Fistly to last Monday night. I want to join all those who thanked Bonnie for the organisation of the get together at the Keeper's Arms. It was a top night and it was good talking to Frank and Tony and Julian and to meet Alan again. David P I couldn't miss with the Kiwi top, didn't get to talk to you but at least we shook hands. I don't post much but it's nice to be back on the list after my self-imposed 'Cosmos are out and I cant face club football' exile but the Socceroos have drawn me back.
To match day and the Cricketers Arms was as wild as I expected pre-match. By 4pm the overflow was out into the side street; there were a few Croatian shirt wearers in the front bar so I avoided that like the plague. Made my way to the back courtyard and there were Andrew Howe and Stuart Veitch - saw David Marshall I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier - Andrew pointed you out but by the time I got out of a fine conversation with 2 sydney blokes about our respective serie A experiences; you had gone. Anyway with a bit of luck Andre (great to meet you!) may even reveal his pics of the Keepers Arms night if anyone is interested in mug shots.
I left to scour Richmond for some food at 6pm. People especially kids were steadily advancing along Swan St wearing the colours. Two guys near me were making comments about a local kid wearing a Brazil top but what were they wearing ? Arsenal and Celtic tops! When I got back to the Arms there were cops everywhere, somebody had let a flare off near or in the front bar and the side lane of Punt road was cordoned off.
But by this time the crowd was just streaming past to get to the G.
Message to Chris K - I know you were angry with the cardboard fans around us and with good reason but I just couldn't hear most of what you said - my hearing was damaged by then not to mention the condition of your voice - my vocal chords are yet to recover - singing the anthem alone just about destroyed mine but I loved it! It was impossible to hear the ABC call on my walkman even at top volume.
The noise that greeted the Aussies for the pre-match runaround was just superb - better than anything I heard in Italy for volume - even reluctant afl callers this morning said they were blown away - despite their general disdain for the game.
People here have summed up the players pretty well - Vidmar and Emerton were poor in the first half but by the second they picked up to match the top players, mainly Murphy and Moore and Kewell. Paul Okon had a bad one. Didn't think Viduka and Skoko played too badly.
Nobody has said much about Uruguay as a team - I thought their defense was a class above Iran's 4 years ago and some of their pass selection to get through our defense was a treat to watch. But thankfully they never made through the last line. Unfortunately many many people around me were clearly the big event types who weren't interested in willing the team on; instead to criticise bad passes and basically wait to be entertained. For those of us who have sweated over this game for years that is a bit puzzling but at least they celebrated with us after the penalty.
Radio was galling today as in this otherwise sophisticated city most callers refused to analyse the game seriously as they were unable to; and kept comparing our game to the afl. It is even worse when the dj's almost invite criticism from their callers. And we'll have come a long way when the papers won't need to put in articles like 'the bluffers guide to soccer' like the Herald did pre-match and like the Americans did for the 1994 World Cup.
So some negatives but plenty of positives.