's Russian team isn't through yet, having a dead rubber on Thursday against Azerbaijan (Germany has won the group), before having to play off against another European team in November. Portugal, with last year's world player of the year, and France, grand finalists in 2006, with also be among the last countries to learn their fate. It seems odd that Australia was among the very first.

As I foreshadowed last night, the Ivory Coast is now in full celebration, having got their invite with last night's win over Malawi. Africa has always had a strong soccer tradition and its emergence as a proud soccer region has been much discussed, but clearly this World Cup is special for them. The biggest group showdown left is probably between Egypt, the current African champions, and Algeria. Who will stay and who will go? Algeria has tomorrow's game in hand, before a decisive showdown between the two nations on November 14. The Egyptians will be mightily pissed off if their Pharoahs fail.

As I complete this blog post Honduras is playing the United States. The USA are the favourites but have to overcome the bogey that Honduras have not been defeated at home during the whole qualification process. If the USA wins Honduras will probably face the prospect of having to play Argentina, Ecuador or Uruguay in a play-off. If Honduras wins, and it clearly might, the USA will still await her fate. Right now it's 0:0 after 30 minutes.

At the same time Trinidad and Tobago play for pride against Costa Rica, who still have a chance at a play-off spot if other results work for them. For my money the North American play-off spot is a tough gig, and the South American 5th placer will probably win it.

Congratulations to the Roar women yesterday in their victory away to Melbourne. Two games, two wins, 4 goals, none conceded. Go girls!

And best of luck to the Roar lads this afternoon. I'm not going to the game, as a personal one-match boycott due to their atrocious behaviour on the pitch last week. But I still hope they beat the Gold Coast, who have hubris issues of their own.

Update at 2pm: The USA has just qualified for the World Cup, beating Honduras 2:3.

Writing the World Cup Guest List

2009-10-10T23:08:00.005+10:00

I'm a bit overwhelmed with the soccer available this weekend, and excited.

The only live soccer I'll be seeing was this morning, when the West End Terrorists (Jacob's team, though they now only use their name privately and on the team sheet are just, 'West End') won their second indoor game 8:2, against the Feral Rats. Last week they also won their game, and all things considered they are one of the favourites for the comp. But for various reasons that's all I'll probably actually witness this weekend.

But there's so much on. It's struck me many times that moreso than any other sport it is impossible to actually 'follow soccer'. It's an ocean of leagues, even without the variations like futsal, indoor and beach soccer. I've ended up with vague favourites in various major leagues in the world, along with Brisbane Roar of course. But even for the Roar I've noticed I've neglected the youth league, barely even checking the scores. The lads' indoor soccer and my own futsal games are of course the most important and intense, but they're more organic, even rational, outbursts of interest. But when I add it up, I 'follow' an enormous amount of soccer, and in reference to the ocean, almost none at all.

Then there's the internationals, with our mighty Socceroos, and especially the World Cup. That's where this weekend is crazy, and as I have previously declared, this is to be of particular interest in this blog until the said event, which Jacob and I shall be attending.

There's a lot of decisive internationals happening in the next few days, after which most of the World Cup teams will have been decided, and the final showdowns will be set.

First a sweeping recap. The first of the 204 teams to play an actual World Cup 2010 game were Tahiti and New Caledonia on the 26 August 2007. Both of those teams have long been knocked out of the comp, and neither would have expected to get close, but both small nations would have had their journey nonetheless. Tahiti, apart from a solitary win over the Cook Islands, didn't get anywhere, but New Caledonia would have been rightly proud to come second to New Zealand in the Oceania region.

When Australia qualified for Germany 2006 the fact that soccer is not our main sport didn't stop the nation from being deeply emotionally effected. Studies have shown over and over again how productivity improves in an economy when the local team wins. But Argentina and Portugal, soccer mad countries both, will be devastated if they don't get to South Africa (both quite possible), and Algeria,, New Zealand and Slovakia will get the full ectacy if they make it (also quite possible). The Italians and Brazilians will be disappointed if they don't make the final four at least, whereas New Caledonians will find plenty of national pride in beating the whole Pacific except for New Zealand.

This competition, I believe the greatest competition in the history of civilisation, sweeps up millions in different ways, and eventually of course it will sweep up billions as the climax unfolds next year. All of it is ostensibly for a unique and quite odd looking 'cup' which is not a cup, but a gold earth held in two grasping hands. According to one source I have the football had the original mythopoeic meaning of the sun. I think that now it means the world - the globalised world-as-seen-from-space - and the World Cup makes this explicit.

