Well done Socceroos
- Thread starter Canteen Worker
- Start date
That game will gone down as one of Australia's greatest ever sporting moments, yet some here still can find a negative. Enjoy the moment rather than be critical of some issue that will be forgotten long before the result fades from memories. I guess the critics also would have found fault with Cathy Freemans 400m victory at the Sydney Olympics, after all how exiting can a 400m foot race be?
Sport is not always about the performance, its about the passion, the humility, the patriotism and the sheer exhultation of victory. Just for once it would be nice to see something positive on these pages.
Sport is not always about the performance, its about the passion, the humility, the patriotism and the sheer exhultation of victory. Just for once it would be nice to see something positive on these pages.
Matabele
Journey Man
You are right. Freeman's race in sydney had more to do with the lauding of those that take a black armband view of history.
I feel Perkins' swim in Athens and Flintoff King in Seoul were far greater moments against a field of far greater quality.
So why does Freeman stand out exactly? Then there's her reaction of sitting there like a stunned mullet at the end of the race before doing her best to reinforce the very unfortunate stereotype of the drunken aborigine ("all my brothers are in the stands probably drunk") before a world audience.
Real classy.
The only reason you consider it a great moment in sport is because the media told you so. Some of us prefer to think for ourselves, and it's the sort of moment that makes my skin crawl with embarrasment.
I feel Perkins' swim in Athens and Flintoff King in Seoul were far greater moments against a field of far greater quality.
So why does Freeman stand out exactly? Then there's her reaction of sitting there like a stunned mullet at the end of the race before doing her best to reinforce the very unfortunate stereotype of the drunken aborigine ("all my brothers are in the stands probably drunk") before a world audience.
Real classy.
The only reason you consider it a great moment in sport is because the media told you so. Some of us prefer to think for ourselves, and it's the sort of moment that makes my skin crawl with embarrasment.
Fluffy
Journey Man
Soccer is a game of skill, those that dont have enough play union or league depending on where they live.
But whinging your head off about dives after BK and others this year is hypocritcal. There is plenty of faking in league these days, as there is union.
The competition in soccer far surpases the half dozen coutries that play union at an elite level and the 3 countries that play league.
But whinging your head off about dives after BK and others this year is hypocritcal. There is plenty of faking in league these days, as there is union.
The competition in soccer far surpases the half dozen coutries that play union at an elite level and the 3 countries that play league.
Soccer can be a terminally boring sport, but also one often spattered with sublime skills. Problem is that there are too few goals and 0-0, 1-0 and 1-1 scorelines dominate. They oft suggested solution of making the goals bigger, thus increasing the chances of scoring, is one they seriously need to implement. The purists might ark up, but it'll make for a better spectacle, as the punters want to see attacking football. League and Union have evolved with rule changes to favour attack over defense (10m cf 5m, 6 tackles cf unlimited, stripping, dominant tackles, "use it or lose it", diving over, etc) so why can't soccer ??
There are also two other areas that really sh*t me with soccer. The first is the most common complaint of diving by players. It's pathetic, but I don't know how you solve it, sure the ref can issue cards for diving, but it really becomes a subjective decision and open to controversy. Only the most blatant cases get called, as I feel the refs are loathe to put themselves in a position of having to make a judgement call on something they may not be 100% sure on. An offshoot to this problem is the absolutely indefensible "writhe on ground clutching at shin" carry on that occurs following every challenge, legitimate or not. It is a cancer on the game and makes a mockery of these supposed fit athletes. I've heard the word "tough" used to describe soccer players... what a joke. I 've seen examples (most recently in the game against the Solomon Islands) of players doing the obligatory death throe, having the game stopped while the stretcher is brought out and the player loaded aboard. Carried to the sideline the stretcher is placed on the ground and the previously career threatening injury is miraculously cured as if sprinkled with Lourdes holy water. The player then bounds from the stretcher and heads to the bench. It's almost like they are gagging to get on a stretcher in some perverse attempt at gaining some sort of kudos. In real contact sports, any player worth their salt would avoid the prospect of a stretcher ride like the plague. If some of these soccer players were involved in a real contact sport than the medicab would rack up more k's than Yannis Kouros on an afternoon jog.
