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Australia vs France

Akalon

Akalon

NLC
NLC
I'm so excited, the game starts in 1 1/2 hours. I think Australia will pull through and win it though, with both Viduka and Kewell in the side.

I'm not sure of the French squad, but they will probably send in a high profile team after Australia beat them last time.

"They are the world champions and the European champions and I don't think they'd like to lose to Australia again in the space of a few months.'' - Frank Farina (Aussie Coach)
Click to expand...

Aussie Squad:

Goalkeepers: Zeljko Kalac (Roda JC, Netherlands), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England).

Defenders: Steve Horvat (Melbourne Knights, Australia),
Craig Moore (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Shaun Murphy (Sheffield United, England), Kevin Muscat (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England), Tony Vidmar (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland).

Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Empoli, Italy), Steve Corica (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan), Brett Emerton (Feyenoord, Netherlands), Stan Lazaridis (Birmingham City, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Paul Okon (Middlesbrough, England), Josip Skoko (Racing Genk, Belgium), Mile Sterjovski (Lille, France), Danny Tiatto (Manchester City, England), Harry Kewell (Leeds United, England).

Forwards: Paul Agostino (1860 Munich, Germany), John Aloisi (Athletico Osasuna, Spain), Mark Viduka (Leeds United, England), David Zdrilic (SP VGG Unterhaching, Germany).


Who do you think will win?
 
Game over, it was a draw :(

1-1

John Aloisi got a breakaway about 3 mins in overtime and got pushed over in the penalty box... no penalty was called though. Stupid referee. :mad:
 
Thanks! Save me watching the delayed telecast :D

They are just coming up to half time and still 0-0 here!
 
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Where do you live, Jan?

Yeah, we did, it was France's first game this season that they haven't won.
 
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
Ref adds insult to injury for France
By Ivan Speck in Melbourne

Managers of Premiership clubs were worried about the effect two 23-hour flights would have on their France players travelling to Melbourne, but jet-lag was nothing compared to the treatment they received from Australia's team.

Trouble brews on the touchline after Kevin Muscat takes out Dugarry
(Mike Dadswell/Allsport)
Having flown halfway around the world for the controversial friendly, which finished 1-1, the World and European champions were given a hostile welcome by, among others, a defender from Wolverhampton.

Striker Christophe Dugarry was the victim of a tackle of such savagery by Kevin Muscat that the Wolves full back should have been sent off. Dugarry, who will be out for two months with the resulting knee injury, said: 'When you spend 46 hours flying here and back, you are due a minimum of respect.

'When someone makes a tackle like that, I can't imagine what must be going through his head. He went into that tackle to hurt me, really hurt me. I'm lucky it's not more serious.

'We came here to provide a match for Australia, to give pleasure to the fans. We didn't come here to be thrown around like rags. We're not World champions to be made firewood of.'

The real insult, though, was delivered by Australian referee Simon Micallef, who administered a meaningless yellow card to Muscat for the appalling 55th-minute challenge from behind.

David Trezeguet, Dugarry's partner in attack, said: 'To my mind it was a red card offence. The referee told us that if he sent the player off, he wouldn't be able to play in Australia's World Cup qualifiers.

'That's nonsense. We came all this way; it took us 23 hours to get here and when the referee tells you that, you blow your top.

'It's a shame we met a team who were very limited, very physical and who didn't want to give way. My impression of the Australia team? Negative. As a team, they kept their shape. That's all. Beyond that they just seemed interesting in fouling.'

Trezeguet's reaction was typical after a match which will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps it was inevitable that a fixture which attracted so much adverse advance publicity would not pass quietly into the Melbourne night.

France coach Roger Lemerre called Muscat's tackle 'an act of brutality'. His players, stung by such ungracious hospitality from their hosts, went further.

Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf said: 'It's a real shame for Dugarry to have come here for that. Muscat has no respect. I can't see how someone could have got so far in football by being that nasty.

'You can be aggressive, but you don't have the right to be nasty. You have to stay within the limits of what is allowed. He went outside those limits. He deserved a red card but the referee was Australian and because Australia have an important game in eight days, we suspected he wouldn't send the player off. That's shameful.'

Not that the Australian public appeared to care for the safety of the France players. 'Get up,' they howled at Dugarry as he lay on the ground and Arsenal's Patrick Vieira, among others, attempted to take up the issue with Muscat. The defender was substituted by Australia coach Frank Farina.

It was one of few occasions when the atmosphere rose above the funereal. Until Rangers defender Craig Moore headed Australia into a travesty of a lead just before half-time, you could have mistaken the 53,228 crowd in the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a theatre audience.

It was fully five minutes before Australia had their first possession of the ball, a fact not missed by the 2,000 France supporters - the only ones making themselves heard.

The continuous downpour did not help. Neither did almost total France domination in the first hour which deservedly brought a silky 49th-minute equaliser, served up deliciously by Dugarry and Robert Pires, and finished by Trezeguet.

Juventus striker Trezeguet was denied a second when Arsenal's Pires was given offside although clearly two yards on, while the Socceroos might have had a penalty after John Aloisi was challenged by Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre.

However, it was Australia's rough-house approach which provided the bitter after-taste. As France left the MCG, captain Marcel Desailly, of Chelsea, said: 'I'd like Australia to qualify for the World Cup.'

'And to play them in the World Cup?' came the question.

'I'd like them to qualify.'

Source: http://www.soccernet.com/global/news/2001/0904/20011112ausfrareport.html
 
Heh, what can I say... although that was pretty unfair from the ref. Although I do believe Muscat wasn't intending to cause harm. And he didn't actually get injured by the tackle itself, but by how he landed.

you could have mistaken the 53,228 crowd in the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a theatre audience
Click to expand...

So? Most people here do not follow soccer here, as it is not a big sport. For most of the crowd it was probably their first soccer match. Soccer is like a 3rd sport here, first comes AFL or Rugby then Cricket and finally soccer.
 
My Opinion

Muscat is a total dick. He and Tiatto should never play until they get their acts together. Farina should pick some more quality locals in the squad (Scotty Baillie/Ante Juric come to mind).

Kewell won't play in midfield. He doesn't run back to defend enough and whoever we play would tear him apart wide on the left.

Mori should be picked over Agostino. Okon and Skoko were nowhere in the 2nd half.

If the weather clears up, we should win the 1st leg.


Go the Sharkies!!!!!
 
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