Socceroos missing big guns for S.Korea friendly

August 26, 2009


Captain Lucas Neill and midfield talisman Tim Cahill were on Wednesday left out of Australia’s squad for next month’s friendly against South Korea in Seoul, with striker Harry Kewell also in doubt.

Socceroos Coach Pim Verbeek omitted Neill from the 24-man squad as the defender searches for a new club in Europe and was forced to drop Cahill, a two-goal hero in Australia’s win over Ireland this month, due to a foot injury.

Verbeek included Kewell but admitted the former Liverpool player may miss the Seoul match after sustaining a knock on his ankle representing his Turkish club Galatasaray last week.

“He got a very nasty kick on his ankle, I was with him on Friday when he had his medical, it didn’t look good,” the coach said.

The Dutchman dismissed fears that Cahill’s injury was similar to the broken metatarsal that sidelined the Everton star for six months last year.

“It’s a totally different injury. At this moment it’s much better to leave him in England because I have enough other players,” Verbeek said.

Verbeek said Neill, who is out of contract with England’s West Ham, was released so he could talk to prospective clubs and undergo medicals.

He included two A-League players, Jason Culina and Shane Stefanutto, along with Japanese-based striker Josh Kennedy.

Vince Grella returns from injury, with Michael Beauchamp, Mark Milligan and Michael Petkovic the other inclusions.

Verbeek said Kennedy and Celtic’s Scott McDonald were likely to play as dual strikers against South Korea.

Australia’s 24-man squad announced Wednesday for the September 5 friendly against South Korea in Seoul:

Michael Beauchamp (Aalborg/DEN), Mark Bresciano (Palermo/ITA), Nick Carle (Crystal Palace/ENG), David Carney (Sheffield United/ENG), Ante Covic (Elfsborg/SWE), Jason Culina (Gold Coast/AUS), Vince Grella (Blackburn/ENG), Brett Holman (Alkmaar/NED), Danny Invincibile (Kilmarnock/SCO), Mile Jedinak (Antalyaspo/TUR), Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus/JPN), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray/TUR), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leeds/ENG), Scott McDonald (Celtic/SCO), Mark Milligan (Shanghai Shenhua/CHN), Jade North (Incheon United/KOR), Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor/TUR), Nikita Rukavytsya (FC Twente/NED), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham/ENG), Matthew Spiranovic (Nurnberg/GER), Shane Stefanutto (North Queensland/AUS), Dario Vidosic (Nurnberg/GER), Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough/ENG), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow/RUS)

SYDNEY (AFP)

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Fowler scores on losing A-League debut

August 8, 2009


Liverpool great Robbie Fowler scored on his Australian A-League debut but it wasn’t enough to prevent North Queensland Fury from losing their opening home game of the season on Saturday.

The former England international striker equalised with his 60th-minute penalty but Fury went down 3-2 to Sydney FC, with former Australian international forward John Aloisi scoring a brace for the winners.

Fury trailed 2-0 after 28 minutes but fought back to level after Fowler sent Sydney goalkeeper Clint Bolton the wrong way to score the first goal of his A-League stint before Aloisi clinched the win with a 73rd-minute penalty.

Fowler, 34, is the highest-profile signing in the five years of the A-League and is playing club football outside England for the first time since he finished as the fourth-highest all-time scorer with 161 goals in the English Premier League.

“We put ourselves on the back foot, but all credit to the lads to get it back to 2-2,” Fowler said.

“It was not the ideal result but I think we’ll take some credit to get back from two goals down — it shows a bit of fight in the team.”

Fowler has been handed the captaincy of the Townsville-based Fury, who have entered the expanded 10-team A-League competition this year along with Gold Coast United.

Gold Coast won their first-ever match 3-1 over Brisbane Roar on Saturday with New Zealander Shane Smeltz, Socceroo Jason Culina and Brazilian Robson all getting on the score sheet.

SYDNEY (AFP)

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Cahill the two-goal hero as Aussies down Japan

June 17, 2009


MELBOURNE (AFP) – Tim Cahill scored twice as Australia came from behind to down Japan 2-1 and finish top of their Asian World Cup qualifying group here on Wednesday.

The mercurial Everton midfielder popped up for his brace after Australia had conceded their first goal in eight qualifiers to keep the team unbeaten as they head to South Africa along with Japan for next year’s World Cup finals.

