Why Australia had a better world cup that England

Australia vs England, is there anything more enticing? As never seen before, lets see how the two nations line up now both have exited the 2010 World Cup.

It has been widely seen through Australia that perhaps we have not reached quality of the efforts shown back in 2006 with our dizzying heights of reaching the ‘round of 16’ stages of the tournament, I disagree. And while England’s ‘controversial’ exit of the World Cup has been beaten into us all I am still of the opinion that there are a few but important differences between the two nations which are, that of inability to contain egomaniacs, the heart of some players and probably the biggest difference, the supporters.

But first, let’s start of with the deceptive similarities between the two lands.
Baring a few players our squad was pretty much the same as four years ago (much like England), and despite all cosmetic enthusiasts efforts, there has been no way to stop from ageing and our inexperienced squad of 2006 were dubbed hardened veterans this year in South Africa, the ageing Socceroos in fact had the third oldest squad (28.4), with Brazil second (28.6) and, yep you guessed it, England with the oldest squad in the Tournament (28.8). This lead to a double edged sword from critics for the Aussies, with one half labelling the team as the most qualified team we have had represent the Green and Gold, as well as the half declaring that half the squad weren’t fit enough and slowing down too rapidly.
England on the other hand were backed by everyone with to go a long way with their experienced squad (as they were at the start of every world cup), the household names of Ferdinand, Rooney, Lampard, Gerard and Terry were finally ready to be the first team since 1966 to hold up the golden achievement and with a dream group who could blame them?

Pim Verbeek had unconscious support of the Australian nation, after the progress made by Guus Hiddink, who was to suspect that his fellow Dutchman would lead the team so a stray. But it was a gradual process, for months the team was getting less and less creative, with a disturbing looking tactic of lateral passes and a less than convincing formation of 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders and Kennedy on his own up front with the 3 other midfielders were to feed off him. Out of the blue on the eve of the biggest game in 4 years for the Aussies, Coach Verbeek decides to drop Bresciano and Kennedy and play Cahill (who is a star in his own right, but is not a striker) up front against the baby faced Germans. And we all know what happened, so there is no need to re-hash what were the most disappointing moments in Australian Football history. Needless to say, Pim was to blame. While Cahill’s red card wasn’t helpful, if we had gone out and at least played the boring game plan that Pim had insisted on for months, perhaps we may have got a point out it.

Fabio Capello, like Verbeek, had an impressive qualifying recording against some daunting opposition like Andorra, Belarus and Kazakhstan and was probably the first England manager that could take a breath before drowning in the British tabloids’ criticism and cynical berating. However the love-affair he had with the Three Lion Community and supporters was quickly abolished with some of the squad selections after the injury to Ferdinand were defined as rash and over precaution. And by the second round it had seemed that the Italian also couldn’t put a foot right with the final 11 he put out on the field, with Heskey and Rooney miss-firing in the 1-1 draw with USA the Algerian game was screaming for more flair up front and with an injury to King (Ferdinand’s replacement) Fabio seemed to concern himself with the defensive attributes of the team instead of trusting his squad to solider on. England scraped through with a goal from the energetic Defoe against Slovenia but, as has been reported, was carved up against the clear favourites of the final four, Germany, as they did to Australia in round one.


So now to decipher the vital differences mentioned earlier.
Firstly, the supporters, It brought tears to my eyes each time I heard the Australian national anthem sung by at least 30,000 Aussies wearing green and gold at each of the three group games played around South Africa, it was a sight unseen before and it indeed made me so very proud to call myself an Australian. England on the other hand, while they were probably more in number and the sigh of relief could be heard all the way back in London when the final whistle went in their last round match, the supporters embarrassed themselves with a onslaught of ‘boos’ and jeers after the 0-0 game with Algeria which caused a nasty reaction from the always refined Wayne Rooney. So I put it to the England supporters, choose a side and stick to it, while I am not the biggest fan of your football team, its completely unfair to have such a bi-polar approach to you country’s national team! Either love them, or hate them. And just remember how hard it is to do what they do.

