half time heroes a noughties football review
DESCRIPTION
A Noughties Football Review. Featuring the highs, lows and absurd moments of the past decade in Australian and International football. Including the best and worst of times.TRANSCRIPT
Cover Page: Wayne Snowden
3 About us
Highs, Lows and Absurd
moments of the Noughties:
4 Mike The Football Tragic”
Salter
5 Con Stamocostas
6 Shane Davis and Glenn Siever
7 Ben O’Neill
8 Eamonn Flannagan
10 Russ Gibbs and Keiran
Pender
11 Tony Wilson and Sunil
Awasthi
12 Matt McGrath
Best and Worst of the
Noughties:
13 Tactics, Maradona Quote and
Best Movie of the Noughties
14 Best goal and team of the
Noughties
15 Best player and coach of the
Noughties
16 Cheaters of the Noughties
Some smart advertising
guru type who has dreams of one
day being the next Don Draper
smugly called the decade we have
just lived and about to depart, The
Noughties.
For Australian football fans it
anything but nought.
The Half Time Heroes writers
have kindly given their time to list
their high and low of the
Noughties and most absurd
moment of the past 10 years.
So can you guess what the
contender for the biggest high of
the Noughties is?
As Australians it’s almost like we
were spoilt for choice.
What about the ultimate low of the
Noughties?
Ex –Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett
reckons that Australia bidding for
the World Cup has the potential to
make AFL fans feel pretty low.
What about your absurd moment
of the Noughties?
Flying Italians, French head butts
and outstretched hands and beach
balls anyone?
I hope you enjoy this special HTH
feature.
Everyone here at Half Time
Heroes wishes you all a happy and
safe new year.
Peace and Football
Con Stamocostas
Mike Salter
Football high of the decade
November 16, 2005. Well, it had to be, didn't it? I was sick as a dog that night, in the midst of a hugely busy period at work, but still made it to ANZ Stadium for The Match and The Moment. Behind the southern goal for the first half, I saw Recoba miss that sitter; in the second, there was Kewell taking Uruguay apart down the left, but to no immediate avail. When it got to penalties, I had hardly any nervous energy left (imagine what it would have been like for the players!). And the feeling after Aloisi's penalty? Indescribable.
Football low of the decade:
March 5, 2009. It's not that Australia's A-Leaguers should never lose to a side like Kuwait. It was, rather, the manner of the loss that was so dispiriting, and particularly the fact that the powers that be chose to dress certain players in three-figure numbers. One of the most embarrassing things I've seen in Australian football, and one of the most
embarrassing Socceroo performances ever.
Absurd football act of the
decade:Milan goalkeeper Dida
(pictured below), on being gently
shoved on the shoulder by a Celtic fan
who had invaded the field of play,
briefly pursued the intruder before
collapsing with a pretended head injury.
What made the act so ridiculous (not to
mention disgraceful) was that there was
no chance in the world, given the TV
coverage, of Dida ever getting away with
the deception. An episode from
football's Theatre of the Absurd.
By puffins1001
Con Stamocostas
Football High of the Decade:
Sunday 28th August 5:20pm, Dwight
Yorke heads in an Andrew Packer cross.
Earlier 35 000 fans cram into the
Sydney Football Stadium for Sydney
FC’s first ever A League game against its
fiercest rivals Melbourne Victory.
(All night Dwight!) (Pic by Jonesy
702)
Absurd football act of the decade: If
you said to me a decade ago Australia
would be bidding for the World Cup and
it would have a realistic chance of
winning the bid I would say that you
were ill and in need of a specialist
doctor. It’s absurd but the good kind.
Thousands of football fans are let in for
free, the first time the SFS has done such
a thing.
Football low of the decade: I give up
my England v Socceroos ticket to see
Icelandic prog rockers Sigur Ros.
It’s a great gig with an amazing light
show.
What ends up being a great concert
turns into the dumbest thing I have ever
done. The Socceroos beat England 3-1
and I curse my pretentious side.
Shane Davis
Football high of the decade –
Euro 2000, a wonderful all-round
tournament and sadly totally
contrary to the rest of this
decade's World Cups and Euros.
Football low of the decade - The
death of 22-year-old Antonio
Puerta of Sevilla in 2007. Seeing
this type of thing live for the first
time and on someone my age was
difficult.
Absurd football act of the
decade - Graham Poll's (pictured,
right) three yellow cards to Josip
Šimunić in Australia vs. Croatia at
the 2006 World Cup. An incredible
way to end a momentous night.
(Here have another one!) (Photo courtesy of www.freewebs.com/sooneragooner/grahampoll4dvia4.j)
Glen Siever Football high of the decade Highlight 2005 November. I was there, never has there been such a moment. Football low of the decade My low is right now with the AFL playing politics with the WC bid, Absurd football act of the decade My crazy is in Canada they played a game for 33 hours.
Ben O’Neill
Football High of the Decade:
November 16 2005. Enough said.
Football Low of the Decade:
Corruption. Calciopoli exposed it in Italy
but recent reports suggest match fixing
– especially in Eastern Europe – is wide
spread. I wouldn’t be surprised if much
of what we’ve seen is in some way
tarnished.
