Alex Brosque's return to form this season has been a delight to watch, but this sudden move up the ranks comes as a surprise nonetheless. The timing is unfortunate, since Brosque was surprisingly ineffective against Gold Coast United this weekend, especially after the game-changing departure of Steve Corica. Click to continue reading...

TOP of the morning to ya, on this fine Thursday morning.
The Internet is a grand thing. Having all that information at your fingertips, ready to go at the click of a button.
For example, a couple clicks here and there, and you can find out the distance between Perth and Wellington is 5257. Click to continue reading...

This from football's best journalist Mike Cockerill:

'There are some suggestions that Moore could be looking for a way out following the coaching change - possibly considering a return to Europe sooner rather than later.

Moore, 33, is one of only two A-League players in the Socceroos squad, and has been told by coach Pim Verbeek he needs to keep playing until May to remain in his World Cup plans.

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And so, once again, it was a case of Tim Cahill to the rescue.
The Socceroo performance wasn't quite as bad as their last outing against Oman, but there were long periods of the game where Australia were dreadfully uninspired. And, let us remember, Oman were denied what looked like a plain penalty a few minutes from the close. Click to continue reading...

The premise of Channel 7's new sci-fi series might not lie in the realms of fantasy after all. Last night, watching the Australia v. Netherlands game, I had a vivid premonition of how Pim Verbeek's side will approach games against superior (or even peer) opposition in South Africa next year.
Plenty of shuffling the ball across the back four. Click to continue reading...

SO finally we have some juicy news to get our collective teeth into. But firstly, FP should mention that Perth Glory winger Adriano Pellegrino will be doing a live chat today from 1.30pm (WST) on the West Online.
Now this sounds pretty cool, but it'll be interesting to see how it works, and more importantly, whether there is a good response from the fans – but knowing the Perth Glory faithful, FP is sure that shouldn't be a problem. Click to continue reading...

Harry Kewell, David Carney, Luke Wilkshire and Danny Invincibile have withdrawn from the Socceroos squad for Saturday's international friendly against the Korea Republic in Seoul. Australian coach Pim Verbeek explained the changes. "Harry played 30 minutes for Galatasaray last night and scored a goal when he came on as a substitute, but . Click to continue reading...

PERTH Glory are prepared to let star players Mile Sterjovski, Jacob Burns and Chris Coyne go on loan to A-League rival Adeladie United, Foxsports has reported.
The trio all are chasing a spot in Pim Verbeek's Socceroo squad for the World Cup and Glory coach Dave Mitchell has confirmed that he could loan them out to Adelaide for their Asian Champions League matches next year. Click to continue reading...

If you thought it was Waltzing Matilda prepare to be disappointed Australia's Dutch coach Pim Verbeek was so keen to integrate himself in Aussie life that he drank his bodyweight in Foster's and hypnotised a stray cow promised to sing the national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, on TV if they qualified for the 2010 World Cup. Click to continue reading...

Ever a man to stick to his word, Australia's Dutch coach Pim Verbeek agreed to perform the Australian national anthem live on Fox Sports before the Australia v Japan game.
Verbeek had promised to do this if Australia qualified for the World Cup, and since the Socceroos have made it with two games to spare, Fox Sports duly kept him to his promise with Verbeek giving a cringe-worthy performance of 'Advance Australia Fair',
Fair play to the guy, he only made one mistake throughout the whole song, when he sang "Australians all let us rejuice" instead of "rejoice. Click to continue reading...

Australia's leading football coach Pim Verbeek sings the National Anthem.
The things you have to do to fit in, in Australia. GoodonyerPimmate!
Let's see yer man Robbie Deans do that. Click to continue reading...

Australia finished top of Group A in Asian World Cup qualifying after beating Japan 2-1 in front of 69,238 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Tim Cahill was the hero for the Socceroos, scoring twice in the second half after Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka had given his side a half-time lead. Click to continue reading...

I loved Pim singing the national anthem on Fox Sports tonight and I've loved the openness of the guy throughout the campaign.
Pim's got us to the World Cup through Asia. He's planned it right and got the maximum out of our players. Brilliant.
It's great to have a leader of the national team who you can admire, and for me, you might not always agree with his tactics, but he's got a certain dignity, a certain sincerity and he takes no crap from the immature Aussie sports media. Click to continue reading...

It's always nice to have ninety minutes of football essentially summarise an entire campaign. And that is what we had with the Socceroos' 2-1 sign-off victory over Japan tonight.
There was:
The slow start
In our home games against Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Japan, we have looked languid (some might say woeful) in the first half: sitting too far back, not fashioning any decent linkage between defence and midfield, and relying too much on the aerial ball. Click to continue reading...

Looking more like a ward of hospital patients than a squad of professional footballers, Japan arrived in Melbourne with seemingly one goal in mind. Forget the three qualifying points on offer from their World Cup qualifier against the Socceroos, Takeshi Okada's men appeared more determined to avoid contracting swine flu as they disembarked in the sporting capital of Australia. Click to continue reading...

The move into the Asian confederation has created so many possibilities for the World Cup-bound Socceroos, but it has unexpectedly robbed them of something - a proper climax to qualifying.
Few punters will forget that November night in 2005 when a bare-chested John Aloisi wheeled away after scoring the decisive penalty in Australia's shootout victory over Uruguay, a goal, which combined with Mark Schwarzer's heroics, confirming only the country's second appearance in a World Cup finals. Click to continue reading...