Australia 1 – 0 England

The managers as mentioned earlier had a tough time of it to say the least. Both men’s integrity and ability was questioned, and while Fabio took England to the group of 16 and Pim mustered an inspiring performance out of the team both, for me, are out of their depth.
Australia need a coach that is going to be both discipline and creative to ensure the beautiful game continues to grow back home, and while Craig Foster may have gone over board with some comments of Pim’s ‘betrayal’ he is not on his own, many would feel, cheated, this world cup.
England needs a father figure to try turning the over confident, underachieving band of brothers into a well oiled, disciplined, excitement machine. But to achieve this, he will need to be a manager with a little bit of self admiration and unfortunately Liverpool have snapped up Roy Hodgson…
Australia is rid of their issue and ready to start again, while England has signed theirs for $6M for another campaign.

Australia 2 – 0 England

Finally, Who ever watched the Australia Germany game, would no doubt have had the same thought as I, how on earth will these guys bounce back and after conceding the penalty and losing Harry Kewell in the Ghana game the situation looked all but hopeless, but the humility and determination of the team dug deeper than imaginable and pulled through a wonderful second half and our best performance against Serbia in the final game in particular with the performances of Cahill, Emerton, Neil, Wilkshire and Holman something to remember for a long time and truly depicted the spirit of a determined, passionate group of people.

While England showed a bit of metal on the field in their last game, there seemed to be a lack of confidence from the injured captain as he declared that the players were to have a crisis talk, then Capello said that no such thing occurred and Gerard wasn’t sure which way to turn when asked. But what concerns me most about dear Gerrard is his mentality, and I wonder if it has spread like a disease throughout the camp, but when asked (after the Algeria game) how disappointed everyone was and if Algeria deserved the point, his reaction of ‘… yeah the boys are really disappointed and yeah this is their world cup so good on them, but we really need to improve’ made my blood boil, just exactly who do you think you are? What gives you the right to completely sully an entire nation’s effort? Take a long hard look at yourselves, for you are not the be all and end all of footballers, and you’re over inflated egos are the main apprehension obstructing your mediocre performances and true success.

Final: Australia 3 – 0 England

So to the Australian supporters who believe we have had a disappointing cup. We received more points than a third of the teams including Italy, France and Greece. We have a chance to start again with a new coach and new players like Rukavytsya, Wilkshire and Valerie just to name a few. And the support from such a young nation in terms of World Game experience was awe inspiring.

Here’s to the next four years!

A call of truce to the anti-Soccer community

To those who read this I want to put down on the table, a call to arms on behalf of all soccer/football lovers in Australia. Whether you are AFL supporters, Rugby followers or even those who just dislike the world game and sport in general, I implore your attention to this message!

No doubt you have all seen extensive reports on our unlucky run at the World Cup 2010 in South Africa this year, two best players, two games, two red cards. It has been a horror run, especially after our ‘across the Tasman’ rivals New Zealand having a dream result drawing with Italy (not so much our favourite nation either) this morning. So it’s all coming down to the final game, much like 4 years ago when we had to draw with Croatia, but things are different this time, the pressure is on as a win is required, against a team with a tough defence and managed to upset Germany with a 1-0 win. If matters weren’t difficult enough, we need to rely on other results, either Ghana beating Germany, or Germany beating Ghana at least 3-0 then us beating Serbia 2-0, we need to make up 5 goals after that embarrassing 1st round performance… anyway.

Now I know that most revulsion towards soccer is based on the possibility of a whole game being played and there not being a score, or that players fall over too easily, not enough happens, its not rough enough, players aren’t tough enough and so on, but I promise you, this is all part of the fabric of the game that is so hard for us Australian’s to understand, but somehow is managed to be understood and even adored in every single other country in the world. I would like to take this point to remind everyone that the World cup is watched by nearly three times the audience then the Olympic Games, now surely there is a reason for this? Surely this isn’t just some strange phenomenon… and why do we waste so much time hating something?

