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Craig Moore in the middle of defence
June 7th, 2006
I have spent most of the day listening to Australian fans sing. We have an
impressive repertoire - I'll be surprised if many other nations match our
variety over the next four weeks.
As I returned to my hotel after the Australia-Liechtenstein match, the one
chant that kept ringing in my head was: Craig Moore in the middle of
defence.
I admit, repeatedly chanting Craig Moore in the middle of defence is not
particularly imaginative. But perhaps I'm still hearing the Aussie fans
sing those words because I'm just so happy to see him there. He was
injured for so long and he was the only first-choice player to miss the
qualifiers against Uruguay last November.
I rate Moore highly. I would even say that there will be few better
central defenders playing in the World Cup finals.
As I enjoyed a more leisurely stroll around Ulm this morning, I began to
wonder if the local residents actually knew that their city would be
hosting an international football match in the evening.
You can see that a World Cup is about to happen - that's fairly obvious -
but the only evidence of the Australia-Liechtenstein match was the
presence of a few gold-shirted tourists. (And, yes, I know it's a
relatively low-profile game but Australia is, nevertheless, the only World
Cup team coming to this city.)
When I arrived at the stadium, however, it became obvious that many of
Ulm's good burghers were there. Even more pleasing was that a lot of them
adopted the Socceroos and draped themselves in Aussie flags and scarves.
In my walk this morning, I learned that Wednesday is market day in Ulm.
There were stalls selling all kinds of produce outside the cathedral.
I also spent a bit of time in an area near the river called
Fischerviertel. I had gone past it yesterday but today I walked through
it.
Now this is a delightful spot. Lovely old buildings, many with beautiful
old wooden panels and flowers all over their window sills, sit tightly
together along narrow canals. Little pedestrian bridges are dotted
throughout and there is a lot of outdoor dining along the water.
Fischerviertel has no major landmarks. It's just nice visiting the area.
By the middle of the day, I was beginning to see a lot of gold shirts. I
even bumped into people I know. Eventually I found a lot of Australian
fans at a bar across the road from Ulm's main train station.
Ulm's Donaustadion is within walking distance of the city centre and we
arrived well before the game and found another drinking spot near the
ground.
I actually don't drink alcohol - which is unusual for an Australian. When
I pulled away from the bar holding a bottle of mineral water, a chap next
to me pointed to the bottle, smiled, and said, "Mate, I wouldn't let
anyone see that."
SSV Ulm 1846 was in the top division of the Bundesliga as recently as 2000
(the club has now dropped to the 4th tier of German football). The
Donaustadion isn't bad but as I looked around it I had trouble imagining
that, only a few years ago, Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Werder Bremen were
among its visiting teams.
Once again the Australian supporters were in excellent voice. There was a
small group of Liechtenstein fans behind one of the goals and others mixed
into the rest of the crowd.
Australia was the home team for this match (which is quite hilarious given
Liechtenstein's proximity to Ulm) but it was the visitors from the tiny
principality that took the lead with an 8th minute own goal. An errant
back pass two minutes later nearly resulted in the Socceroos conceding a
second.
The Aussies also made a shaky start against the Netherlands and if they
don't address that problem soon, it could cost them dearly at the World
Cup.
In the 20th minute, the Socceroos equalised with only their second decent
move of the match. Josip Skoko released Stan Lazaridis on the left and he
set up Mile Sterjovski's first international goal for two years.
Ironically, those three players are not likely to be in Guus Hiddink's
starting team against Japan on 12 June.
The Australian players frequently got caught by Liechtenstein's offside
trap in the remainder of the first half and the half time score was 1-1.
The Socceroos were better in the second half and goals by Josh Kennedy and
John Aloisi made the final score 3-1. Liechtenstein forced two good saves
from Zeljko Kalac. One came just 30 seconds after the second half kicked
off and the other was just a minute after Kennedy put the Aussies 2-1 up.
It's easy to see why Liechtenstein sometimes scares big European teams.
Its footballers play with discipline but without being overly defensive.
They are able to break and, with a couple of useful players, Liechtenstein
can occasionally pose a threat to any opposing team's goal.
The Socceroos will be pleased to see that Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill
appear to have recovered from injury. And Josh Kennedy could prove to be
Australia's secret weapon. The tall striker played extremely well after
coming on in the second half.
Kennedy was a surprise selection in Australia's squad but it could be an
inspired choice. His touch was excellent and he showed that he could
create as well as finish. Kennedy has been playing in Germany for Dynamo
Dresden (he will join FC Nürnberg next season) and his height unsettles
opposition defences.
The Aussie fans partied into the night in downtown Ulm. It certainly
wasn't our team's best performance but it was still a great day out. And,
hey, we've got Craig Moore in the middle of defence.
Against my better judgement I joined the festivities. I shouldn't have - I
haven't had much sleep lately - but I'm meeting people, enjoying the
atmosphere and having a lot of fun. That's what being here is all about,
isn't it?
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