Kicking off this pending marathon of 39 qualifiers in 10 hours, at 10pm tonight Brisbane time, is Zambia vs Egypt. Without a victory Zambia's slim hopes will be ended, but both teams are struggling to catch Algeria, the favourite for the African Group C.

The second game at 10.30pm (all Brisbane time) between Malawi and Ivory Coast could be decisive, as if Ivory Coast win it, as expected, they will also be uncatchable in African Group E, and will hence join Ghana and South Africa the hosts as Africa's representatives at the World Cup Finals. Malawi is already out regardless, playing for pride as they say, and although a Malawi win will mathematically keep Burkina Faso's hopes alive, the latter would have to score about 15 goals to none in their remaining games, so basically Ivory Coast is in. They'll have the champagne on ice ready right now, especially pleased to be qualifying for the World Cup to be in their own continent.

This is the sticky, competitive end of the qualifiers, with the egos of top soccer nations on the line as well as aspiring aspirants. Eleven teams have already qualified, but by tomorrow afternoon that number will be more like 20-25. Nations will be in celebration, others in shock.

On the 15th of this month another 32 games will be played, which will leave Africa and virtually all of North and South America worked out, as well as 9 out of 13 of the European places. By the 18th of November it will all be settled.

So far the national tribes attending, apart from South Africa itself, the hosts, are (from Africa)Ghana, (from Asia) Australia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea, (from South America) Brazil and Paraguay and (from Europe) Netherlands, England and Spain. From my own perspective, as a fan attending the event, of interest is not just the teams attending, but the national tribes, the languages and fan-cults that will be attending. I was sorry when Jamaica was knocked out for this reason for example (they have made it before), and pretty 'meh' with North Korea making it. We're talking about a party guest list here.

Anyway, I won't be watching any of these games, but I'll be following the scores, and with my globe on my desk I will be imagining the emotional maelstrom throughout the world in the next 10 hours as great joy and great despair descend upon the various millions. And I'll be watching to see the guest list of a much anticipated party unfold.

A League of Their Own

2009-10-05T11:13:00.006+10:00

Wouldn't you love the job of marketing the Brisbane Roar women? Talk about assets.

They cleaned up the W-League in its first season, winning both the Premiership and the Championship last year.

Actually last year they lost just one game, to Canberra at home. They drew just one game as well, to Canberra away. Canberra was their only nemesis.

To be fair they also drew against Sydney in the semis at Ballymore, winning the penalty shoot-out 5:4.

But then they played Canberra again, finally beating them in the grand final (also at Ballymore), and doing so in resounding 3:0 style.

The Grand Final was one of the mosty enjoyable games of soccer I've ever attended. There was a great crowd (of a couple thousand I guess), a fresh, carnival atmosphere with minimal Orwellian trimmings, and attractive football. If there is one word to describe the difference in atmosphere between the W-League games I've been to and the A-League games, it's joy. It's just fun.

Last Saturday was the first game of the new W-League, also at Ballymore, with the Roar playing, you guessed it, Canberra, the only team to have ever beaten them. A 3:0 win, repeating the Grand Final score, declared that nothing's changed. The Roar Women are the team to beat.

For game one, the crowd of over 1000 was pretty good, and I can see nothing in the way of it getting bigger. Everyone enjoys the experience (especially when Brisbane wins, which it has a wonderful habit of doing), and it costs them... wait for this... Five Bucks.

Fuck the transport issue. Get a couple of mates and catch a cab.

Did I mention that the girls are young, gorgeous and athletic? Of course I didn't, I'm far too correct for that.

What must be mentioned is that the football, whilst, same as the A-League, is not Champions League standard, it is, also like the A-League, good enough to be entertaining and fun. In my honest opinion it is less cynical. Last Saturday the Brisbane girls never stopped attacking after scoring the first goal, nor after the second, and after the third all they wanted was a fourth. The football was tough, spirited and pleasing on the eye, played by inspired, gifted and highly trained athletes.

Meanwhile, the ABC is playing a W-League game every week and giving it good coverage.

Anyway, wouldn't you love the job of marketing this? Is there anything stopping the crowds from growing?

So, um, why can't they even update the table now three full days after the game? Maybe Wikipedia is a better source for info than the official page. It's also where I learned (yes, I confirmed this) that Sasha McDonnell has moved from Canberra and has signed with the Roar (she didn't play on Saturday). The official site still has last year's team profile.

Who is marketing this? Is anyone?

Is someone afraid that W-League crowds, at Ballymore, could in a month or two rival A-League crowds at Suncorp?

