We will go in with a very similar starting lineup:
Schwarzer
Wilkshire (for Popovic, injured), Neill, Moore
Grella
Chipperfield, Culina, Cahill, Bresciano, Emerton
Viduka
Having said my piece about Wilkshire, the loss of Popovic leaves us without a solid defender. Who do you bring in? Beauchamp is too raw, Lazaridis too short of a run. My selecting him is more an acknowledgement of Hiddink's admiration for him and hence likelihood he'll start, rather than admiration for the player. Then you have Moore on a yellow card, which means that if he gets a second - regardless of when it occurs in the tournament - he is suspended for one match. My tip: late in the game we see a substitution, Beauchamp for Moore, and Chipperfield sent back to help "just in case".
I see Emerton and Chipperfield expected to get back and man up on the Croatian midfield. I also expect to see Aloisi introduced in exchange for perhaps Cahill and a later role for Kewell, depending on how the game is going. I admire Sterjovksi, but can't see a slot for him in this game, except perhaps to start in place of Bresciano.
We may late in the game, if sufficiently far in front, see Beauchamp go into defence, or Kalac get substituted as 'keeper for Schwarzer, or perhaps Milligan for some experience in midfield. I can see Hiddink taking such a risk with, in Beauchamp and Milligan's cases, inexperience. Kalac is a proven performer and really deserves a chance to state his case for the No. 1 guernsey before - as I expect - we reach the knockout stage.
I say "next, but not finally" in the subject of this post as I think we will win. It is too early to talk about our next opponents, probably Italy or maybe the Czechs. If we are lucky, Ghana will pull a shock win and top the group. I am encouraged though that the road ahead may include those teams and perhaps France or Spain - we lack a Germany, England, Argentina or (now) Brazil on our side of the draw. The latter are sides I rate as real chances in this tournament. A strong win against Croatia opens all sorts of possibilities...
Yes, I am very confident we will now get through. We lost to Brazil 2-0 and Croatia the same 1-0. The glaring issue though is Croatia's failure to repeat our feat against Japan. This suggests we have the legs to run out the game so I expect another heart-tester as we probably hold out for much of the game, then scramble home yet again. A bit like my beloved Adelaide Crows for the last 10 years, until of late they learned how to hammer sides over the full 4 quarters. At least you win fans as entertainers by leaving it late, but probably kill some elderly supporters in the process.
Before I finish, I will digress for a minute. I overheard some teenagers talking in Rundle Mall in Adelaide today about the football. The girls expressed their admiration for "Footy" instead, preferring to see more goals rather than, as one said, 80 minutes until there are any goals. The lad was holding out his loyalty to the code though, and I think what the 'Roos efforts has done is consolidate support amongst those who were already interested, from "maybe" supporters to "yep, I'm a football man". The bandwaggoners will be quick to jump off and go back to Aussie Rules saying, after mid-July, "I wonder how the Crows are going..." or "are the Power still in it?" and head back to AAMI Stadium for a return to regular programming.
The critical thing is to get the A-League promoted and going ASAP, to tap in on the enthusiasm. The best thing the 'Roos can do is keep winning and string the World Cup campaign out as long as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment