Olyroos vs Lebanon / Socceroos vs Argentina

Am I the only one that was much more interested in watching the Olyroos qualifier rather than a friendly? Sure it was Argentina but I feel a better connection with the group of A-League young guys that make up the core of the Olyroos than I do for the 'EPL superstars' and 'Arnie's mates' that played in the first team. Especially in a qualifier with a significant goal at the end being Beijing.

The games ended:
Olyroos 3 Lebanon 0
Socceroos 0 Argentina 1

Since there was such a gap in class between the two sides in the Olyroos game I don't have too much to say about the performance or the result but I'll give a quick overview. With Leijer's suspension, Arnold Opted for Mclenahan in defence while Djite came in for Williams in a tactical switch seeing us line up as follows:

-----------Vukovic
Zad-Milligan-Mclenahan-Hyphen
-----------Musialik
Celeski--------------Sarkies
-----------Ward
-------Djite----Bridge

I was happy to see a change in formation and although I don't buy into the rubbish that by having just one striker up front means you are not attacking but this formation saw a little less caution and we scored 3 goals from it. Sarkies, Celeski and Ward seemed to be all over the shop in midfield. Having Chinese commentary on a less than ideal quality stream didn't really provide me with a great source to go by but lets just say it looked something like that.

The first goal came from more excellent work from Topor-Stanley attacking down the flank and saw him provide a perfect cross for Ward to 'karate kick' home. It is really refreshing to see an Australian match with good quality crossing but this team certainly are getting it right with Hyphen and Sarkies the standouts in this department.

The second saw more good work from Hyphen, storming down the wing and then turned into a team goal with Sarkies, Djite and Bridge laying short passes for each other before Bridge finished nicely. Was great to watch and just showcased the type of football this team is trying to produce every match.

The second half saw the Olyroos not go for the killer blow which was definitely frustrating when we still have to get results in both Beirut and Pyongyang and goal difference becoming so important after Iraq's 5-0 shalacking away in Lebanon, but meh, I am satisfied with this result and the way we played. Lebanon tried hard but are clearly the weakest team in the group and our defenders had no trouble at all dealing with their attacks.

The main substitution worth mentioning was Williams for Djite. I have only seen Williams be deployed as a wide attacker either from midfield or out wide in a front 3 but tonight saw him play more central in a front 2. He passed with flying colors and capped his night off with a goal with a sharp finish, lunging in and taking the ball from a defender and then slamming it across the keeper low. The bemused look on the keepers face said it all. Great finish!

Not much else I want to say about this one so I suppose onto the Socceroos vs Argentina which I only really saw bits and pieces of so don't read too much into what I have to say.

The makeshift side means not much can be taken out of the game but a few things I noted from the pieces I saw were: Carney's vast improvement in his defensive duties at left wingback. I was a big sceptic about how he would handle this position but he is going from strength to strength. Had a great game on arguably the best player in the world in Lionel Messi.

The other positive was Archie Thompson. Whether playing in front of his adoring Melbourne fans lifted him or not he showed he wasn't out of his depth in international football when given a chance and was involved in a lot of short, quick, pass and move stuff which is a great sign for Australia. Watch out McDonald!

The football looked a lot better in the conditions of a cool Melbourne night rather than a hot and humid Bangkok afternoon with the players obviously a lot more comfortable.

One last note on players is what has happened to your distribution Lucas Neil? Long ball after long ball after long ball. But it's ok, Milligan will slot in soon ;)

DANE