As the eyes of the footballing world switch to the glittering international events, no not the friendlies, that are the World Cup Play-offs to see just who will take final spots in the world's biggest football tournament, so we take a look back over some of the finest play-offs in World Cup history.

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At 86:35 minutes Orangecrush leaned over to me and said 'Do you think the players realise that this is the most important 3 minutes of the club's history and they have to score?' I agreed with his sentiment and said 'And they aren't going to score.'
The low crowd didn't help. This was a dull game. Click to continue reading...

Bob Malcolm and Craig Moore will not play next week. Certainly in the case of Malcolm that is a very good thing. He may be the worse import the A-League has had. Robbie Slater described his work as the worst defending he had seen in the A-League. He caused the first 2 goals. The first bounced off him to the Mariners (2nd time in two weeks) and the 2nd he decided not to tackle. Click to continue reading...

It was all done in about 4 minutes. 3 Great goals.
Melbourne had their big game last week. And in front of over 30,000 they just were not there. Kruse lasted 30 minutes and didn't do much. Towards the end Melbourne gave them a barrage, particularly Thompson. But Simon Colossimo showed he has earned Craig Moore's Socceroos spot. Click to continue reading...

Brisbane Lions are out of the AFL finals. However, their heroic failure is in contrast to Craig Moore's summation of the Roar as not good enough. Click to continue reading...

A great performance from Henrique whose combinations with Miller, Van Dijk and Kruse tore up CCM. I thought Kruse also did well. And Mundy was much improved. DeVere was given license to go a long way forward on the right.
David Dodd had a great game after coming on early for McKay who sustained a nasty injury. Click to continue reading...

Did Charlie Miller do any pre-season training? I mean any!
And if so why does he look exactly the same as year. Maybe even fatter. He should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
I hope Mitch Nichols keeps Charlie Tim Tam, who is listed at 67kg compared to Mitch's 75kg's in the FFA Media handbook, out of the ball game. Click to continue reading...

Is the FFA going to follow through with its edict on diving? If it is Gold Coast could be in a bit of trouble. They would loose both Robson and Culina. Robson dives when he can, he deliberately got Tiatto booked. Culina may just have been having fun but he won a free kick off Craig Moore.
The refereeing, as Moore warned, was a dark patch on this game. Click to continue reading...

I admit I laughed when I saw the cardboard cut out. But Frank made it very clear it was not his idea.
After some 'interviewed questions' - a lot seemed to be about how long the preseason was - the journalists were invited up front to ask questions. All the questions seemed to be about Miron and Clive's stand. Click to continue reading...

Its great to see the National Australia Bank getting involved in supporting the identification of the next generation of Socceroos. The fact that the FFA now have attracted corporate sponsorship for its A-League Youth award is yet another indication of the growth of the game within this country.
Of course the NAB have been long time supporters of young sporting talent in this country with their long standing sponsorship deal with the AFL for their Rising Start award. Click to continue reading...

Jacob Timpano, Alex Brosque, Brandon Santalab, Michael Zullo, do those names ring a bell? No? What about Robbie Fowler? Thought you knew that name.

Fowler is the newest marquee player in the A-League and he is playing for the North Queensland Fury. I am sure everybody knows Robbie Fowler, a man with 230 goals in all competitions next to his name, a member of the PFA Team of the Year and twice PFA Young player of the year.

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Too young, too quick, too slow, too fragile, whatever the reason, whatever your code I'm sure you've heard the criticism of the A-League.
But with the Socceroos heading to the FIFA 2010 World Cup few fans would expect to see the squad without a pack of A-League players.
Yes that's right the A-League will be sending a host of players to the World Cup,to one if not the greatest stage in World Sport. Click to continue reading...

Sounds like a cracker. Crow of over 11,000 put Gold Coast to shame (particularly as it sounds like there were a few Brisbane based Fulham fans there).
Socceroos Mile Sterjovski and Jacob Burns and defender Andy Todd from Derby County sound like they have filled Perth's gaps.
Our turn tomorrow, after Victory play Fulham tonight, Craig Moore thinks we could loose 0-5 (oooo er). Click to continue reading...

With the addition of our Socceroo trio the Perth Glory are starting to look like a Fantasy Team. Fancy adding Jason Culina or Craig Moore into the mix? The Gory Days will be hosting its own A-League fantasy competition where you pick the team and battle it out for Perth's bragging rights. Click to continue reading...

These days, the A-League average (salary) is more than $100,000 — a marked increase in a few short years on the sort of wages that were offered (and often not paid by bankrupt clubs) in the old National Soccer League.

Michael Lynch writing in The Age looks at where the A-League can source their next players from. Click to continue reading...

Brisbane RFC 4 v Brisbane Wolves 1 - Very wet pitch (most games were canceled this weekend). Sounded even for most of the first half, Wolves went ahead before Craig Moore equalised. Van Dijk scored 4 including a late penalty scored by sub Charlie Miller. See Roar website for details.
Adelaide 1 v Perth 0 - even game with both sides perhaps lacking match fitness. Click to continue reading...

Socceroos win 2-0 with a comfortable victory over the ninety minutes.
David Carney scored, and the old faithful Mile Sterjovski popped one in.
We have maybe 50 plus players fighting to get on that plane, over the next twelve months, and Australian players will be doing their utmost to get in the 23. Click to continue reading...

The A-League is shaping up for it's best season yet. There's still a way to go and expect a few more twists and turns but new teams, new players added to an established old guard seem to be getting the fans excited like never before.
The new teams: Gold Coast and North Queensland Fury, the bank and the paupers, top v bottom maybe. Click to continue reading...

The highlight of the July game could be the dual for Scottish Premier League hard men central defenders. Check out Celtic captain Stephen McManus who will pit his brain and brawn against former Ranger Craig Moore.

Scotland captain Colin Hendry described him as "the last of an ancient breed", in the sense that his no-nonsense defending style is hard to come by in modern football.

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Great to see the Roar on ABC TV news tonight. With Mitch in the background, great plugs for Sergigoal, Craig Moore looked like he had a few fights before, and Henrique was fearlessly swinging away.
... And Robbie Kruse off to try out for Wellington (according to the Courier Mail) after lots of per-season work outs in an effort to re-start his career. Click to continue reading...

With Melbourne's Kevin Muscat on his last legs, should they have kept Milicevic.
What a player? He's played a couple of A-League games, a couple of Asian Champions League games but I'm desperate to see him sign for the full A-League season
Seeing him controlling the Newcastle back four in recent weeks, playing the ball from the back, surging forward is joyous to watch. Click to continue reading...

The Courier Mail is reporting that Brisbane Roar are trialing Motherwell's Bob Malcolm (28).
Malcolm has played 14 games this season for 3 goals and 5 yellow cards. Wikipedia report 20 games in 2008 and 2009 and injury limiting him to 45 games since 2006. He has played for Rangers, Derby County and QPR. Click to continue reading...

Every journo in the country wants Craig Moore back in the Socceroos.
Every player says we need Moore. We don't, and I don't want him nor his thuggish style.
Craig Moore has played and achieved great things for Rangers and the Socceroos. But he came back to Australia younger than many. Click to continue reading...