Australia declare at 4 nil against India in Qatar.
Most of us were expecting a “cricket score” when the Socceroos took on India at Al Saad Stadium in the Asian Cup Group C opener.
Watching the game I couldn’t help but think of our fierce rivalry with India on the cricket pitch and how fantastic it would be if we could build the same sort of tension on the football pitch. Alas, I quickly realised it was a fantasy when I saw them line up for the national anthems. There is no doubt that the collection of Australian footballers is impressive and should strike fear in the hearts of any rival at these championships.
The Indians on the other hand looked resplendent in their strip but looked more like a group of wily off-spin bowlers who probably had a doosra in their bag of tricks and would no doubt beat the Socceroos (and possibly our current Test squad) if a game of cricket broke out at the football, in fact I am sure of it.
Given the state of Aussie cricket at the moment, it got me thinking about the Socceroos and the cricketing alter egos.
- Lucas Neill – Solid in defence, plays straight, no frills, good tactician….Justin Langer
- Sasa Ognenovski – Big and Scary will frighten the living daylights out of any attack….Matthew Hayden
- Harry Kewell – Australian great, will score but best is behind him and probably needs to bat lower in the order….Ricky Ponting
- Jason Culina – Creative type, covers the ground well, aggressive, prone to error….Mark Waugh
- Brett Emerton – quick between the wickets, needs to put the lap sweep (back heel) away early in his innings, but makes runs….Mike Hussey
- Luke Wilkshire – Finally realized that he belongs at this level and is a very handy all-rounder….Shane Watson
- Mark Schwarzer – All time great keeper who can bomb the ball long….Adam Gilchrist
- Tim Cahill – Can make the ball dance and lands them all the time – record second to none and is the X-Factor….Shane Warne
- Mile Jedinak – Good record at first class level, needs a prolonged stint in the national team, in and out….Nathan Hauritz
- David Carney – Impatient lower order player who is not that quick but swings the ball at pace – Max Walker
- Brett Holman – Quick, erratic, impact player off the bench but has he element of surprise – Jeff Thomson
OK, OK… I was thinking about cricket more than I was thinking about the beautiful game but seriously Australia were always going to win the game in a canter even though the Indians were plucky’ish, but it got me through the game….I did enjoy the wick….oops sorry… goals!
Bring on South Korea, I need to focus on the football.
Rodrigo Rodriguez
