A few people asked me why I had not reviewed day 3 to my surprise. So, despite time contraints, I will try to review as many days of the World Cup as I can from now on even though the posts might be a bit delayed.

Australia vs Japan 3-1

With Croatia and Brazil the other two teams in the group, the team which lost this match could say the world cup good bye. So when Japan scored that goal, which most Aussie supporters won’t even call a goal (as it wasn’t), Australians were enraged. It has taken many years for the Socceroos to qualify and it would have been a shame if they went out this way. So, I felt delighted when Australia pulled back the game with three quick goals in eight minutes. The game saw short passes and plenty of opportunities for both teams. It was quite hot but I wasn’t impressed be either team to be honest. The Australian date with destiny in the match versus Croatia is set though.

Czech Republic vs USA 3-0

When asked who will win the world cup, most people would say Brazil including me. Some would opt for Argentina, Holland, France or even Italy. How many people will give Czech Republic a chance? Despite the FIFA rankings being a joke (proven by the thrashing USA got), you have to stand up at take notice of the Czech Republic. They have a solid mid field and excellent attacking options. Apart from Nedved, they now have the young star - Rosicky!

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For part 9 of the series, I interviewed Graham Drummond. A huge Australia and West Ham United fan, Graham ,was addicted to the 98 World Cup and got to watching Premiership
highlights on TV. Graham is the webmaster and one of the contributors to the Australian West Ham blog.

I thank Graham for agreeing to the interview.

Tell us a bit about Australia’s football history and the football culture which exists down under.

We first (and last, till now) qualified for the World Cup, also in Germany, in 1974. We didn’t score a goal. Traditionally football (”soccer”) wasn’t considered tough or cool to play or watch. People here watch various forms of oval ball thuggery instead. However, that’s starting to change. The fever has caught on for two main reasons: one is the new A-League which has been a startling success so far, and the other of course is qualification for the World Cup.

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