This leads me to the next point, being from Melbourne, we hear a lot of criticism from AFL media and representatives, people actually saying on live television, ‘why the hell would I watch that garbage, nothing ever happens’ just to ensure that we watch the footy show, or two and a half men instead of the cup, are you that worried about losing ‘loyal’ viewers?
Reports in papers had a field day when we suffered our worst defeat in World Cup history on our opening night against the Germans; stories were even constructed to imply a downfall of comradeship in our team’s camp. While it’s obvious that in this synical world, everyone wants to read about everyone else’s issues and everyone loves to hate everything, it is made so hard to see any resemblance of a line of decency anymore as I’m sure many people had a smile on their face when they heard of the score.

I was reminded this morning by my best mate of a motto he found when looking for his family’s coat of arms ‘The true man loves his country’. Is there no understanding that this is OUR country? We all say we are patriotic, but when? When do we truly show our colours? When we are winning? When it suits us? A true patriot will be brave enough to stand against the rest, and be proud to stand alone and do whatever it takes!

This sport, this tournament is bigger than anything else in the world, and we are lucky enough to be apart of it! Its greater then we understand and that’s what is scary. So to every person who won’t make time to understand, I say to you, do not fear this sport because it’s liked by everyone else, or because you think its trying to ‘compete’ with your original preferred code, it isn’t, there is plenty of room in this beautiful country for more then one sport to exist!

Embrace this for what it is, a common vein of passion pulsing throughout the world, 90 minutes of anxiety, pain, tears and joy that unites every man, woman and child, an opportunity to put our spectacular country’s name-sake on the big stage and a chance to be apart of it, together.

The point of this ‘shout out’ to all Australians is not to slag off the other codes of sport we have, nor to provoke the wrath of those who haven’t the time for sport, its not some cheep gimmick to raise viewers for SBS, you won’t win anything, what I ask of you will go completely un-noticed by anyone in the world, except you.
I put to you, a chance to unite and make a difference to the attitude of ‘the average Australian’ break the shackles of the stereotype and become a bigger nation for it.

All that is required of you, all you have to give to this thankless cause. 4:30am this Thursday morning (24th June), turn on the television, and spend 90 minutes along with the rest of your countrymen and women and hope, hope that we can over come adversity, hope other results will go our way, hope we can give this nation a bigger name in the biggest sport, on the biggest stage. Show the true passion that this Nation has to offer the world.

Win, lose or draw, there will be a result and a difference can be made!

GO AUSSIE!!

Ghost

Female Youth vs Elite Sport Stars

While we live in a world where anyone is more then happy to believe the worst of anyone, let alone, someone that is of constantly under the watchful eye of the public. I have to question the morality of these 'ladies' that are constantly looking for the attention of anyone that will pay it, and will do so at any cost.


But when will it end?

What is wrong with some of these girls? Can you really tell me that this is not just another last chance grasp at 15 minutes of fame. what is happening to society? I have a friend or two that have been lucky enough to be playing at afl/vfl level and in all honesty, it may as well be a well paid jail sentence. players are urged not to go out, not to mingle with certain crowds by the club they play for, and who would blame them??

Obviously the most recent event is that of the st kilda school girl pregnancy. two players from St Kilda were originally linked to the possibility of being the father of the child in question.Can i please bring attention to this? How on earth can we trust what this girl has to say when there is a possibility of TWO players being the father? Are you serious? I mean, really? where is the ethical standard anymore. where are the parents who let this girl head on up to Sydney, and lets her cavort around town and stalk (there i said it, STALK) these players! this is not a normal situation here. if she cant even tell us WHICH ONE of the TWO players is the father, we can assume one of two things - Shes lying, or it was one HELL of a night for this innocent 16yo. And if the emails i received on friday ring true, i fear that this miss no name, is as innocent as i am athletic!!