Australia v Japan (World Cup Qualifying)
Date: Wednesday 17th June
Kickoff: 10:00 GMT

Australia will clash against Japan in a World Cup qualifier that is more about pride and professional respect than points as both teams have already qualified for South Africa 2010. You can watch Australia v Japan live here.

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"Socceroo cover-up" reads the June 14 headline of Sydney's widely circulated Sunday Telegraph, with the round ball game earning rare front page coverage from the News Limited mouthpiece.
It's not for exploits on the pitch that football is making headlines in Australia, but rather for the allegation that Everton midfielder Tim Cahill was expelled from a Kings Cross nightclub last week for drunk and disorderly behaviour. Click to continue reading...

When the football refusers start to clutch at straws, it can be amusing to watch.
Can't criticise the Socceroos for their off-field antics? Tired of veiled references to how boring they have become under Pim Verbeek? No worries. Rugby league writers like Mr. Swanton (mysteriously given leave to write about football) can carp at them for, well, erm, being exemplary sportsmen. Click to continue reading...

Another clean sheet, another couple of goals, in a dead rubber, no less! Pim Verbeek can afford a little chortle of satisfaction.
And the Socceroo performance, on the whole, wasn't too bad. As in the Uzbekistan game at the same venue, Australia were languid and short of ideas in the first half, but became more cohesive and incisive as the game wore on. Click to continue reading...

Tonight's 2-0 victory for the Socceroos over Bahrain saw Glory hopeful Mile Sterjovski opening... Click to continue reading...

Tim Cahill celebrates with team mates

The Socceroos joined Japan, South Korea, and Netherlands in qualifying for the World Cup when they drew with Qatar.

Pim Verbeek deservedly gets kudos. This is his first World Cup as a coach after being an understudy to Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat in South Korea.

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We've made it!
With a fairly colourless draw against Qatar early this morning, enlivened at times by Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell, the Socceroos have qualified for their third World Cup. Congratulations to Pim Verbeek and the squad.
Of course, as many have already pointed out, there wasn't quite the sense of occasion this time; no penalty from John Aloisi or rocketing shot from Jim Mackay to stir the blood. Click to continue reading...

Average performance and blasé celebrations aside, the Socceroos and Australians alike are rejoicing at the thought of going to their second consecutive World Cup final in South Africa next year... and I guess none more so than CEO of Football Federation Australia and 'gleaming in smug pride' Mr. Click to continue reading...

Oh you gotta love Pim. He sure knows how to put people offside but for once he came to the defence... Click to continue reading...

State of Origin tonight, Wallabies friendly against Barbarians (why have the moved this game to the SFS?) but the big one is the Socceroos away to Qatar on Sunday morning.
We need a point. We've thrashed Qatar three times already in this group and even without Brett Emerton we should be good enough once more. Click to continue reading...

The Aussie media are getting all upset with our Pim.
Mike Cockerill is writing piece after piece on Richard Porta's exclusion from the Socceroos squad, and Matt Hall and 442 are giving a voice to Ljubo Milicevic, who doesn't need one does he and of course Jesse Fink thinks Nicky Carle is the new Ronaldinho. Click to continue reading...

Highly rated Middlesbrough youngster Rhys Williams is at the center of a battle between Wales and Australia for his long term International future. Williams, who has helped Burnley reach the Championship play-offs during a successful loan spell at Turf Moor, has already played 10 times for Wales' Under-21s, but the fact that he has yet to play a competitive game for the full National side still makes him available for Australia.

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There must be something in the water in South Korea. Anybody who spends time on the coaching staff of the national team seems to spend the rest of their career doing pretty well for themselves.
A Korean Football Association (KFA) official told me recently that the organization should start charging commission or finding fees. Click to continue reading...

Mariners and Jets both needed wins in matchday 4 and despite some notable performances they both flopped badly to Japanese sides.
Yes that's right the "technically better Japanese sides".
But maybe it's not the technical difference between the players that is so crucial to results against Japanese sides. Click to continue reading...

Australia could become the first country to join SA in World Cup 2010. Pim Verbeek's team scored a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan. They need just another point. It could come in their next match against Qatar on the 6th June giving them a valuable headstart on other countries still going through an arduous qualifying process.

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After only his second official game in charge of the Argenitne team, Maradona's men suffered their biggest defeat in world football since 1945... ah, that Maradona, he really is a special guy! [ESPN]
Got an injured player? Send them to Australia and Pim's medical team will fix'em right up. Click to continue reading...

If the pressure was well and truly on Japan coach Takeshi Okada going into his side's World Cup qualifier with Australia in Yokohama, then the resultant 0-0 draw will have done little to alleviate it.
Japan dominated in front of 65,571 fans at Yokohama International Stadium, but a combination of poor finishing and dogged defending from the Socceroos saw Pim Verbeek's team snatch a hard-earned point. Click to continue reading...

Oh the inhumanity of it all... it was dastardly, hideous, ugly... f-ugly even! No I'm not referring to Scott Chipperfield's receding hairline and borderline chimp-like cranium... I'm actually referring to the uncoordinated game the Socceroos played tonight against a much more organised opponent in Japan. Click to continue reading...

Oh the inhumanity of it all... it was dastardly, hideous, ugly... f-ugly even! No I'm not referring to Scott Chipperfield's receding hairline and borderline chimp-like cranium... I'm actually referring to the uncoordinated game the Socceroos played tonight against a much more organised opponent in Japan. Click to continue reading...