The next Brisbane Roar women's game at home is against the Central Coast Mariners at 6pm, Sunday 18th October, Ballymore Stadium.

This Saturday at 5pm (proper time) they play Melbourne away (Epping Soccer Stadium), but I'm assuming the ABC will be playing the Perth vs Newcastle game (at 3pm). If any Melbourne bloggers go, I'd love to hear about it.

One critical note: they need food at Ballymore. Not just crisps and softdrink. At least some greasy crap.

Operation Ballymore

2009-09-28T11:09:00.013+10:00

The truth is I don't know how to say this, but I'm just going to go for it. Have been thinking about it since the Roar vs Sydney 'meh!' game yesterday afternoon where, quite aside from paying $40 for an adult ticket, it costs $4.10 for a cornetto and over $6 for a watery beer in a plastic cup.

The first very important reality check is that professional soccer has NOT 'taken off' in Australia in any profound way. If anyone thinks it has it's because they either have no friends or because all of their friends are soccer fans. Really, sometimes football fans sound like Trotskyites who still think the revolution is imminent.

So that's the first thing: soccer in Australia, compared to the egg-ball codes, still has the relatively small support it always has had. In terms of the last decade, with adjustments for the World Cup peak (and yep, we'll get another one of those, but by its nature that is fickle growth), I'm guessing 'growth' in support pretty much charts the growth in Australia's overseas born population, or even less. That's it. Argue with me otherwise but please give me evidence and not FFA (or SBS) PR bullshit.

Now a couple of caveats. Sure junior soccer is huge and probably still growing. My experience with junior teams in the last few years however is pretty similar to my two years playing with The Gap as a kid in the 70s, in that virtually none of the players, coaches, parents or administrators have a clue about the A-League or any other senior soccer. My favourite anecdote is that when I tried to encourage some kids to help their game by watching as much pro soccer as possible, I had parents get back to me complaining I was telling their kids they had to get FOX (which I didn't). That is, there was actual antagonism toward the idea. The mentality of junior participation in sport (for which soccer is widely considered perfect) and the tribal activity of following a local pro team are two completely different things.

Women's soccer is also growing in countries including Australia where women have been, in the past 50 years, freed to choose their own lifeways. This is fantastic for more than one reason, but frankly it's a growth in women's liberation, not soccer as such. Once again growth in this area does not necessarily translate to support for the elite men's game. There's been growth in women's truck drivers too, but that doesn't mean there's growth in truck driving. Once again, the chicks I know who play (a fair few, through playing in mixed futsal comps and vaguely following the West End women's team) simply do not know or care about the A-League, with rare exceptions.

Incidentally I can't wait for the W-League to kick off this weekend in Brisbane, at Ballymore Stadium, Saturday 3rd October 3pm (I can't remember what it costs but I think it's significantly less than twenty bucks). All of the games are curtain raisers for A-League games except for this Roar vs Canberra match. This I can see growing because, a) it's cheap to go to games, in a friendly stadium with a smoking area, and b) it's free to air on the ABC so people will encounter it accidentally as well as being able to watch it easily if they find themselves with a glancing interest. Glancing interest can grow of course, but not if it takes getting FOX or spending a month's entertainment budget on going to a game.

Third and last caveat. Of course now that the other codes have finished their seasons there will be a bit of growth in crowd numbers, with families etc looking for alternate entertainment. That will be a slight blip over the next few weeks, after which (just going by the past four seasons) it will steady off again, then blip again for the more successful teams toward season's end. If anyone wants to get excited about that, fine, but I'll be keeping the cork in my champagne.

I'm already getting confused between a discussion of the A-League and the issues with Brisbane Roar particularly, which have a lot to do with Suncorp Stadium. They're related of course, but I'm trying to manouvre this narrative from the former to the latter.

The FFA of course has been trying hard, navigating the tension between trying to sell a top quality football competition and simultaneously making strategic compromises of quality. The quality of teams is deliberately kept in check by the salary cap, as a strategic effort to keep the competition fairly equal while the game has a chance to grow. The quality of refereeing is a compromise, reflecting insufficient funds (stemming finally from insufficient support).

Crowd numbers are down generally. 442 has covered this, as has The Roar sports website. These are both good articles with lots to think about, especially if you include the hundreds of comments. If I could distil the lot into a single formula, it's that punters are waking up, partly due to pressures on discretionary spending generally, that they're being sold a mediocre product for an elite price.

