Originally posted by BromageThe ozzies played well, but when you have to play out of your skin to retain parity, tiredness (both physical and mental) is going to creep into your play as the game progresses. That happened to Australia today.
At least we gave them a run for their money!
Brazil should start with Adriano and Robinho from now on. Ronaldo and Adriano are both rather slow and lumbering and immobile so don't play well together. Ronaldo doesn't even look like a footballer lately, so Adriano should be the one to stay in.
I'm not sure if Kaka and Ronaldinho work together well in the same team either. All of their good work is done on the ball, and they are both the player you want to give the ball to, and have them work their magic, but while one of them has the ball, the other seems a little out of the game.
I have predicted a 1-0 victory for Croatia against Oz, but think now that Australia should be able to get a result to go through, if they can retain their fighting spirit.
D
Jusuh, go away until you have something intelligent to say.
Oh well. They tried, and didn't quite make it. All it really took was one defensive lapse (why did the 3rd defender think it was a good idea to head over there?) and we went down.
I must admit, though, there were still a couple of heart-in-mouth moments even during the first half. It's impossible to defend perfectly the whole time.
Brazil certainly didn't defend perfectly either. We had our chances. I think the thing I liked most about the game was how Australia behaved AFTER going behind. They really took the game to the Brazilians, and probably had a lot more chances themselves during the 2nd half than during the 1st.
The changes Hiddink made, fascinating as always, only emphasised that he wanted the team to attack. When Popovic had to go off he was replaced by the somewhat more forward-minded Bresciano. Kewell made a big contribution when he came on. The change that made my jaw drop (and proved Hiddink was attack minded) was replacing Moore with Aloisi. It's a pity Aloisi didn't seem to get involved very much though.
I'm encouraged for the match against Croatia. It will partly depend on which version of Croatia we get - hopefully for Australia's sake it's the rather lacklustre version that was on display in their match against Japan.