Cahill scored in the 59th and 76th minutes to continue his ‘lucky charm’ effect on the Socceroos and conjure memories of his late double when Australia came from behind to beat Japan 3-1 at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Cahill now has 16 goals in 33 internationals.

Australia finished Group A with 20 points and inflicted Asian rival Japan’s first defeat in 11 qualifiers this campaign.

Japan last lost 1-0 to Bahrain in Manama on March 26 last year.

But for a time it looked as though Japan would register a prestige win in front of almost 70,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Japan’s Brazilian-born defender Tulio broke the deadlock and ended Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer’s seven-match run of clean sheets with a headed goal in the 40th minute.

Tulio got above Nicky Carle and rammed home Kengo Nakamura’s corner to stunned silence from the Australian crowd.

It was the first goal Australia have conceded in their eight qualifiers since a 1-0 loss to China in Sydney a year ago.

Japan almost grabbed a second goal right on halftime when Keiji Tamada’s free kick just outside the box was headed off the line by Socceroos’ skipper Lucas Neill.

But Cahill proved Australia’s hero with a trademark header 15 minutes after halftime.

Cahill and giant striker Josh Kennedy both climbed for Vince Grella’s lofted free kick but the diminutive Everton midfielder got his head to the ball first and arced it beyond goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki into the far top corner.

His goal energised the Socceroos and they had a lively spell at the Japanese goal.

Cahill scored his second 14 minutes from time when he volleyed home Carle’s corner from close range.

Australia fielded just three survivors — Schwarzer, Jason Culina and Mile Sterjovski — from last week’s 2-0 win over Bahrain in Sydney, while Japan had seven members of the team who started in the 1-1 draw with Qatar in Yokohama.

The Socceroos went in with two inexperienced wide defenders, leftback Shane Stefanutto (1 cap) and debutant Rhys Williams on the right.

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Aussies limp bast Bahrain

June 10, 2009


SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia laboured to beat Bahrain 2-0 in a muted celebration of their World Cup Asian qualification here on Wednesday.

The Socceroos, fielding only four survivors from the team that booked their ticket to South Africa 2010 in Qatar at the weekend, were frustrated by the fast-breaking visitors and needed second-half goals to grind them down.

Mile Sterjovski broke the deadlock in the 55th minute after he punished a defensive error inside the six-yard box and beat goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed for his eighth top-level goal.

David Carney doubled the lead in the 88th minute after Jason Culina’s spectacular overhead kick ricocheted off an upright for Carney to ram the ball home for his second international goal.

Bahrain had the ball in the net during the second half from an Abdulla Marzooq header but the defender was ruled offside.

It would have been the first time Australia had conceded a goal in their last seven qualifying games.

Australia hold on to their lead at the top of Asia Group A and will play regional rivals Japan in Melbourne next Wednesday, with both teams already through to the World Cup finals.

The Socceroos could have had a third goal but incredibly the ball stayed out after Harry Kewell and Sterjovski had goalbound chances blocked on the line in the 75th minute.

But for the most part, before just under 40,000 fans at a half-filled Olympic stadium, the Australians played like strangers, with little rhythm and wayward passing.

The surprise omissions from the Australia team were English Premier League stars Tim Cahill and Vince Grella, with Cahill left out entirely and Grella on the bench. Grella came on in the 62nd minute.

Coach Pim Verbeek said Cahill had stiff muscles and would not be risked.

Bahrain, needing a point to lock up third spot in the group and with it a potential World Cup playoff against Oceania champions New Zealand, looked the livelier in the first half.

Skipper Mohamed Salmeen had a free header off an Abdulla Abdi corner in the 24th minute but the chance went over the bar.

Celtic striker Scott McDonald had a glorious chance to break his international goal drought in his 12th game minutes later after being put clear by Brett Holman but he blazed his volley over the bar for the hosts.

Bahrain continued to press and Mahmood Abdulrahman’s free-kick was flicked on, only for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to fumble the ball and regather at the second attempt on his line.

Sterjovski had a free header comfortably taken by goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed before Salman Isa blazed just over the bar nearing halftime.

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Culina defends quitting Europe for A-League

May 18, 2009


SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian midfielder Jason Culina on Monday defended his decision to leave Europe in the prime of his career and return home to play in the domestic A-League against his national coach’s wishes.

