Azza's Journey through the unofficial Confederations Cup (FIFA 06)

[MWaugh]

germany should cruise past australia the way they are playing. these graphics are awesome. this is a really good story mate keep it going.

 

[Azza!]

Cheers for the feedback Hopefully get time for the 2nd round game in the next few hours.

 

[Azza!]

Good evening, I'm your host, Mike Tomalaris, and welcome to SBS's live coverage of the 2nd round of the Murphy Cup, a prestigious world tournament. Tonight we come to you from Germany, where the Germans will be taking on the Australians, a gritty, determined side who proved their force in this very country just a few months ago, in the World Cup.

Joining me in the studio tonight is SBS's Chief Football Analyst, Craig Foster. Welcome Craig.

Great to be with you, Mike.

MT: What do you see from tonight's match in Munich?

CF: The Australians are a bit of an unpredictable force as we saw in the World Cup earlier this year, and are obviously underestimated by the general football world. I think Germany will take a bit more of a cautious approach after seeing what they were capable of producing against sides of their own calibre like Brazil and Italy. However, you can't go past the Germans tonight - their form has been quite impressive throughout this tournament. They're very well structured, and have a couple of key players in peak condition, like Miroslav Klose, Torsten Frings and Oliver Kahn. Expect these 3 to feature tonight. As for the Australians, we should see the usual names performing out on the field, like your Cahills, your Schwarzers and your Kewells. Good to see the veteran Stan Laziridis in the starting 11 too.

MT: Lets take a look at the German starting 11 for tonight, and it's a typical lineup from the new manager Murphy.

Few changes have been made from the sides that played the pool matches, Worns has seemed to cement his side in the back, with Klose and Podolski remaining in the frontline attack.

Lets cross over to Germany now, your commentator for this match is our very own Simon Hill.

Thank you Mike, it's a cold and miserable night here tonight. But it hasn't dampened the spirits of the crowd, with the terraces packed with chanting German and Socceroo fans.

It will be Viduka and Kewell to get this round of 16 match underway.

FIRST HALF

Klose lines up in the 7th minute and a fantastic reflex save from Schwarzer tips it over the crossbar!

Mark Schwarzer impressed with save after save after save in the first half - the Germans stampeded forward but just couldn't get past the Boro keeper.

Australian midfielder Vince Grella was the first to be booked, recieving a yellow for a handball.

31': Cahill on the counter attack through the centre, aerial ball out wide to Emerton out on the wing, unmanned, Emerton sprints down the right flank as the Socceroos move forward. Emerton crosses it in, it's a great delivery, straight onto the head of KEWELL! Harry Kewell has done it! Who would have thought of it!?

AUSTRALIA 1
GERMANY 0

Tim Cahill has been booked for a malicious tackle on Frings, and he's not happy with the decision! No reason to complain about it, the tackle was an absolute shocker.

Australia go into half time in front of Germany, who have dominated the first half, striking 9 shots on target to Australia's 1, which happened to be a goal. They haven't been able to get past Schwarzer, who is in top condition.

AUSTRALIA 1 (Kewell 31')
GERMANY 0
HALF TIME

 

[MWaugh]

im going to bet that this match goes 1-1 into penalties. probably a german win in the end i think. i liked this story a lot more before simon hill started commentating haha. i like les murray (ive even used him in my thread) and also craig forster but i cant stand simon hill. this is a great thread though

 

[Azza!]

MT: It's half time and welcome back to our live coverage of Australia vs Germany in the 2nd round of the Murphy Cup, and what an extraordinary first half we've seen in the studio here Craig - Germany dominating proceedings in the first 45 but down on the scoreboard.

CF: (pauses) It's been unbelievable, hasn't it? Australia have Mark Schwarzer to thank for their lead, he's been the essence of the Socceroo defence tonight. His bullet reflexes and impeccable agility has kept some of the best shots we've seen out of the goals. He's faced a barrage of shots from the likes of Klose, Podolski and Ballack and kept them out.

MT: What strategies do you think we'll see from Murphy and Arnold in the second half?

CF: Well Murphy has to have a talk to Podolski and Klose and give them little pointers on getting past Schwarzer, he should have some idea from his assistant coach days down at Middlesborough in 2004. He also needs to use the wings a lot more - the majority of the attack was pushing through the centre and not creating space. That needs to be changed.
Graham Arnold would be happy with his sides start. Now he just has to tighten up the defence, maybe get some extra numbers back to make sure they can keep this lead.

MT: Don't forget SBS will be providing you with a wrap-up of the Round of 16 shortly after this coverage. But for now, it's back to the action in Germany with Simon Hill.

SECOND HALF
Germany to get this second half underway, and I'm sure Murphy would have given them a good shake-up in the sheds - they really should be in front comfortably.

Ballack with an early strike..

And yet another FANTASTIC save from Mark Schwarzer to keep his side in front!