Most Absurd Football Act of the
Noughties: Zinedine Zidane’s head butt
on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World
Cup Final. Unorthodox and a sad and
wrong way to close such a classy career.
(Cartoon from
www.buzznet.com/.../zidanes-
headbutt/?id=2984276 by
iheartpatstump)
Eamonn Flanagan’s
Football Decade.
1 Wollongong 3-Perth 3. 7-6 on
penalties. 2000 NSL Grand Final.
Just squeaked in depending on
your definition of a decade I
guess.
In front of 43,000 Perth stormed to a
3-0 half-time lead, only to be pegged
back by a Scott Chipperfield/Paul
Reid inspired Wollongong. All in
front of a live FTA audience.
2 Implementation of the Crawford
Review.Tony Labbazotta and his
mates getting the boot from the
game. Pain before the game.
3. Sitting with my two Aussie
football cynics at the Sydney
Football Stadium one and a half
hours before Dwight Yorke’s Sydney
FC took on Archie Thompsons
Melbourne Victory in the first
Sydney home A-League game. As the
whistle blew there were maybe
5,000 in the ground. The cynics were
twitching. By half-time the official
crowd was 26,000 but many more
got in for free. Great game too, ended
1-1. Cynics were loving it!
4. January 1, 2006. The single
greatest moment in Australian
football this decade. The Asian
Football Confederation invites
Australia in. Thank you thank you
Asia!
5. The night of our lives. Australia v
Uruguay. November 16th, 2005.
Myself my partner and my six year
old daughter had seats in the very
last row at the top of the Olympic
Stadium. If I never go to another
game I’ll die a happy man!
6. Overhearing two “older” women
discussing the Socceroos latest
Germany World Cup game in the
local shops, and of course Timmy
Cahill’s goals, Harry Kewell’s goal
and every bit of the Socceroos 2006
campaign.
7. Abolishing big sided games at my
local club. How slow is this nation to
teach our kids good football skills
and habits? (And now we’re bringing
them back at Under 10 level. Give us
a break!)
(16 November 2005, Australia
playing Uruguay)(Photo by Adran
Furby)
8. Travelling from Canberra to
Seville to watch a Henrik Larsson
inspired Celtic lose to Jose Morinho’s
cheating, diving Porto in the 2003
UEFA Cup Final. Great game. Celtic
fans slept in car boots, hedges and
the gutter on that balmy Spanish
night. Not this Celtic fan, I had a bed!
9. Watching football invade the heart
of AFL country when Archie scored 5
in front of 55,000 fans at the Telstra
Dome.
10. Attending Canberra United W-
League games in the new W-League
with the 1,000 or so other fans.
Great atmosphere, great games and
it’s the only football club we have in
Canberra at an elite level.
11. And Simon Hill and his mates at
Fox Sport for bringing all the A-
League games, Socceroos, and Asian
Champions games live into my
lounge. I’ve been in Australia over 20
years and waited a long time to see a
game live on TV on primetime,
weekends, midweek etc etc. Love it!
Russ Gibbs
High of the Decade: Manchester United's 2008 'Double' of Premier League and Champions League from a personally selfish point of view! Also, the introduction of the Westfield W-League - a masterstroke from the FFA and a huge boost to the Women's game in general. Low of the Decade: The forced retirement of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer through premature injury - the guy is a football legend. And anytime that England were knocked out of a major international tournament. Hint: Practice penalties, it can only help!
Absurd Moment of the Decade: David Beckham (pictured above by Calebrw) signing for LA Galaxy from Real Madrid, Really, how bizarre can you get, and the fact that Alex Ferguson
brought Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Forlan and Kleberson and Eric Djemba Djemba.....how on earth Fergie thought these guys were United players is beyomd me. Oh, and then there was George Weah's 'cousin' getting Premier League time for Southampton.......I could probably go on...........
Kieran Pender
Football high of the decade:
Has to be Australia reaching the 2006
World Cup, and coming so close to the
quarter finals.
Football low of the decade:
It may still be very recent, but
Barcelona beating Manchester United in
the 2009 Champions League final, and
spending the whole day being ridiculed
at school, was very low indeed.
Most absurd act of the decade:
Definitely the Zidane head butt, quality.
Tony Wilson
Football high of the decade: 'Aloisssssssiiiiiiiiiiii! At last. At long long
last. Thirty-one years, four months and
24 days have passed since Australia
ended its campaign at the 1974 World
Cup and now - finally, belatedly,
wonderfully and joyfully - Australia is
back on the biggest stage of all.' Thank
you, Simon Hill.
(That moment! Photo by Rusty 8)
Sunil Awasthi
Football high of the decade:
Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup by
beating Uruguay in Sydney. Yeah, like
you need an explanation.
Football low of the decade: Losing to New Zealand 1-0 in the final of
the 2002 Oceania Nations Cup. The
nadir, but at least from this pile of
footballing manure, a fair ol' plant
grew...
