Entries Tagged 'Socceroos' ↓

Rodrigo Vargas has been named in the squad for the Socceroos’ May 23 friendly against Ghana. Along with him are Melbourne Victory team mates Danny Allsopp and Leigh Broxham.

The 23-man squad features nine A-League players.

Read more at The World Game.

The squad: Daniel Allsopp (Melbourne Victory), Michael Beauchamp (Nurnberg, Germany), Mark Bridge (Sydney FC), Leigh Broxham (Melbourne Victory) Jacob Burns (Unirea Valahorum, Romania), Nick Carle (Bristol City, England), David Carney (Sheffield United, England), Ante Covic (Newcastle Jets), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands) Adam Federici (Reading, England), Adam Griffiths (Newcastle Jets), Joel Griffiths (Avispa Fukuoka, Japan), James Holland (Newcastle Jets), Mile Jedinak (Central Coast Mariners), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England), Jade North (Newcastle Jets), Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor, Turkey), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England), Matthew Spiranovic (Nurnberg, Germany), Mile Sterjovski (Derby County, England), Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Perth Glory), James Troisi (Newcastle United, England), Carl Valeri (Grosseto, Italy), Rodrigo Vargas (Melbourne Victory).

Half-Time Orange is a blogger I respect, but his latest column has found me questioning his sense of perspective. In a piece titled When Did the Socceroos Become so Soft?, he writes about the news that four Socceroos (Lucas Neil, Josh Kennedy, Jacob Burns and Mile Sterjovski) may miss key qualifiers in July because their wives are due to give birth:

“Is something wrong with this picture? Snap out of it, boys!

Back in the early 1990s, Robbie Slater, bless him, got his then wife, Nathalie, to induce early when the impending birth of one of his children threatened to clash with an important match for his French club, Lens.

That’s the Socceroos spirit. None of this whipped, Ted Danson, but-I-need-to-hold-the-rattle-guv crap. And I speak as a father who’s had a kid in post-natal care. Trust me: the kids will be grateful later on in life if their dads sacrificed.”

Let’s keep things in perspective. I love football dearly, but there are certain things which will always take priority. A best friend’s wedding, a death in the family, or a birth of a child – all these are more important to me than any football match.

But I’m not a professional footballer. We are talking about players who, to a varying extent, carry their nation’s World Cup dreams on their shoulders. You could argue they have a national responsibility that trumps their responsibility to their family, wife or children.

What do you think? Should Socceroos miss their babies’ birth for World Cup qualifiers?

Vote in the sidebar and leave your comments below.

The Socceroos side held China to a draw last night, keeping them at the top of the ladder in Group A of Asia’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Qatar, who beat Iraq 2-0, rise to 2nd place, a point behind Australia.

The Socceroos had almost everything go against them: a spate of injuries, a tough environment to play in, minimal preparation time. Ten minutes into the game, things started looking even worse, as Pim Verbeek was forced to sub Archie Thompson off after he picked up a calf injury. Continue reading →

The Socceroos meet China tonight in the second round of World Cup qualifiers, and it seems everything is stacked against them. Not only must they play China in Kunming, at the lofty height of 1900 metres above sea level, but they must also do so without several key players.

Players have been dropping like flies: Tim Cahill, Josh Kennedy, Scott McDonald, Brett Emerton, Mile Sterjovski, Bruce Djite. John Aloisi was not added to the squad, apparently due to a knee injury. Not was Mark Viduka, who must have pen poised to sign his international retirement. Continue reading →

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oHPp_wHCEo[/youtube]

Midway through the first half, I thought one word could describe the Socceroos’ drubbing of Qatar: Clinical.

Continue reading →

Can a Socceroos side that has had just 48 hours together win its first-ever World Cup qualifier in Asia?

Australia coach Pim Verbeek has had 6 weeks to decide whether to field a team of inexperienced A-League players, or try his luck with a squad of experienced – but potentially jet-lagged – Europe-based players. After several training camps with the local players, culminating in an embarrassing 1-1 draw against an undermanned Melbourne Victory last Saturday, Verbeek has opted for the latter.

Selecting a team after spending only two days with the majority of the players is far from a safe option. But then, picking a side that can’t beat a Melbourne side missing many of its key players is just plain foolish. Choosing the “Euroroos” was the better of two risky options.

Or at least, that’s what we hope.

Continue reading →

The Melbourne Victory will play the Socceroos behind closed doors on Saturday.

For Pim Verbeek, the friendly allows him another chance to watch his selection of A-League players before finalising his squad for the Qatar match.

It’s not clear who Archie Thompson, Rodrigo Vargas and Kevin Muscat will play for, considering they are all still up for a spot in the Socceroos, but you’d expect that Ernie Merrick will give some of his young blood an opportunity to impress – Nathan Elasi in particular.

Only seven sleeps left before the Socceroos embark on their World Cup qualification campaign.

Does Pim Verbeek know what he’s doing? Who will he pick from the 39-man squad he named last week? Will Vargas, Archie or Muscat get a run?

It may be the first qualification match, but it’s incredibly important. The Socceroos will be at home, playing against what is arguably their easiest competition, in front of a fanatical crowd at the Telstra Dome. Nothing short of a win will satisfy.

Will the Socceroos beat Qatar?

Pim Verbeek held his second training camp yesterday, this time calling in 29 players from the A-League. Eight of the players at the last training camp were left out this time, including the Melbourne Victory’s Leigh Broxham and Nick Ward.

Kevin Muscat, Archie Thompson and Rodrigo Vargas have all been picked again though.

Archie has already said he doesn’t like his chances of getting picked. Will the fact that Alex Brosque, John Aloisi and Joel Griffiths are all playing in the A-League finals help them to score a spot ahead of Thompson?

Muscat and Vargas will be up against similar challenges, of course. All up, the 20 of the 29 men selected for Pim’s second training camp are playing in the finals. Making the squad is going to be a stiff challenge for the Melbourne boys.

Which Melbourne Victory player is most likely to feature in the Socceroos squad against Qatar?

Vote in the sidebar and leave your comments below.

Pim Verbeek announced his 22-man selection for a Socceroos training camp next week. Among them are Melbourne Victory’s Archie Thompson, Kevin Muscat and Rodrigo Vargas.

Only A-League players were picked for the training camp, though Verbeek insists there’s no guarantee that he’ll pick exclusively A-League players for the opening World Cup qualifier against Qatar on February 6.

On his perception of the A-League, Verbeek said:

“I enjoyed every game I’ve seen, the stadiums are fantastic, the crowds are unbelievable.”

“I saw great goals, but I saw also unbelievable mistakes.”

“It’s up to me to find out if the players make that same mistake too many times because then I cannot use them.” (The World Game) Continue reading →