Okay it's sort of funny, but I'm not laughing...just yet.

I've always wanted to go to a big Asian World Cup Qualifier so when Australia drew Japan in Tokyo I thought I'm off.

Sucked in by prices of $130 one way on JetStar I managed to get a price of $1000 for a return trip..funny how the price always ends up a bit higher than you think. Click to continue reading...

Oh Rebecca Wilson, you must be feeling stupid today. Do you know how much the World Cup brings to Australian football:)

Australia will, I believe confirm their passage to their World Cup if they can beat Uzbekistan in Sydney on April 1...with three games to go!

The table stands thus

Australia 9pts from 3 games (1 home 2 away)
Japan 7pts from 3 games ( 1 home 2 away)
Qatar 4pts from 4 games ( 3 home 1 away)
Bahrain 1pt from 3 games ( 2 home 1 away)
Uzbekistan1 pt from 3 games ( 1 home 2 away)

remaining fixtures

Australia : Japan (a) Uzbekistan (h) Qatar (a) Bahrain (h) Japan (h)

Japan : Australia (h) Bahrain (h) Uzbekistan (a) Qatar (h) Australia (a)

Qatar : Uzbekistan (a) Bahrain (a) Australia (h) Japan (a)

Bahrain : Uzbekistan (a) Japan (a) Qatar (h) Australia (a) Uzbekistan (h)

Uzbekistan : Bahrain (h) Qatar (h) Australia (a) Japan (h) Bahrain (a)

We need to finish second at worst and if we beat Uzbekistan irrespective of the result in Japan we'll have twelve points. Click to continue reading...

Australia left it late to defeat Bahrain 1-0 in Manama in today's FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifier. A draw seemed inevitable for a Socceroo side missing established stars such as Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Joshua Kennedy. However in the fourth minute of stoppage time, veteran Marco Bresciano popped up to score a winner that broke Bahraini [. Click to continue reading...

Marco Bresciano scored in the 92nd minute to give the Aussies a win, a lucky win, in Manama tonight against Bahrain.

What a game....for Bahrain.

Australia played a very poor match tonight but amazingly snatched three precious away points as Pim's luck continues.

A save in Kunming, a win over Iraq at home and now this. Click to continue reading...

The Socceroos take on Bahrain 2pm AEST Thursday morning Canberra time.

We're top of the group, Bahrain have four of their first picks out and it'll be a cool 24 degrees come match time.

So no excuses.


And it's vital we get a win, okay a point will do, but given we go to Tokyo next, where it's conceivable we could lose, although I doubt it. Click to continue reading...

By Thomas Rooney West Ham United skipper and Australian international Lucas Neill may well be earning millions of pounds playing football in the English Premier League, but he has revealed that he could return to Australia in the not too distant future.   Neill has confirmed that he will swap West Ham for Western Sydney should plans for [. Click to continue reading...

Tickets For those of you who need tickets to the up and coming Socceroos matches here are the latest details. Go to the FFA site for more detailed information. Aus V Bahrain, Away, November 19 – These tickets will be available at the gate in Manama. Check out the GGA Forum thread [...] Click to continue reading...

By Thomas Rooney   Tim Cahill has played 19 times for Australia and scored 10 goals along the way. He has become a mainstay in the national team and has help lead a new era of Australian players to a positive start in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. Overall, he is one of the most talented [. Click to continue reading...

You can find my latest piece on FourFourTwo here. It is just a short article on the lack of genuine wingers in the A-League. Click to continue reading...

The F3 derby could be renamed the route one derby, well at least for the most recent addition in this rivalry anyway. The rate at which the Mariners were pumping those long balls up was alarming and this kind of football is very much an acquired taste. It will also leave a foul taste in [...] Click to continue reading...

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I got to watch Nick Carle play. He played the whole game for Crystal Palace as they quite comfortably accounted for Barnsley at home 3-0. The commentaries seemed to be very impressed with Carle, noting his high work rate, his willingness to track back, the quality [. Click to continue reading...

Man Of The Match: This probably should go to Marko Jesic for scoring the winning goal but Edmundo Zura was nothing short of outstanding, despite missing a penalty in the first half. We are still to see the spider mask come out but with performances like this, surely this is not far away. His work [.. Click to continue reading...

By Thomas Rooney   Experienced goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has revealed that he is extremely excited by the depth of talent in the current Australia squad. The Fulham man believes that the quality of the players right now is stronger than at any other time in his international career.   Schwarzer has been encouraged by how the team has [. Click to continue reading...

Now football doesn't always get the coverage it deserves, certainly on FTA national channels it hardly gets the coverage crowds and the national team of the World Game deserves.

Even with so many people interested in the last World Cup campaign and numbers involved in the game.

So I guess there must be a number of media, a few at the elite of the AFL, Rugby League and Rugby Union who woke up this morning and said,

"Oh no they're off to the World Cup again. Click to continue reading...

It was easy.

The rains poured down, the game was delayed and Australia continued the torrent.

Aussie superstar Tim Cahill was the hero. Finishing superbly in typical fashion in the ninth minute and Qatar knew it was game over.

Remember Qatar were top of the group going into this one, but the psychological hold Australia has over many teams in Asia was apparent, will be strengthened after this effort. Click to continue reading...

Book your flights Australia are off to the 2010 World Cup.

A thumping 4-0 win over group leaders Qatar and with Uzbekistan drawing with Japan in Saitama the Socceroos move into pole position.

With Marco Bresciano, Harry Kewell and Nicky Carle :) out Pim's men have sent a huge message to the rest of the group with a 4-0 flogging of an insipid Qatari side. Click to continue reading...

