Delayed Telecast

Only a week behind!


This will certainly clarify your suspicions that I have little else to do in my life... Slowly but surely I have built my Socceroos class of 2010! I have an essay due this week but once this idea was in my mind there was no stopping me...


This is the preliminary World Cup squad of 31 players that was announced last week by Pim Verbeek. The team will now gather in preparation for their World Cup send off match on the 24th of May against New Zealand at Melbourne's MCG and then continue on to South Africa for more pre-World Cup matches. Pim then faces the heavy task of cutting the team down to a slender 25 players. Good luck boys!


Left to Right Top to Bottom:

Carl Valeri, Adam Federici, Jade North, Mark Milligan, Nick Carle, Mark Schwarzer, Richard Garcia, Harry Kewell, Dario Vidosic, Brett Emerton, Rhys Williams, 

2nd row; Eugene Galekovic, Mark Bresciano, Jason Culina, Brad Jones, Tim Cahill, Tom Oar, Vince Grella, Lucas Neill, Shane Lowry, Scott Mcdonald, Front Row; Scott Chipperfield, Nikita Rukavytsya, Mile Jedinak, Craig Moore, Brett Holman (holding rat), David Carney, Luke Wilkshire, Micheal Beauchamp, Josh Kennedy, James Holland 

Fashion Week Meets Football

Last week was Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in Sydney. Now, usually it's all about nails, fake tan and hairspray, but last week there were only two things on the lips of all the models. World Cup and the Socceroos!

Here's proof!

Eagerly waiting to hear tomorrows news of the Socceroos squad announcement..

2 minutes and 39 seconds with Tommy Oar

Photo thanks to Matt Reed

Tommy Oar is to the Australian football media what Justin Bieber is to a 12 year old hyperventilating
 girl. He's still a spring chicken at 18 and has been given some great opportunities in the last year. With an Australian Socceroos appearance, a great season at Brisbane Roar and a signing with Dutch club FC Utrecht to boot. 

I had a little chat to him yesterday at the Nike launch. He seemed very lovely and not yet jaded by all this commotion. Hopefully the older boys don't corrupt him! 


Here are the very important questions that I asked... 

If you were not a Footballer what's one thing would you like to be?

I’ve been involved in football since I was young so I don’t think it would be a very good thing – For a dream thing definitely a Rock Star!

Out of the Big 5 in South Africa (Cheetah, Lion, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino) which would you most like to see if you get to go?

Definitely the Lion

And which one would you most like to be?

Probably the Elephant, that way you don’t have any prey

You’re driving in a car and the light goes orange; do you speed up or slow down?

Speed up!

If you’re in a restaurant and the food isn’t what you expect do you get them to take it back or do you just eat it?

I definitely wouldn’t get them to take it back

If Australia gets to host the World Cup for 2018 or 22 which city should host the final?

Probably being biased but I reckon the Gold Coast

Bus or Walk? Walk

Postecoglou or Farina? No comment!

Einstein or Shakespeare? Shakespeare

PC or Mac? Mac

Gaga or Beyonce? Neither!

Sea or land? Land

Multi-choice or essay? Multi choice

Fruit or Veg? Fruit

Nike's Socceroos Jersey Extravaganza!

A sunny Sydney morning on the harbour was the perfect location for Craig Moore and Tommy Oar to show off Nike's new 2010 Socceroos jersey.

The lovely Nike team invited me along to the press call, which included a putt around the harbour on a nice swanky 3 level yacht, followed by a presentation to the media. This involved a little brekkie, lots of technical chat about the jersey’s new features and plenty of filming and snapping.

Now, I’ll admit that I’ve never actually been to a press call so this was all quite a novelty to me. I did my best to act like I knew what I was doing and to get SUPER DOOPER EXCLUSIVE pics and info for all of my Girl Meets Ball readers!!

The jersey in my opinion is rather nice. Understated and clean - nothing risky. The incorporation of the green across the shoulders takes us back to the true green and gold feel which I felt we was missing over the last few years with the predominantly yellow strip (although, the sea of yellow at matches did look pretty amazing). Other than that, the jersey’s main boasting rights are its super eco-friendly production, which I’m quite a fan of. It’s made out of 100 per cent polyester, diverting 13 million plastic bottles from landfills.

