Morning all, welcome to the blog.
Well, Mile Sterjovski didn't feature for the Socceroos - which in a way is good news, because it means he's injury free for Perth Glory. Seems like a selfish way of looking at things, but meh.
Meanwhile, congrats to the Kiwis for joining the party in South Africa - we couldn't dream about going there without ya. Click to continue reading...

With five playoff first legs beginning, we now have 25 teams already qualified for next summer's World Cup in South Africa.Early today, New Zealand finished of Bahrain in the Oceania/Asia playoff. Rory Fallon became a household name in his land forever by nodding home the lone goal of the tie to send the Kiwis back to World Cup for the first time since 1982. Click to continue reading...

For the first time since the last time in 1982,New Zealand have qualified for the World Cup Finals.It will the first time that both the Kiwis and the Socceroos will both be going to a World Cup finals.New Zealand beat Bahrain 1 - 0 in the second leg to make history.

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Overnight the peoples of Ivory Coast, Chile, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Mexico popped the champagne. Now there are 19 on the party list, and there's mass patriotic emotion attached to the competition for the final 13 places. I'll have a look at some of the more interesting ones (to me ok).
Last night New Zealand held Bahrain to a 0:0 draw on Bahrain's turf. Click to continue reading...

So the favoured Western Sydney bid has collapsed.
In all probability, this is good news for the A-League. It's surely inconceivable that the FFA will consider the nebulous bid fronted by a Socceroo captain who can't even find a club of his own at the moment; Canberra is the only realistic option if they are going to expand to twelve teams in 2010/11. Click to continue reading...

Sydney FC on top of the table after four rounds...can I stop pinching myself now?
It hasn't always been pretty (especially last week's grind against the Mariners), but Vitezslav Lavicka can afford a grin. One gets the feeling that they have been lucky in their opposition so far; Adelaide and North Queensland both look like they will struggle to make the final six, and Wellington were utterly pedestrian in midfield last night, with the significant exception of Leo Bertos. Click to continue reading...

A couple of days ago, the Australian squad for the Asian U-16 qualifying series in Canberra in October was announced. One thing that immediately catches the eye in the list is that it features no fewer than seven players from the Sutherland Sharks club.
There may be all sorts of factors involved in this apparent anomaly (especially the very healthy player base that the club has to choose from), but can their over-representation be put down, in part, to the artificial pitch they have been using for the last few years? Click to continue reading...

Younis Mahmoud in anguish after a save by Glen Moss: Image from AFP
Iraq and New Zealand played out a lively 0-0 draw as both teams said farewell to the Confederations Cup on Saturday having failed to score a goal between them in any of their three Group A games.
Iraq, needing a win to have any chance of overhauling South Africa for the runners-up spot to reach the semi-finals behind group winners Spain, were more adventurous than in their opening games but rarely looked like scoring until a late flourish. Click to continue reading...

Round 2 matches have brought just as much excitement as Round 1 had. Though the focus after Round 1 had been on the use of Vuvuzela horn at the stadiums, the Round 2 matches were no less exhilirating. So, let's look at the numbers after Round 2.
We saw the Italians upset by some excellent Egyptian defence and goalkeeping. Click to continue reading...

Bob Bradley is faced with a dilemma.

Should he play nine men behind the ball and leave Altidore on top? It almost worked for Iraq against Spain. Or is the game itself more important than the result? The Kiwis outmatched in every game should get some points here for opting to play the latter.

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Joel Santana needs to win against the Kiwis otherwise its over for South Africa and the end of the road for him.

The media was none too impressed with his Iraq efforts.

He was widely perceived as failing to adapt to Bora Milutinovic's ultra defensive approach.
The Daily Times:

But glaringly, Santana did not see reason to alter his tactics and introduce more attack-minded players, keeping men such as Steven Pienaar (although still not fully fit) and Katlego Mashego on the bench until it was too late, while Siphiwe Tshabalala and Elrio van Heerden were not even used as Santana packed his under-worked defence.

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When we heard New Zealand were playing in the Confederations Cup... and meeting the selección in their opening game, all sorts of ideas and stereotypes started forming in our heads. Sadly, we half-expected Tana Umaga to make an appearance during the match and follow this up with a pre-match haka!

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Last night, the Confederations Cup kickoff in South Africa with the host nation takes on Iraq in the opening match. The match ended in a goalless draw.

Then, another Group A match between New Zealand and the current Fifa's world number one ranking team, Spain kickoff later at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenberg.

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Spain's Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick within 17 minutes of the kick-off as tournament favourites Spain routed New Zealand 5-0 at a half-full Rustenburg stadium.

The Liverpool striker broke the deadlock after six minutes, then added his second and third in the 14th and 17th minutes. Cesc Fabregas made it four seven minutes later before David Villa completed the rout early in the second half.

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In 1997, FIFA confirmed the Confederations Cup as the second biggest event on the organizations calendar. But the Confederations Cup has had an identity crisis thanks to shifting from every two years to every four years and the lack of interest in the English language media because England has never qualified.

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If you don't watch HBO's Flight of the Conchords you are missing out. If you don't have HBO, it's worth getting just for this (and True Blood). Seriously, it's the funniest thing America has seen from New Zealand since Cameron Knowles was a part of the Real Salt Lake defense back in 2005. Click to continue reading...

Just because I know that only about 13 people watched the game, here's the highlights from LA's match in New Zealand from Friday night. How Edgar Davids is an Oceania All Star I don't know, your guess is as good as mine. Click to continue reading...