And thats the other thing that infuriates me, why do the two St Kilda players names somehow get leaked and dragged through the mud where this girl gets to stay anonymous. No doubt she is a hero amongst her stalker friends. Unfortunately you see it in rugby all the time, some girls, even when they are found out to be lying, are still paid thousands for 'their story'. and i have even read that the women involved was too drunk to remember and apologies for any non truths she told. - Oh that's OK, you have just ruined this guys reputation no matter what the outcome is but you were pissed and couldn't remember if you said yes to intercourse, or not. how about... piss off!!

now let me take my bias opinion hat off here, and look at it from another angle. Lets say one saints players is the baby daddy. the AFL has said that there is no case for them to answer as it was all consensual. which is great. but WHY has this girl gone to the media first, why hasn't she texted the players in question, and who ever else may be the father and get it sorted out behind closed doors. albeit that text may have been a bit awkward, and no doubt how to read. "Hiyaz, I mayB preggo, u da fatha, wanna get sum T? kthxbye." but still, did this NEED to be brought out to the world? i am sure there have been HUNDREDS of other issues of this magnitude occured before in AFL, its the nature of the beast unfortunately, which does sort of go against my argument. but why has THIS one in particular come out?

Now lets all play a game, imagine that they weren't St Kilda players. Imagine this girl had just made a poor decision, like so many do, to sleep with a few blokes who were just good mates. no one special, just two guys. now what is your opinion of it all? i put to you that you think a whole lot less of the girl. i wager that the first decision you made was that she was in fact cheating on both of the guys. so WHY, when the spotlight is turned onto those who are considered illustrious, are we SO ready to judge THEM harshly and come to the conclusion that the girl has been wronged??

So I implore you young ladies, who have not much better to do with your time, but play make believe families with Sport Stars, and will go to scary lengths to ensure that you will find a way to be apart of their life, even if it be for just a disappointing 15 minutes. STOP!! leave these men alone! there are enough idiots out there to make their own bad decisions! you don't have to add to the confronting statistic of either teen pregnancy or disillusioned STALKERS!!

Day #8,649 - why music is as close to dead as its ever been...

OK. I don't want to rant and rave about the same things everyone has said a million times, but can somebody explain to me the Justin Bieber epidemic? The more i read the faster i lose faith in humanity.


While sitting in the doctors waiting room while 'LET' was having her flu checked out I was trying ever so hard to ignore the wailing children and an odd smelling older gentleman who had clearly upset a woman with his pungent aroma who insisted on 'tutting' every time his body made a strange noise... anyway, i digress. While pushing myself through this General Practitioner Hell Hole, my eyes would every so often drift from my pages to the television, ET was on. and for all of you 'uncool people' ET is short for Entertainment Tonight. because THAT is the best way to fix the fact that our school kids vocabulary is 40% less then of ours when we were at school. Looking back at my page i was interrupted by a screeching sound. it was yet ANOTHER report on the Justin Bieber tragedy in Sydney where one girl had her knee dislocated. I actually felt my face scrunch up when the presenter inferred that little preteen was dating Kim Kardashian. Firstly, who really cares? and secondly, come ON! of ALL the sorted, nasty things celebrities do every single day, THIS is news? i was deeply distraught.

This 'Bieber Fever' has hit hard and I'm confused as to why. so i decided to go through a few articles and make a few valid, if not, rather frank opinions and ask a few questions I'm sure everyone has thought of at least once while being raped in the face by this ridiculous propaganda presented to us.

• He is friends with Usher

Why? How? Actually, i don't particularly care how they become friends. what i cant seem to get out of my mind is how frustrating it is to hear, how cool that is. why?? imagine it was you at 15. hi mum and dad, this is my 32yo friend who buys me things and takes me places at night. He has also promised me that my music career is about to take off, he is very famous and i plan to do what every he says to make it. That guy would be hauled off to camp "don't touch children there" faster than you know it! Now i understand that Justin Bieber is more then just a regular kid... but again, it brings me back to the question, WHY?

• The voice, the Image
  

To be honest, no one can actually think that this is his voice? considering how much the vocal machines are used these days for actual artists i would be more than surprised that he sings at all. But hay, people out there say how can i hold that against him... with, as i said, all the vocal machines used he wouldn't be the only one. And that's fine, but it brings me to the point of this section. its clear that after the Hannah Montana and JONAS era dies (which seems sooner rather than later) its been decided that the next role model that will be drilled into the minds of the youth will have more 'street cred'. So the industry has created a 'cooler' version for the children of the world to imitate. so if the trends continue, within the next 4 years we will see a 9yo punk rock revival band with temp tattoos and facial piercings!

