Oh yeah!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tipping Away Round Nine

This is a post for tipping on. I'll add my own in a comment soon.

I love Futsal. Last night Our team The Red Eye Pirates (Arrrrrghhh!) won 4:1 thanks to goals from Craig (2), Imogen and Abel.

It was a bit physical, and maybe I started it because I fouled someone early on to save a goal. They didn't capitalise on the free kick thankfully, but the same girl who I fouled (running out of the goal area I just sort of charged her down I think, but I can't even remember the exact details; I was just getting the ball) was the one who scored in the second half. I was caught out of position and she struck very well, so I couldn't even mind losing the clean sheet, but just had to turn around and say, "Nice shot. Well done." We were already 3 up I guess so such sportsmanship was easy.

Then the same girl again, competing with me for the ball, went to pull the trigger on a ball she must have thought was still loose and ended up booting me square in the jaw. I was down for about a minute, and although I can't remember this Imogen reckons I asked, "Where Am I?" twice. But I got the ball, and I was fine after the minute of throbbing headache. Needless to say my jaw is very sore this morning, along with quite a lot of me actually, but I still have a tongue and all my teeth minus a couple of small chips.

We played much better this week in general and it would have been a very happy evening if not that 30 seconds from time Kitty and a big bloke from the other team went hard for a ball simultaneously and Kitty was left weeping on the pitch. It wasn't a foul, just one of those, 'irresistible force meets irresistible force' situations, and the weaker person's leg gives. It ended the game, and I just hope her leg isn't broken. Unfortunately I doubt Kitty will be playing for a while, but she's young and who knows yet? She was having a great game too.

I really love this game and I love being in goals. In truth, despite the convincing win, we can't use this game as any benchmark because it was this team's first game (I think) and they really weren't that good. I didn't get a touch for the first five minutes and we probably had four times as many strikes as they did. But we're getting the crossing into the goalmouth thing happening again, and Imogen and Abel in particular were appearing fast in front of me for defense. Improvement, but we can't be content with it. There will be much tougher teams.

The game was our last pre-season friendly, so next week is serious. Just hope Kitty's OK. I'll keep you posted.

May the games this week - all of them everywhere - be fun for all and free of serious injury.

Tipping the Opening of the Second Round Robin

Well the first Round Robin of the Blogger's Cup is over. The Roar fans as a block are still doing terribly, including Cecilia, who is of course a secret fan. Mike needs to be tested for performance enhancing drugs. But we all have to maintain mental strength, and it's good to see you back into the fray John, after perhaps a moment of doubt in yourself (and the Roar) last week. Jacob, the defending champion, is still in the middle of the pack, and things can turn around very quickly.

Upon a gender analysis, it's clear that women's football tipping still has a long way to go before it is truly competitive. (I just know I'll regret saying that.)

Here are my tips for Round 8:

Adelaide vs Melbourne:
United 2:0

Perth vs Sydney:
Draw 1:1

Newcastle vs Wellington:
Jets 2:1

Central Coast vs Queensland:
The F'ing Roar 1:3

Last week was a brilliant week by the way. Life seems so simple sometimes. The Red-Eye Pirates, my futsal team, won their game on Tuesday night, 3:2. The Roar won their game, 2:1. Then Jacob's team The West End Terrors (the name has been watered down due to parental pressure) won their first indoor soccer game 3:2 on Saturday (deservedly coming back from 2:1 down at half time, after leading 1:0 at the first - bloody exciting game). The news of the loss for the Young Matildas, sad though it was, did not manage to dampen my week too much.

Tonight was the third futsal game for the Red-Eye Pirates. I am the goalie full time and I love it. I looked forward to tonight all week and I'm already looking forward to next Tuesday night. I think we have a strong team, but more importantly it's a very cool team. It's fun, we all drink and smoke afterwards, we seem to really like each other, and it's well organised by Harmonie and Dorian, our managers who sub each other while the other looks after their baby.

The mixed team thing is odd, where if a bloke scores, a chick has to be the next scorer (not the other way round). It's obviously a positive-discrimination device, which is fine, but I'm not sure if it works. As goalie I know that after a bloke scores I simply don't have to worry about the blokes - I can ignore the fact that a bloke has the ball and is right in front of goal and directly mark the girl looking for the cross. Imogen, our best defender (at least I feel most secure when it is her in front of me), said the same independently of my observation - "when it's the girl's turn just shut down the girls." So the prophesy is fulfilled - the girls find it harder to score. I'm new to the game but I'm just holding a question over this rule.

Anyway, for the records, we're still playing pre-season friendlies, but our first game "we" lost (can't remember the score), though I was being lent to the other team, the second game was last weeks' which we won, and this week we lost 6:0. Why I'm not really upset about this is because I played well and made a lot of saves and the main people hammering us were loans from our team, Lara and Craig. Critically I have to say that we were pretty boring up front this week, almost all of the shots being fairly long hopefuls and very little crossing across the box, which is crucial in futsal. Needless to say, Craig and Lara were crossing to each other beautifully.

Having a drink with a few of the team after the game, I realised that all the people present were over 25 (most over 35) and had only gotten into the game in the last few years (about 6 at most). I asked everyone how they got into it and heard their various stories. All apart from me came into it through friends, playing the game. I was the only one who followed the Roar. It's not that they weren't enthused by the idea, and I'm going to invite the whole team to the next home game sure that some will come, but it's food for thought for anyone interested in the growth of the A-League. They watched the Women's World Cup. Soccer in its various forms is growing exponentially in the community. The futsal center we play at is just starting its second season, and it is chocked with teams. But... well... the A-League ain't on TV.

May the tens of thousands of soccer games around the world this week be a hell of a lot of fun for all concerned, and be free of serious injury.