The boys (Craig and Tom) did a great job of standing around in their T-shirts. Sydney has made the most pathetic attempt of an autumn but today was one of the first days that had a bit of a nip in the air so I hope they don’t catch a cold! They were also very gracious to hang about and have a chat to the hounding (but loving) media. I even got amongst it – My first two interviews ever! I asked some pretty hard hitting questions… you just wait! 

Asian Cup Draw

Australia has drawn South Korea, India and Bahrain for the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. I think this is a pretty good outcome. 

It’s amusing how every time a significant draw is done the media grumbles and rumbles about how ‘tough’ our group is. Since when has an international competition ever given an easy group? Unless you're Italy playing New Zealand...  

There’s been chat about the Socceroos not taking on the Cup with a full strength squad. This is due to the possibility that European based players will not be released by their clubs for the tournament next January.

In my eyes this is not a problem we need to fret about. We can’t keep belting out the same team. This Asian Cup is an important one for Australia for a couple of reasons. Firstly, to help us further cement our relationship in the Asian confederation and also to prove ourselves on a worldwide scale as a strong team internationally (that CAN hold a World Cup), however, we’ve got to get our youth off the bench. They need the experience of a big competition – it’s no use playing our 28+ year olds, by Brazil 2014 they’ll be in the stands… Ultimately if this means we don't do so well, then so be it - we can't keep masking our way through.

Asian Cup Draw

Group A: Qatar, Kuwait, China and Uzbekistan

Group B: Saudi Arabia, Japan, Jordan and Syria

Group C: Korea Republic, India, Australia and Bahrain

Group D: Iraq, North Korea, UAE and Iran

Get your Socceroos face on!

Every time I read '3 steps to a sexy smokey eye' in a magazine I just know that it's unachievable - I end up looking like a Raccoon (I know all of you boys out there will be with me on this one). So, in light of this I've decided to create my own fool proof guide to getting your Socceroos face on! 

OR go all the way... Not for the faint hearted.

 

Thanks to the beautiful Simone for being my guest photographer! 

GMB XO


P.S. Please note yellow and pastel green nail polish!! Bussyyy! 

Socceroos’ home amongst the Real Yellowwood tree

These photos were released a little while ago now but I came across them today and decided it was important information!

This will be the Socceroos’ home sweet home while in South Africa. The Kloofzicht Lodge is all fitted out; water hole, rolling hills and native trees – somewhere I think a roo might like to hang.

I had a perve on Google Maps to suss it out, like the good little Blogger that I am, and unfortunately it seems that the resort isn’t very close to any little towns that might chuck a party for the Australian fans… In Germany 2006 the gorgeous little town of Ohringen hosted the Australian team and I think after the World Cup they all claimed Aussie citizenship! The whole town got amongst it with Aussie flags everywhere; I love Australia banners in window shops, locals walking around saying G’day mate and then to top it off a big party day with music and dancing and the whole she-bang!

Anywho, not to worry I’m sure we’ll make our own fun over in South Africa!

More of the lodge here.

Pim's Off

A slight case of bloggers block for most of the week… Finally back on board! So, here are my thoughts on Pim leaving.

After a sturdy and tiring two years with the FFA Pim Verbeek has decided he will not be re-signing as coach of the Socceroos. I think this is a good decision on all accounts. Pim’s done a very good job – but as he’s said the job is quite a demanding one and I think the pressure of holding such a good record bears a little too much weight.

In his 27 matches as boss Verbeek has lead the team to 15 wins, 8 draws and only 4 losses as well as qualification for both World Cup and Asian Cup. I think a lot of this success, although of course the players have a lot to do with it, is thanks to his hard work. Scouting across Europe, Asia and Australia as well as games in these three continents whilst having your family back in Europe is no easy task.

So, now the FFA is on the hunt for a new coach… It seems to be a shared consensus that at this stage it’s still critical we have an outside influence, I think a European is best. It’ll be interesting to see who comes up…

I think a coach needs to be a lot more than an ex-player with a FIFA coaching certificate. A professional player’s insight into the game is invaluable, however, it’s not enough. Besides the technical and tactical aspects of the game the most vital aspect to a good coach is his people skills and I think Pim did a good job of this.