Germany with 20 minutes left, and they know they're running out of time for an equaliser - the pressure builds. Murphy begins to make some changes, and gives the subs some tactics to pass onto Ballack and the front - it appears he wants lots of corners as Australia aren't particularly strong in defending corners.

Germany win 5 corners in 10 minutes as part of a Ballack Attack. A nice view for the ladies.

Podolski on a breakaway, with the shot and it's gone wide! Oooh a close chance gone begging for Germany!

5 minutes to go, and Germany still looking for an equaliser.

87': Klose launches a shot, it gets past a diving Schwarzer, richochets off the middle of the right post, rolls to the left of the goals and here's Podolskiiii!

The crowd absolutely roar as with just minutes remaining Germany are back into the game!

AUSTRALIA 1
GERMANY 1

And the whistle goes - it's extra time here in the 2nd round match between Australia and Germany.

Murphy turns to Hamann for a winner in Extra Time - he's on for the fatigued Schneider.

114': Craig Moore has given away a penalty with 5 minutes left in extra time! It was a controversial decision on the refs behalf, but you have to abide by their decisions.

Podolski lines up the penalty, and its..

GOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLL

Podolski has slotted away the winner to the right of Mark Schwarzer - no heroic save for the Aussie tonight!

Jubilant scenes here as Germany take away the game in extra time - heartbreak for the Socceroos who were once again so close to defeating a powerhouse in the Round of 16.

So at full time it's:
GERMANY 2 (Podolski 87', 114' pen.)
AUSTRALIA 1 (Kewell)

Thats it from me, it's back to Mike and Craig in the studio.


Mike Tomalaris: What an amazing game that was Craig - the Germans prevailing after looking like the Socceroos would pull off the upset of the tournament.

Craig Foster: They're not looking so much like the tournament favourites anymore, are they? But a brilliant effort from the Australians there, we thought it was over after 80 minutes because they tend to have the fitness advantage, but the German's "Never Say Die" attitude got them through in the end!

MT: Let's take a look at the other Round of 16 matches that were played out tonight:

Sweden 0 - 2 Uruguay
Wales 0 - 2 Republic of Ireland
Australia 1 - 2 GERMANY
USA 1 - 4 England

So at the moment the quarter-finals look something like this:

Uruguay v Republic of Ireland
GERMANY v England
Winner of France-Croatia v Winner of Portugal-Czech Republic
Winner of Argentina-Switzerland v Winner of Denmark-Brazil

MAKE SURE YOU JOIN US TOMORROW AS WE WRAP UP THE ROUND OF 16 HERE ON SBS.

Thanks for joining us tonight Craig.

CF: It's been a pleasure, Mike to witness a fascinating game of football.

MT: I'm Mike Tomalaris, and join Les Murray for the live broadcast of Germany vs England in a few days time. Goodnight.

 

[MWaugh]

ok first things first:

i was so close. 1-1 after full time. almost made it to the penalties

2nd: craig forster has to say "technically correct/brilliant" every time he opens his mouth

3rd: im hoping its a brazil argentina quater. england and germany will be a cracker

 

[Bala]

There was a penalty!

But Socceroos should have won it for Schwarzer. Great presentation Azza!

 

[MWaugh]

There was a penalty!

But Socceroos should have won it for Schwarzer. Great presentation Azza!

yeah i meant shootout.

i agree though azza this is great presentation. i dont know about anybody else but this thread seems to take the longest to load. im not sure if maybe resizing the pictures would make it a bit easier to view? just a thought

 

[shravi]

Maybe he could make them a little smaller.

 

[Azza!]

Being "technologically unadvanced" I would have no idea how to change the resolution as I dont use Photoshop or those type programs. I've even noticed myself the screenshots are massive and wanted to make them smaller. I'm sure one of you guys could tell me how to.

 

[Bala]

if you have irfan view or any other image processing software just resize the images to 800 x 600 or 640 x 480.

 

[MWaugh]

if you have irfan view or any other image processing software just resize the images to 800 x 600 or 640 x 480.

couldnt have said it better myself. however if i have of said it it would have sounded heaps better haha. yeah just your basic image program can resize your images. ive only used acdsee and its done heaps well in my cricket thread (1500+ posts cant be wrong)

 

[Azza!]

ive only used acdsee and its done heaps well in my cricket thread (1500+ posts cant be wrong)

Haha nice way to back up your statement

 

[MWaugh]

Haha nice way to back up your statement

haha amen sister lol

 

[Azza!]

DAY 14 - ROUND OF 16 Matches 5-8:

France 3 - 1 Croatia
Portugal 1 - 0 Czech Republic
Argentina 0 - 1 Switzerland
Denmark 0 - 2 Brazil

THIS IS THE LINE-UP FOR THE QUARTER FINALS:

Uruguay v Republic of Ireland
Germany v England
France v Portugal
Brazil v Switzerland

Stay tuned for the quarter final action!