Crucial game, every World Cup game is, and more midweek crucial footy on TV. Love it!

And Pim is sounding unusually upbeat. Which must be good. ...

We've beaten Qatar twice and psychologically we'll have an edge, even without "our Harry, our Marco, our Carl and our mini-Carl...Vince Grella. Click to continue reading...

Australia v Qatar This Wednesday night will be the second of 8 matches for the Socceroos in round 4 of our World Cup Qualification. I have tickets along with my wife and many friends who have travelled to Brisbane to watch. We will be without Harry, Bresc and Vinnie but I am confident that we have the [. Click to continue reading...

For Melbourne, Hernandez is again available for selection. It will be interesting to see if Hernandez comes straight back into the team, which will probably be the case, and if so, who will be the unlucky midfielder that will be dropped from the team that destroyed Perth. Bredner and Pondeljak are likely candidates for [. Click to continue reading...

The Socceroos take on Qatar in Brisbane on Wednesday. The game is live on FOX.

A win is crucial and would slot the Aussies into second spot after just two games. Most teams will have played three.

And with the Aussies in second place and two to qualify I'm predicting with this group of players and an increasingly confident Pim Verbeek we will NEVER be out of the top two again. Click to continue reading...

Predicted formation and line-up: We will probably see the usual 4-2-3-1. Wilkshire and Chipperfield will be the full-backs. The main question is whether Moore will come in for Coyne. Coyne hasn't been first-choice for his club which will count against him. Meanwhile, Moore has been playing regularly and has been in good form for the [. Click to continue reading...

Result: 3-0 Attendance: 16,998 (Record attendance for Adelaide United. Congratulations!) Crowded House: Watching on TV, the atmosphere at the packed out ground looked amazing. For the 90 minutes, the drums thundered and the fan sang. It was electric. The other codes can only dream of international nights like this. Click to continue reading...

Got it in one did you?

Yes, Harry Kewell's got a club now, and he's injured so he's not coming. Heard it all before haven't you.
More worryingly Marco Bresciano, Vinny Grella are also injured with Carl Valeri suspended our centre midfield looks a tad weak.

Jason Culina is back but will Jacob Burns or even Stuey Musialik/Mile Jedinak provide the super 2 manscreen that we always seem to need in front of a Pim led team. Click to continue reading...

Result: 3-3 Attendance: 9024 Man of the Match: This was very hard to pick since a lot of players had an up-and-down game. Captain reliable Travis Dodd was consistently dangerous throughout the night, running very direct at defenders which caused the Mariners all sorts of problems. He capped his game with a penalty. Click to continue reading...

Thomas Rooney - Freelance Sports Journalist After winning promotion to the Premier League last season, the majority of football odds were condemning Hull City for relegation even before the new campaign got underway. However, after six games they find themselves in 6th position after recording a famous victory over Arsenal last weekend. Click to continue reading...

Like him or loath him, there is no doubt that Miron Bleiberg is a personality and I welcome his return to the A-League, if nothing than just for entertainment value. To be honest, we don't have many personalities when it comes to the managers. Hopefully Bleiberg can spice things up a bit. He reminds me [. Click to continue reading...

It's pretty hard to disagree with any of the A-League players selected by Pim as form was evidently the determining factor in selection. Shannon Cole continues his meteoric rise in Australian football and his ability to hit the ball with both feet is something few other players in the squad have. In him and [. Click to continue reading...

In my previous match reports, I have been very critical of Jedinak. I argued that I didn't think he had much of a future in the national team. I've only recently started to watch him week to week  (and yes, paying for Foxtel is a pain and a drain) and now I understand why [...] Click to continue reading...

Can't help but let out a little cheer for the National Youth League which kicked off on the weekend. Australia has been missing this development stage now for a few years and it is fantastic to once again see a national comp for future Socceroos and A-League players.

Of course this first year is going to be pretty low key and I am not sure what the crowds are going to be like but the point is that we will now have year round competition for our up and coming youth. Click to continue reading...

In my previous match reports, I have been very critical of Jedinak. I argued that I didn't think he had much of a future in the national team. I've only recently started to watch him week to week  (and yes, paying for Foxtel is a pain and a drain) and now I understand why [...] Click to continue reading...

Every journo in the country wants Craig Moore back in the Socceroos.

Every player says we need Moore. We don't, and I don't want him nor his thuggish style.

Craig Moore has played and achieved great things for Rangers and the Socceroos. But he came back to Australia younger than many. Click to continue reading...

A very big truck from SAKAI.


The other codes said Aussies didn't care about the Asian Champions League.

Well here's evidence to show they do.

Adelaide United just 900 tickets left for tonights Quater Final against Kashima Antlers. What code wouldn't like a midweek sell-out! Click to continue reading...

The Melbourne Victory has signed five more players for its inaugural youth squad, who play their first match at home this Friday afternoon against the Queensland Roar youth team. The new kids on the block are Cameron Drake, Milos Lujic, Dimitri Hatzimouratis and Qantas Young Socceroos Mathew Theodore and Ante Cicak. Click to continue reading...

The Australian, Ray Gatt, was lamenting the crowd numbers today. Previously he had said they would come back with goals. Now we are waiting for the other codes to finish. But maybe the cause is the FFA's play to leave out extra teams this year. Along the lines of - if the came this year and the Socceroos don't qualify for 2010 next June - then the A-League may need new teams to maintain interest. Click to continue reading...

Thomas Rooney - Freelance Sports Journalist Australian forward Scott McDonald failed to get on the score sheet last night as Scottish Champions Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw at home to AaB Aalborg in their first Champions League fixture of the season. McDonald - who has made nine appearances for Australia - [. Click to continue reading...