• Even Brian McFadden is better than him...

"Brian McFadden has beaten off stiff competition from both Usher and Justin Bieber to remain at the top of the ARIA singles chart."

well, shit. if this doesnt just make my point clear as day? if THIS guy is beating you, your not doing it well enough! for a guy who who is famous for shagging an Australian reject to take the cake... it has to hurt.

but in all fairness this was taken from an MTV Australia, so the public are bias, which is frustrating in itself... but come one, i didn't see a bunch of 12yos getting crushed when B-Fad (totally just made that up) was in Melbourne the other day filming Australia's got Talent... so where is this major support coming from? the Children. now WHY on earth are 6-12yos listening to this kind of music!! it had nothing to do with being popular 10-15 years ago... you listened to stuff that made you feel good. Fine Young Cannonballs, now THAT was a band! and the thing was, i knew NOTHING about them. i didn't have them on my facebook page, i didn't worship them. i didn't even know they had another song to "she drives me crazy" until 7 years later when i started to really get into music!! Where does the madness end and the parents stand in? please, have a LONG talk about standards and why kids should like something! not because YouTube said so, or because its splashed about like a droplet in a puddle we call society, because sooner or later that droplet ripples and creates a whole shudder throughout and that puddle is never the same again, and i personally fear that the consequences will be far greater then originally imaginable. i don't need to go into the whole, girls are wearing make up earlier, and boys are hanging out later and so on. but seriously... who is this 'Bieber Monstrosity' actually benefiting?

• The songs

So this was particularly interesting. I am not going to bitch about how annoying the songs are... because they aren't, how can they be? they are created specifically to arouse the easiest sense to trigger, short term memory. they are easy to listen to, catchy, repetitive and if it was a female singer 10 years older, there would be no cause for concern. but instead we have a kid who surely hasn't gone through the process of his testicles descending telling us about how a girl as equally undeveloped is his 'one'. please sir, we of the 20+ bracket who have come to terms with the unconditional realisation that "the one" is not only unimportant but also there should be much less emphasis on the issue. but kudos for appearing as the 'new age' of 'men' who are caring and loving... all you are proving is that its easier to get away with more. see you in 5 years with your 3 baby mommas and 4 children. "she was the one... and she was... her too... and her..."

then there is this "baby" song... i mean... really? the less said the better... so I'm just going write down what words/phrases anyone under 18 should be able to say... baby, baby, baby... oh, shorty, love, I'll buy you anything, i thought we'd be together for ever, i thought my first love would be always, baby, baby, baby... no and always be mine. i would like to also add, spontaneously breaking out into a dance at a bowling alley does not automatically make you cool.



Now i know we all fall in love around 13-14 and have our hearts broken. but we all realise a few years later how stupid we were to think that the one could be in our lives at such a young age... all these songs are doing is making these poor bloody kids lives more like the movies. but unfortunately, real life isn't like that. to get anywhere or anyone, you have to work hard at it. there will be no montages, no quick fix group dancing that wins someone back and i put it to you that even if you wrote a song about someone, if you f#$k up bad enough, you may as well keep on walking.


To finish, i want to address two things. Firstly, i know a lot of people will be sitting there going "why bother ranting about it if you don't like it, your just bringing more attention to it..." while i thank your people for your opinion, and reading this, i also want to point out that the points I'm TRYING to make, are not even directed at the little over night star in question. while i do believe everything he stands for is a sham, its the people buying into it that i am trying to question!

secondly, i want to take a small paragraph to think about the poor kid... he is 15... and is already being used by some of the biggest names to reignite their career... Usher (obviously) Ludacris, Sean Kingston... i mean... who's next? this industry will chew him up and spit him out. all the celebs are trying their best to get into this travesty of entertainment and it wont be long until they become bored of him... give it a couple of years at the most and he would have been forgotten, then he will come back in 10 years (if he hasn't already ODed on something) and go again, he will have stubble and a tattoo... or what ever is deemed to be 'bad'. shit, by then he probably a 3 time offender the rate this world is going, and at least by then, he will be legal... its a shame they didn't let him have a childhood and by they i mean his parents and who ever allowed this abomination to come to fruition.