Meanwhile the FFA is continuing as if things are going from strength to strength. Apparently there's going to be two new teams next year. Now the FFA demands prospective new clubs jump through some pretty tough hoops proving viability, but I tell ya if I was a prospective club I'd be demanding the FFA jump through some hoops proving viability before accepting any deal. Wellington for one, if as is speculated they get axed, will have a very good case to litigate, considering, a) they were made to jump through hoops to get there, and b) they would have proceeded with a five year economic plan at the least.

But from here I'll leave the question of the medium term viability of the League itself and get back to the team I love, Brisbane Roar. What can they do?

Firstly, let's get real and move to Ballymore. We'll call Suncorp a long term vision, and if we have a winning season and get into Asia maybe we'll look at it again, but meanwhile let's get a viable, healthy stadium atmosphere going in an iconic soccer stadium. The hard core, who are most of what is left at Suncorp anyway, will go, and most of the public transport issues can be covered by providing special buses, which happens anyway to Suncorp. The most important thing in terms of slowly finding growth is making the experience a hoot, and the intimacy of a smaller, fuller, cheaper stadium would do that. It would be much more of a 'cauldron' than 'The Cauldron' too which arguably might actually help The Roar play better for their fans and provide the intimidation an away crowd is supposed to provide for visiting teams.

All this would be doing is facing the reality of the situation. Noone's going to be fooled that this is not a step backward in terms of ambition, but pretending that the ambition is realistic is, in my opinion, even more embarassing. Meanwhile the Roar would be obliged to get its PR people to sell it as a positive step forward - a home ground that can better involve the community, provide a better and uniquely soccer atmosphere, increase accessibility through cheaper tickets if not public transport (it would still be cheaper for Jacob and I to go if we caught a cab), and colonise a place that the Roar can truly call home, including for training, youth games, women's games etcetera.

I'm guessing the reason the women's champions (The Roar) are not curtain-raising the Brisbane game is because staffing Suncorp for double the time when it's already breaking the bank keeps the Roar's accountants from being able to sleep at night.

So this, I reckon, is the project. There may be all sorts of other things in the way, but we (the 'royal we' of course as I shall merely continue to snipe like a blogger) should get busy. The project is not merely to move the games but to colonise a permanent spiritual home for our heros and all associated activity, and one that is appropriate to a realistic assessment of support, rather than a zealot's dream.

One more thing, and I'm back to the League as a whole. I have argued several times that the biggest impediment to the growth of the A-League is FOX. The main retort is that the A-League could not exist without FOX. I guess we won't hear from the same if the A-League doesn't survive anyway. So here's the problematic: do we attempt to overcome the lower income we might recieve from free-to-air coverage, providing a much better gamble for growth, or do we attempt to overcome the non-existent growth that FOX coverage provides? Either path will take great imagination, business acumen and hard work, but I know which challenge I'd prefer.

To those who say we're locked into the FOX deal for x years so we have to deal with it I say bullshit. A contract is simply the terrain for negotiation. The FOX people, the FFA and free-to-air interests, if the will was there, could hammer out a deal that everyone would benefit from, especially if the game was to hence grow rather than continue to shrink.

Here's a starting point:

FOX sells the rights to a 'game of the week' every week on FTA, which attempts to be the biggest game, including the finals at the end.
FOX still has the game on its own network anyway, so all those FOX subscribers can still use the special features etc.
FOX still runs the show, does the commentary etc.
FOX gets to promote its subscriptions on FTA at the same time... "If you want special features...", "If you want to watch all the A-League action...", "If you want to make sure you see all of your teams games...", "If you want the world of elite soccer - EPL, whatever..." ... "then here's the latest special FOX deal!"

Anyway, as I foreshadowed from the beginning, this is a rave and it's not entirely coherent. In my defence I only plee my sincerity. I dearly love this game. It might have saved my life. I love the Brisbane Roar, whether they win or lose. If The Roar went broke, or if the A-League collapsed, I would be heartbroken. I honestly think both of these things are not only possible, but all things going as they are, it's on the cards. So if I sound cynical or negative at all, please believe that my only objective is trying to discuss these things openly for the long-term survival of the League and my beloved haz-chem orange clad lads. I'm over trying to talk it up or find the positive needle in the looming haystack of problems. I am SO over the fans and pundits who pretend it's all hunky, dory, growing and on the yellow brick road to soccer heaven. Let's get real, get just a bit humble, and rethink this thing with reality clearly in mind.

Why be a Soccer Fan Prt 2

2009-09-13T05:43:00.007+10:00

This entire post follows on from the comments on my last piece.

