Australia v Brazil

[Shedhand]

Can we beat Brazil?

[jmk89]

Of course the Socceroos can.
Will they? A different question entirely.
My vote? Unlikely - but then so are all sorts of things that actually happen.
And the fact that it's unlikely shouldn't mean that you don't wish for it to happen.

[damienhazo]

Only if the weather turns bad. If it's a scorcher, the heat will work against us. And if the Aussies learn to use the bloody flank a bit more! Damn! They went straight up the guts 9 times out of ten!

At the end of the day, I'm affraid Brazil are simply out of the Socceroos league...

Damien
It'll scare the crap out of everyone if we manage to hold them to a draw...

[NewLou]

Aussie Aussie Aussie OY OY OY!

The great thing about sport is that who ever is the BEST on THE DAY will win. Place ya BEts were all gonna be RICH!

REgards Lou

[Simomatra]

Of course we can

Just got to play them at their own game and stick with them

Go the Socceroos

[Lignum]

No chance. How can we be a force in that game when the majority of our elite athletes play the more exciting and skillful game of real footy that is Aussie Rules. If we were born into soccer and didnt play Aussie Rules we would already of won a world cup or two Carn the Tiges

[BobL]

No chance. How can we be a force in that game when the majority of our elite athletes play the more exciting and skillful game of real footy that is Aussie Rules. If we were born into soccer and didnt play Aussie Rules we would already of won a world cup or two Carn the Tiges

I agree, and thought about this every time Wanganeen used to soccer those goals from impossible angles using the oval ball. Imagine if a guy like him was born into soccer.

[bitingmidge]

I didn't know Brazil had a cricket team.


P

[DanP]

I said yes.

Australia can win but probably won't. Australia has beaten an almost full strength Brazil in a friendly before and Brazil tend to be slow starters, so you never know.

Most likely scenario, we'll be playing off with the Croats for a spot in the round of 16.

Dan

[Lignum]

I agree, and thought about this every time Wanganeen used to soccer those goals from impossible angles using the oval ball. Imagine if a guy like him was born into soccer.

Look at Dustin Fletcher and Andrew Kellaway, both identified by the Irish media as two athletes who would walk in to any first division soccer teams as goalies. And its not only Aussie Rules, but also League and Union. . All the soccer nations have it as their primary game. How would Nathan Brown or Criss Judd go:eek: And the indigenous boys, how would they go? they would be absolute stars. Bob as your from the West youve no doubt seen them in junior games and its basicly keepings off will stunning natural evasion. To much talent in this country not playing soccer for us to be realy any good unfourtunatly.

[Shedhand]

When Packer started world series cricket our cricketers were paid a pittance as were those from the porrer countries.

Because he was able to sink millions of dollars and bulldoze advertisers to sponsor the 'pyjama' game its popularity never faltered. Today our top cricketers are amongst the highest paid (if not the highest) in the world.

My point is that soccer in this country has it all ars about. Instead of trying to grow the game by flogging the Socceroos as a reason for our kids to take the game up in ther same numbers as do in AFL and NRL or cricket they need to pump millions into the game get the big corporates on board (not just for the period of the World Cup finals) build a decent national roster and ensure that young people beginning in the game get the experience of playing and training with our best

Get Vidulka, and Kewell and all the other great Aussie players to play here in the off European off season during the formative years of our youngsters. Then when they retire pay them a decent salary to coach or train here.
Cheers

[silentC]

That's the problem. Soccer is SO much bigger than cricket outside Australia. Packer could easily make Australian cricket attractive but no way could one man, no matter how rich, possibly hope to compete with the sort of money that is chucked about on football overseas. You are never going to be able to convince anyone with any talent to stay in Australia when they can make so much in Europe or the UK. Or anywhere else, except South America perhaps. There's plenty of money chucked about in the league and AFL but where else are those guys going to go? Some of the league guys go over to the UK but that's about it. All that will happen is that Australia will become an even bigger training ground for Europe and UK teams.

[bitingmidge]

Unless my information is wrong, the Salary Cap for A-League soccer in Aus is $1.6m per TEAM.

The AVERAGE salary of a Premiership league PLAYER in the UK is about $1.6million before allowances which add up to 100% on top of that.

£676,000: The average salary of a Premiership footballer in 2006
The Independent's exclusive survey reveals the facts and figures of footballers' finances

By Nick Harris
Published: 11 April 2006
The average basic salary of a footballer in the English Premiership is £676,000 a year, or £13,000 per week, according to an exclusive survey of professional players by The Independent. That figure typically rises by between 60 and 100 per cent when performance-related bonuses, including for actually playing, are added.

The basic pay represents an average rise in earnings of 65 per cent since 2000, the last occasion that a large-scale study was done. The average then was £409,000 a year, or almost £8,000 a week.

Wouldn't it just be simpler for Australia to try to run a first division team in the UK, a bit like NZ does in Rugby League here?

Cheers,

P

[Shedhand]

Unless my information is wrong, the Salary Cap for A-League soccer in Aus is $1.6m per TEAM.

The AVERAGE salary of a Premiership league PLAYER in the UK is about $1.6million before allowances which add up to 100% on top of that.



Wouldn't it just be simpler for Australia to try to run a first division team in the UK, a bit like NZ does in Rugby League here?

Cheers,

P

Yep. There's that. Good idea.

[boban]

My point is that soccer in this country has it all ars about. Instead of trying to grow the game by flogging the Socceroos as a reason for our kids to take the game up in ther same numbers as do in AFL and NRL or cricket

Football already has more participants than any other code.

Our problem is as Midge indicated. To sit on the bench in Europe is more attractive than playing here. If everyone in the world played AFL or NRL, then our best AFL and NRL players would be playing where the big bucks are on offer. And that's not here.

What we can hope for is to build a league that can keep a hold of our second tier players until a big euro club wants them.