Between his lack of growth possibilities with society's attention spans decreasing at an alarming rate, and the fact that the standards of taste continue to drop consistently... music really doesn't stand a chance.



GHOST

Day # 8598 - The day I started blogging!

So to start with. I don't have a job... what a surprise a blogger who is unemployed! well, i left the last place i was working due to... political sanctions... in all fairness it was all a bit much to be honest, i don't have a high opinion on those who feed off the helpless! needless to say, i left before anything bad happened. it was hard, the friends i had made over the 2 years i was there were of the best kind i have ever made, and even though we all say we will stay in touch... we all know its hard to do so!

so anyway. its been a couple of months now and still no luck in the job finding area so last week I decided to go after something a bit more then just a desk jockey (no offence to those who are, i don't mean it as a negative mainly just... i find it hard to do it, i think those who do it have a quality that i just don't posses). therefore, i am now working at gaining an apprenticeship as a Youth worker. i had my own issues as a kid (as we all did) and i never realised how easy it could be to give back! one year apprenticeship and bam! i will be able to start working as a real Youth worker.

so anyway, now you understand my career aspirations. we can move on!

this morning was a frustrating one! after looking everywhere for my keys after realising i couldn't pinpoint there location i remember that my girlfriend, who for the blogs purpose will be called "LET", had put them in her handbag because i couldn't be bothered lugging them around in my pocket... lazy and strange i know. its not something i do that often. so i took mums van and went on my way, riding in style with only radio at my disposal as i had ruined her CD player... apparently. so i got to the chemist to pick up my next batch of meds (nothing serious, just a messed up stomach) and i went to the counter and put down the prescription and as always they asked "have you been here before" and as always i said yes. i stood back and pretended to walk look at the stuff on the walls while I waited for my pills. then a older women walked in and gave me an odd look. nearly appalled... i was so confused. i stood back and realised i was looking at the "WOMEN'S HEALTH" section with an array of tampons and pads and all other strange wondrous things to help any girl keep 'fresh'. i couldn't help but laugh to myself which brought the attention of the rest of the shoppers in there. and as you will soon realise my new readers, i will take anything to the next level. so i picked up a packet of LIBRA Pads and said the old lady "whats your opinion, these cost half as much as adult nappies (diapers for you yanks) and you get twice as many!"

the ladies jaw hit the ground as she just looked at my stupid grin and then stormed to the front of the counter and as my name got called out i walked up and said to the chemist assistant loud enough for the old lady to hear "don't worry, iv been using the toilet for 3 months now and only 3 accidents since!" the lady shook her head so hard i thought she was going to take off!

I have to wonder, why would she be so concerned with me looking at female needs... other than the massive half naked women they used for advertisement? i don't understand it sometimes. i could have been buying it for LET or my sister?? or daughter for that matter (I'm not a father)... i think that there is a strange wave recently of older generations so quick to be ready to get narky towards the youth. now don't get me wrong, the new wave of '.com Generations" are a great let down and I'm sure ill write about that in the upcoming weeks! but i mean SERIOUSLY! what do you think?

so the lesson i have learnt on my 8598th day on this planet; - don't let old people get you down! your only young once... and they are probably jealous!"

hopefully this blog isnt too boring. i will write more on reviews and opinions of those in the news, i just wanted to get the first one out there so you can all see who i am and how i write and so on.

anyway.
stay tuned!!

~Ghost~

ahem... Introuctions required?

Hello!

I am Ghost. And I'm pleased that you have stumbled across my magnificent blog... this is the first time i have done this but i assure you, and my friends will vouch, i have very interesting day-to-day stories and have very inspired views of the world around us!

so! i plan to write at least once a day. i also have a Facebook and Twitter (obviously...) and once i figure out how to put the 'follow me' link on, i will be doing thus!

feel free to comment and abuse away!

~GhOsT~