When I first read your comment, Ed, I had to go back and re-read my article. I didn't realise how much it came across as so dark on the A-League. When I sat down to write I had in mind a bit of a comparison of the two soccer experiences of the day, highlighting the simple joys of junior and amateur league soccer. Clearly more than that came out.

The fact is that I too would be heartbroken if the Roar folded, and even moreson if the A-League suffered collapse. That neither of these things is impossible is of major concern.

Thanks all for your comments. I love the idea of a state champions / A-League top 6 Cup, or something. And you're absolutely correct Guido to point out that the reasons people follow a sport can be very diverse and personal.

I want to write more about these sorts of topics - trying to really scrutinise, from a consumer's point of view, what the A-League is. There's a lot of unfiltered optimism about the rise of soccer in Australia, but if you read the introductions of soccer books from Australia going back to the 1970s, this optimism is nothing new.

Les Murray was quick this season to talk up A-League crowds, but we all can see the A-League isn't in the clear yet. Why? What can be done? Does it matter?

I want the A-League to survive forever. Connectedness to the communities, however that is developed, is very important in my view but so is quality. When people follow Rugby or AFL in this country, or for that matter cricket or motor racing, they know they are watching the best in the world; the elite. I mean if you're going to dedicate a lot of your discretionary spending to something, not to mention emotional energy, you don't want it in the back of your mind that you're really watching a second division league.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a fan. 'Fan' is a shortening of 'fanatic' and in the football world we tend to wear it on our sleeves. The important realisation is that we are not the game's locus of growth, or even survival. Fanatics do not a mass-movement make. Fanaticism, as we are often heard to candidly celebrate (see Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch), is a disease. It's not even particularly healthy.

I'll digress more. I am a 'new fan', as I've said. On the face of it, the FFA should see a bloke like me and say, 'cool, a new fan; hope there's lots more like that'. But they would be mistaken. You see I am someone who is guilty of having been utterly fanatical about various religious and political ideologies throughout my life. I may not have been a fan of soccer, but I have been previously diseased nonetheless. From my own mental health's point of view soccer is a wonderful way to live out my disease with minimum adverse impact, a sort of ideological methadone program. So the FFA should not see me as the thin edge of an ever-broadening wedge.

The FFA also must know that to get people interested in the A-League you have to get them interested in the game of soccer, but their immediate dilemna is that an interest in soccer can exist in its own right, and they have only one product available, for which they're asking real money. Back to quality.

I reckon the salary cap needs to be a) kept permanently, and b) raised, a lot. To begin with I think it should be doubled. Basically the criteria should shift from "What sort of figure could all the clubs afford?" to "What sort of figure could the four wealthiest clubs realistically afford?"

I think about the 'market' for Clubs. Not tickets, TV subs or merchandise, but actual Clubs. Dudes like Clive Palmer or the various Russians and Arabs who are buying European clubs for fun. A bloke has to have his train set doesn't he? I think having a salary cap, and a set of reasonable restrictions on foreign players, actually makes the prospect more fun for your average fun-loving billionare. It's just part of the game, and it keeps costs down to the merely stupendous. I'd like to see salary capping across the world for this reason. Note that a high cap can still allow for really amazing teams.

In ancient Athens there was apparently no business taxes and there was hence a very wealthy merchant class. Although these individuals paid no direct tax, they had burdens as citizens. It was normal for an individual to fund (and command) a warship for example, or a production of a play, or a sporting festival. There's a certain sense to this, and there's no real losers.

To have quality teams you need to be able to buy the best in the World. As Ed points out, the A-League is improving and there's no doubt that every top player who comes into the league makes it more attractive for other top players. Lifting the cap on teams like Sydney and the Gold Coast, who can afford better players, would accelerate this process.

Of course these rich teams would come to dominate the league. It's common knowledge that playing against superior opposition helps lift your own game so the result would be a better quality league and the extra drama of actual, rather than merely statistical, 'David and Goliath' stories. And then there's always that other bored billionare...

Finally here, can we allow ourselves to be as ambitious in the long term for the A-League as we dare to be with regard to the Socceroos? We do dare, don't we, to dream for our countrymen the Socceroos to be in the top 10 in the World? Top five even? I have had halucinagenic moments of even thinking that they could, just could, with a mixture of luck, terrible luck for various other teams, and perfectly timed form, win the World Cup! Admit it! You've done the same.

Shouldn't we be aiming to have one of the top 10 leagues in the world? Top 5?

Just as a post script, I also said in my last article that 'Queensland' teams meant nothing to me. What bullshit! Queensland teams all in the top 3 by season's end, and I will be hyperbolically happy.