The other blight on the game is the total lack of respect shown to officials by the players. It seems that every penalty is met with a wave of protestation as they descend upon the ref like a hoard of flies sending him madly backpedalling, flailing his arms to shoo them away. This goes on and on and on and on and on and on, until it gets embarrassing when you realise how impotent the man with the whistle is. If FIFA had any balls they'd introduce a sin bin policy for backchat and support the refs 100% to clean up this part of the game. Imagine what Hoppa and Monas would get away with in a soccer game.
If they addressed these areas soccer would be a magnificent game to watch, but at the moment it has too many cringe worthy moments that are beyond comical. I can definitely appreciate the skills of the players but the game needs to be cleaned up and examples set for young players coming through so the culture can change.
Having said that it was great to see the Socceroos qualify and may just be the shot in the arm to save the game in this country. The new A League may just hang in there now, as I had serious doubts it would had we failed to make it to Germany. Anyway the Swans bandwagon ground to a halt a few weeks ago so looking forward to jumping aboard the World Cup one now.
There are also two other areas that really sh*t me with soccer. The first is the most common complaint of diving by players. It's pathetic, but I don't know how you solve it, sure the ref can issue cards for diving, but it really becomes a subjective decision and open to controversy. Only the most blatant cases get called, as I feel the refs are loathe to put themselves in a position of having to make a judgement call on something they may not be 100% sure on. An offshoot to this problem is the absolutely indefensible "writhe on ground clutching at shin" carry on that occurs following every challenge, legitimate or not. It is a cancer on the game and makes a mockery of these supposed fit athletes. I've heard the word "tough" used to describe soccer players... what a joke. I 've seen examples (most recently in the game against the Solomon Islands) of players doing the obligatory death throe, having the game stopped while the stretcher is brought out and the player loaded aboard. Carried to the sideline the stretcher is placed on the ground and the previously career threatening injury is miraculously cured as if sprinkled with Lourdes holy water. The player then bounds from the stretcher and heads to the bench. It's almost like they are gagging to get on a stretcher in some perverse attempt at gaining some sort of kudos. In real contact sports, any player worth their salt would avoid the prospect of a stretcher ride like the plague. If some of these soccer players were involved in a real contact sport than the medicab would rack up more k's than Yannis Kouros on an afternoon jog.
The other blight on the game is the total lack of respect shown to officials by the players. It seems that every penalty is met with a wave of protestation as they descend upon the ref like a hoard of flies sending him madly backpedalling, flailing his arms to shoo them away. This goes on and on and on and on and on and on, until it gets embarrassing when you realise how impotent the man with the whistle is. If FIFA had any balls they'd introduce a sin bin policy for backchat and support the refs 100% to clean up this part of the game. Imagine what Hoppa and Monas would get away with in a soccer game.
If they addressed these areas soccer would be a magnificent game to watch, but at the moment it has too many cringe worthy moments that are beyond comical. I can definitely appreciate the skills of the players but the game needs to be cleaned up and examples set for young players coming through so the culture can change.
Having said that it was great to see the Socceroos qualify and may just be the shot in the arm to save the game in this country. The new A League may just hang in there now, as I had serious doubts it would had we failed to make it to Germany. Anyway the Swans bandwagon ground to a halt a few weeks ago so looking forward to jumping aboard the World Cup one now.
Well I’m not a soccer fan but watching the match and seeing the crowd and players reaction did give me chills. I get bored watching soccer because I was brought up on rugby but having said that the millions of people around the world who play and support the game obviously do so for a reason- it is still and will be for a long time the most popular sport in the world.
Watching my first full match in a while I was impressed by the skill level of the players.
While they make it look easy, having tried and failed with soccer myself I know it's definately anything but easy.
One thing I think might make it a bit more interesting though would be putting midgets in as goalies...
Watching my first full match in a while I was impressed by the skill level of the players.
While they make it look easy, having tried and failed with soccer myself I know it's definately anything but easy.
One thing I think might make it a bit more interesting though would be putting midgets in as goalies...
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