Culina, 28, who has played 38 times for his country, left Dutch club PSV Eindhoven last January to sign a three-year deal worth a reported 3.6 million Australian dollars (2.6 million US) with A-League newcomers Gold Coast United.

Culina made the decision to return even though Pim Verbeek, the coach of the Socceroos, said he believed the player was putting his Australian shirt in jeopardy ahead of next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

PSV said it had offered Culina a new three-year deal and the player also received an offer from Dinamo Zagreb.

But Culina, who began training with his new teammates on Monday, said he was content with his decision.

“I decided to sign for Gold Coast United because I believe it is the right thing for me at this point in my career,” he told reporters.

“It was a calculated decision and I thought long and hard about it. I?m just happy to be here now.”

Responding to the debate over whether his playing standards would be compromised by returning to Australia, Culina said there was pressure on A-League players to perform as there was in Europe.

“I?ve always been a player who gives 100 percent and I try to do my best, so coming back to Australia certainly isn?t a drop in standards,” he said.

“I?m going to do my job to the best of my ability, as I always do.”

Culina is expected to be chosen for Australia’s three remaining World Cup qualifiers against Qatar, Bahrain and Japan next month, before he begins the new A-League season in August.

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No double-Dutch as Verbeek slams A-League

February 24, 2009

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia may be a few points off becoming one of the early qualified teams for next year’s World Cup under Pim Verbeek, but the blunt-talking Dutch coach is ruffling a few feathers along the way.

The Socceroos are sailing along unbeaten in their Asian group, two points clear of Japan and with a six-point buffer over third-placed Qatar and Bahrain with the top two teams of the group qualifying automatically for South Africa 2010.

Verbeek, 52, is clearly performing the task that Football Federation Australia employed him for in the wake of the country’s 2007 Asian Cup debacle, where the team was knocked out in the quarter-finals.

But the forthright Dutchman is upsetting local sensitivities over the domestic A-League competition.

Within weeks of his December 2007 appointment, Verbeek made his feelings known when he claimed that training in Europe was better than playing in the fledgling eight-team A-League.

Local commentators were prepared to pass over his criticisms given the mounting successes of the national team, climbing to an all-time high of 27 on the latest FIFA world rankings, including a prestige 2-1 win over world number three the Netherlands during his tenure.

But Verbeek further upset the pundits when he said that Socceroos midfielder Jason Culina might be jeopardising his World Cup place by leaving Europe to play in the A-League later this year.

Culina, at 28 and in his prime, is regarded as the first front-line Australian international to opt to play in the A-League and forsake the higher-level European competition.

The PSV Eindhoven midfielder has been a regular in Verbeek’s squads for the World Cup qualifiers but the Dutchman voiced his concerns over Culina returning home to play for new A-League club, Gold Coast United.

"I’ve never made a secret about that and Jason knows it also," Verbeek said.

"It’s up to him to try to keep the level he has at the moment. He’s a great player and, like I always said, if I’m honest he’s coming a year too early if you’re in my seat with my responsibility."

Verbeek said Culina will face a battle in the less intense A-League to train at the level he is experiencing in Holland.

Verbeek hit a raw nerve with A-League club officials angered that the national coach may be jeopardising their efforts to entice other established Socceroos home from Europe.

The A-League, in only its fourth season, is one of the few football competitions in the world which struggles to gain mass public acceptance in the face of other firmly established football codes, Australian Rules, Rugby League and Rugby Union.

The league is expanding next season starting in August with two new teams, Gold Coast and North Queensland Fury, and it is very much a work in progress.

Perth Glory club owner Tony Sage, currently chasing the signatures of English-based Socceroo squad members, Mile Sterjovski and Chris Coyne, says Verbeek’s comments are "not helping matters".

"I’m very surprised he’s making those comments. I find them incredible," Sage said.

"I’ve met Pim six or seven times, and behind the scenes he’s been very helpful to Perth Glory and supportive generally of the A-League, so I’m not sure where he’s coming from.

"Look at Craig Moore, he’s playing in the A-League, and he’s a regular for Australia. It can be done."

But not all pundits are at odds with Verbeek’s views.

"I respect the comments of Verbeek," former Socceroo and television analyst Craig Foster said. "He maintains his stance out of respect for the game and an understanding that to improve, one must first accept the need to do so."

Written by: AFP

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