Ok, so I went and watched my first game of "Real Football" when the Socceroos played Paraguay in a friendly at Suncorp Stadium last night... I'm glad I went, if only for the fact that I got to see Lucas Neill (and in his debut as captain).
While most of the sell-out crowd was their to enjoy the game, I was lucky enough to be seated in front of one classy gentleman who I'm sure had decided to consume his entire ration of alcohol for the next three months in a very short period before the game.
While the game appeared to be heading towards a 0-0 draw, when with just two minutes left of normal time, the Socceroos scored when Tony Popovic went to a free kick and ghosted in to meet Marco Bresciano's cross and he expertly guided it inside the far post. However, the excitement of the goal was quickly forgotten, when an unfortunate piece of luck was bestowed on Popovic's replacement Michael Beauchamp as he tried to clear a bouncing cross and only succeeded in guiding it past Mark Schwarzer, who himself had only been on the field for a few minutes. Opps!!!
The game was the farewell match for Stan Lazaridis, Tony Vidmar, Zeljko Kalac and Popovic, who all played their last match for the Socceroos. Each player was given their time to say goodbye and they all received a rousing ovation from the crown and embrace from their fellow team mates, as they walked off the field for the last time.
While the result the crowd in a somewhat subdued mood at the end, everyone was soon back to their roaring best as they gave the four retirees and the rest of the Socceroos squad another rousing applause.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let me know what you think..