Of course, I don’t really know – in the end only the players are the only ones who can really assess this, however, through the media’s eyes (always a little warped) he’s done a good job of appearing to be calm, collected and never too irrational. He seems to be calculated in the way he shares information and the choices he makes. Although, sometimes a little harsh I think his honesty is refreshing, however, at the same time he does come across with some warmth – I think it’s important to always be a little bit human.  

Anywhoo, our next Socceroos coach has a big job ahead. With a lot of the older boys nearing the ends of their careers the search will be on for our youngsters to pull through with some talent, as well as this, we’ve got the Asian Cup to contend with – before we know it it’ll be time to qualify for Brazil 2014! 

World Cup Warm Up AUS VS USA

Our first warm up match in South Africa was announced today. I've decided to keep running with my food theme for the day, so if you hadn't guessed already it's 
America VS Australia! The game will be played in Roodepoort at Ruimsig Stadium 
on June the 5th.

I think it's a little strange that Pim thinks that "Their style of play will allow us to test our players against similar opposition to what we will face at the World Cup"... I 
wouldn't say Germany, Ghana or Serbia have any particularly similar traits... But 
hey, it's a good start none the less. Maybe he's talking about when we get out of our group stage??..!

Anywhoo, another Tuesday gone - Good night world. 

GMB XO

Flashback Phase 2: The Dark Days

The next step after my Glasgow Rangers debut was to get into a real team. The Weston Creek Under 8 Tigers. This was the club where I honed my craft… The craft of yelling was possibly executed here more so than my football skills, however, they weren’t too bad either.

The yelling skills came into play at several of the Socceroos and NSL matches throughout the 1990’s that I travelled near and far to along with my family. My 8 year-old heart was broken for the first time in 1997 after qualification was stolen from us in the infamous second leg of Iran Vs Australia. There I was, a little squealer, in the middle of a roaring 85,000 people at Melbourne’s MCG. I jumped up every few seconds but never remembered that the seat would flip up every time I stood up which resulted in a sore butt and quite a few scratches on my back! Schoolgirl errors all round! As we slowly made our way out of the stadium after losing I remember tears running down my face accompanied by the booming sound of Queen’s We Are the Champions. Queen was always a friendly and familiar sound to my youthful ears, but after this I truly did not listen to them for years!

In my ‘Magnet Ball’ days, as Dad likes to call it, I was quite quick which made me a good little striker. BOOT-CHASE-SCORE! Being the youngest I had my brothers and sister throwing balls AT me since I was a wee little rascal and I was quite lanky so I was also utilised in the goals, however, as my ‘career’ took off I felt most at home in the middle of the park. I had a few stints in the ACT representative teams and sometimes trained with the boys’ team but I didn’t like the Scottish coach… Tehehe. Anyway, in the end my summer sport, Athletics, proved to pull my attention a little more which meant less focus on the Football.  

My vocal chords were still in training at my local NSL team’s matches. The Canberra Cosmos were MY HEROES! I used to put popcorn kernels in Coke bottles, paint them yellow and blue and shake them all game… amusing… I did a training camp with them and felt really special the whole time. Norman Kelly was my favourite, I got his signature at the end and he wrote that he thought I was really good! I ran off home so very chuffed to show my older brother Brendan. He laughed at me and expressed his distaste for my liking the long-balling Irish player! It’s funny to look back and realise the kind of impression one player can make on a child.

The next step that added to the dark days was the Socceroos' 2002 World Cup qualification process. Some good did come out of it all, Dad took my brother Tom and I up to Coffs Harbour for the first stage of the Oceania Qualifications. It was such a fun holiday! Not only did we see the Socceroos make a new world record of goals scored in an international football match at 22-0 and Archie Thompson break the record for goals by one player (13) we went go-karting!! I wasn’t very good at it… But It was the first time I ever got to drive my own car!!