Most absurd football act of the
Noughties: Graham Poll giving Joe
Simunic three yellow cards for Croatia v
Australia at the 2006 World Cup. Silly
pommy bastard...
‘Moments of the Noughties’ by
Matt McGrath
High of the decade: ‘The 200th
Merseyside Derby’ (11/12/04)
On December 11th 2004 (my eldest
sons birthday) Lee Carsley scored a
68th minute winner in the 200th
Merseyside derby my home town team
Everton’s first victory over its bitter
rival in 5 years. The match was
particularly special & memorable as it
was being viewed with a visiting old
mate, a fellow Scouser of the ‘Red
Shiote’ variety. The moment the ball left
super Lee’s foot I went up & before even
getting the ensuing scream out
something snapped in the back of the
throat or vocal box & no word of a lie I
was unable to speak until the middle of
the following week! (Some said this was
a good thing!)
Low of the decade: ‘The Tragic Death
Of Marc Vivien Foe’ (26/6/03)
We often get caught up in the trivialities
of both life & football but one fateful
June day in 2003 reminded us all of the
very fragility that is the wonder of life
after Manchester City & Cameroon star
Marc Vivien Foe collapsed & tragically
died of cardiac arrest (later revealed to
have been caused by hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy) during Cameroon's
Confederations Cup semi-final against
Colombia, lest we forget.
Absurd moment of the decade: Sepp
Blatter - ‘Tighter Shorts For Women
Footballers’ (16/1/04)As far as the
absurd goes the football world is a
treasure trove full of anecdotes but who
other than FIFA supremo ‘Septic
Bladder’ a regular peddler of the absurd
could come up with a proposal so out of
touch, sexist & generally offensive to
Women? After being quizzed by a Swiss
journalist regarding possible solutions
to enhance the broader appeal of
Women’s football Herr Blatter
suggested that “they could, for example,
have tighter shorts!" But hey this is the
same gentleman who (seriously) was
once elected president of the ‘World
Society of Friends of Suspenders’ a
1970’s organisation formed solely to
protest women replacing suspender
belts with pantyhose!
The Noughties; it was the best of
times; it was the worst of times.
Tactics
Damn you 4-2-3-1! The Noughties
has seen the death of the striker
and the rise of 4-2-3-1.
Best Quote about Tactics:
“140 years of tactical history
seemed to have produced
nothing more sophisticated
than moving a player a little bit
forward or back”
Best Maradona Quote:
After qualifying for South Africa
2010 against Uruguay in the final
game of the South American
qualifying, Maradona was at his
most humble.
"They can suck it and carry on
sucking it," he fumed in the
press conference after the
dramatic win. "This is for all
Argentines, minus the
journalists.
(Maradona grafite by Antonio from
Mijas, España)
Best Football Movie of the
Noughties
The Damned United
“The Damned United may not be the
best movie about an English Football
Manager ever made, but it’s in the top
one.”
(Michael Sheen as Brian Clough)
(Photo of Lionel Messi against
Getafe 18/4/07 by Darz_Mol)
Best Goal of the Noughties
Messi’s goal against Getafe
18/04/07
Click to see the Maradona/Messi
split screen comparison
Read excellent Spanish football
writer for the Guardian Sid
Lowe on that goal.
“So, you can copy a work of art,
after all," wrote AS's Alfredo
Relaño, comparing Messi to Elmyr
D'Hory, who forged famous
paintings but always put the
signature upside down.
"This was a replica, with the same
path, the same acceleration with
every touch, the same pauses and
feints, always escaping on the
same side.
The only difference was Messi
finishing with his right foot - that
was the upside-down signature."
Team of the Noughties
(FC Barcelona 2007 by Xavier
Salvador )
Player of the Noughties
Messi or Ronaldo? HTH couldn’t
decide. So both superstars share
the honour.
(CR9 pick by Elamaki)
Coach of the Noughties
For Australians there was “lucky”
Gus Hiddink getting the Socceroos
to the world cup after 32 years!
(Lucky Guss, not so lucky Russians)
(photo by Paul Blank)
And for the Europeans “The
Special One” Jose Mourinho but
surely Josep Guardiola winning six
titles with Barcelona has to be the
gaffer of the Noughties?
(Josep Guardiola celebrating
Barcelona's 2009 UEFA Champions
League Final with Uefa boss Michel
Platini) (pic by funnydae)
Cheaters of the Noughties
The lasting legacy of the
Noughties must be the cheating
The Italians, French and Germans
lead the way. In no particular
order was the match fixing
scandals in Italy and Germany. On
the field it was the French head
butting and handballing their way
to football immortality.
While the Australians found out
the hard way that Italians are
likely to dive over lunging
defenders in the last minute of a
World Cup knockout game!
Let’s not forget Australia had
prominent players Kevin Muscat
and Craig Moore involved in their
own betting scandals during the
Noughties. Though we may
pontificate like we are clean skins
in Australia, like the rest of the
world we can cheat with the best
of them.
That wraps up the Half
Time Heroes review of the
Noughties!
Thanks to all who contributed we
wish you a Happy New Year and
bring on the Tweenies!