Oceania was the easy bit, we beat the Kiwis and then, as usual, were faced with playing a South American team of international superiority. In this case it was Uruguay. I was in Yr 7 and on this occasion Dad made a deal with me. He said to me that if qualified for the All Schools Athletics Nationals in High Jump he would take me down to Melbourne for the match… My P.B. was nowhere near the qualification height, so I think we both knew I wouldn't be coming. Anyway, on Saturday morning at Little Athletics, much to his and my surprise I cleared the height, I think it was 153cm. I still remember calling him and telling him that I did it and he had to keep his promise! He did, we went, I covered my face in green and gold and Kevin Muscat scored our only goal in a penality and we won 1-0 which left us in a decent position...





My family gathered around the Tele in the early hours of a school morning the next week to watch the second leg in Uruguay. My screams from the other side of the world didn’t seem to help… We lost and didn’t make the FIFA World Cup AGAIN.

Little did I know that the good days were just around the corner…

TBC…

100 DAYS TILL WORLD CUP!

I’m all for significant dates and I think it’s rather fancy that Australia happens to be playing tonight! 

Australia Vs Indonesia Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 8pm. 

Tonight’s game is rather important, not only because if we don’t get a point out of this match our hopes for the Asian Cup are all but over but because it’s one of the last chances for local A-league players to show Pim why they should get a ticket to South Africa. 

I think the starting line up might look like this...
                  Galekovic

Cole-Milligan-Colosimo-Thompson

         Wilkshire-McKay

          Sterjovski-Culina-Oar 

                  Kennedy

On the Bench: Durante, Williams, Bolton, McBreen, Burns?


Wish I could be there tonight to scream and shout but unfortunately life has decided I need to be in Sydney tonight. 


GO THE SOCCEROOS!!! 


GMB XO

Matildas and Socceroos Train Together!

How cool is this! I'm happy that who ever thought of doing this made it happen.

Oceania love

I know that this is yesterdays news… But I’m no 24/7 business so I’m only getting on to it now! Plus who does a press release on the weekend anyway? On Saturday it was announced that Australia's last game before we depart for World Cup will be against New Zealand in Melbourne on May 24th.  

Hopefully the MCG will have a packed out crowd of 90,000 which is an amazing thing to experience, especially when everyone's decked out in the green and gold for the Socceroos!  

Initially I was a little disappointed that we weren't going to ship over a Euro nation or some South Americans... But when I pondered a little longer I decided that a Kiwi Aussie bash wouldn't be too bad! 

A) After all they did actually make the World Cup + if Wellington Pheonix is anything to go by at the moment maybe they won't be in bad form!

B) I must confess that I am actually kind of half Kiwi... My Mama was born there! So I do have an inkling of love for them. 

C) New Zealands odds are currently at $1001.00/1 SO WE BETTER WIN! Which means it will be quite a feel good game for us.

D)  Flight of the Conchords are from NZ and I love them!! 

THE END!

Socceroos vs Indonesia Squad Picked.

An A-league thick 25 man squad picked for the Asian Cup qualifier in Brisbane on the 3rd of March. Good to see some youngsters in the mix! 


Clint Bolton (Sydney FC), Alex Brosque (Sydney FC), Shannon Cole (Sydney FC), Simon Colosimo (Sydney FC), Jason Culina (Gold Coast United), Luke Devere (Brisbane Roar), Andrew Durante (Wellington Phoenix), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United), Scott Jamieson (Adelaide United), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets), Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Gramous), Mathew Leckie (Adelaide United), Michael Marrone (Adelaide United), Daniel McBreen (Perth Glory), Jon Mckain (Wellington Phoenix), Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar), Mark Milligan (JEF United), Stuart Musialik (Sydney FC), Jade North (Incheon United), Tommy Oar (Brisbane Roar), Matt Thompson (Newcastle Jets), Danny Vukovic (Central Coast Mariners), David Williams (North Queensland Fury), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow), Michael Zullo (Brisbane Roar).

Meow

Even my cat's into it!

I'm Feelin It

Sony's new 'Feel What They Feel' campaign. I love it! When advertising actually makes you feel something it is a job well done and deserves to be on my blog. My fan training program for World Cup is going rather well - this morning I went for a run just like Lucas Neill and recited the Australian anthem 5 times. I forgot the ice bath... Maybe next time. 


Durban update coming up later today!


GMB X

NEWSTRIP








Think I preferred the spew shirt... It had a little more character. Lets see if this one makes the cut.