The Official Thread: Uruguay vs Australia

[King Italy]

Socceroos boss Frank Farina has stuck by Stan Lazaridis for tomorrow's World Cup qualifying clash against Uruguay in Montevideo. The match kicks off at 0600 AEDT.

Skipper Paul Okon, who was carried off the training paddock with a knee injury, is expected to recover and take his place in the centre of the Australian engine room.

The Australian starting eleven is: Mark Schwarzer; Kevin Muscat, Craig Moore, Shaun Murphy, Tony Vidmar; Brett Emerton, Josip Skoko, Paul Okon, Stan Lazaridis; Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell.

Striker Mark Viduka will again lead the attack with Harry Kewell playing a roving role behind his Leeds United teammate.

“I think the team has functioned exceptionally well in the two games prior to this one,” Farina said. “I think the manner in which this game will be played will suit this formation.”

Farina also justified the selection with the belief that Kewell would have more license to run at opponents due to the fact that Uruguay must relax it’s defence-minded style if it hopes to overturn the 1-0 deficit.

“I don’t honestly believe they will just come and throw everything at us in the initial stages,” he explained.

“If the opportunity is there for us to counter attack, then we’ve certainly got the offensive armour in the likes of Kewell, Viduka, Emerton and Lazza who will be able to do a good job for us in that area.”

Kewell sat out the latter stages of yesterday’s closed training session with a sore groin.

Many pundits tipped Agostino to get the nod due to his strength, aerial prowess and dynamic performance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but Farina has confirmed that 1860 Munich striker will play a role for the Aussies.

“Paul did exceptionally well when he came on in the second half in Melbourne and I’m sure he’ll play some part in this game,” Farina conceded.

While adamant his team would be 100 percent for the match, Farina admitted that some of the players were still feeling the effects of the long trip from Melbourne.

As well as the known cases of Kewell and Craig Moore, who had a sore calf muscle, Farina revealed that defenders Shaun Murphy and Kevin Muscat were still uncomfortable with tendonitis and a sore toe respectively.

Meanwhile, Uruguay has produced a big surprise in a bid to overturn the 1-0 deficit to Australia in the second leg of the final World Cup qualifier, with coach Victor Pua naming speedy winger Mario Regueiro in his starting eleven for Sunday’s clash at the Estadio Centenario.

Pua chose the 23-year-old, who plays for Racing Santander in Spain, ahead of defender Washington Tais who has been dropped from the team.

Uruguay will play a 3-5-2 formation with Dario Silva and Federico Magallanes in attack. Lurking just off the back of the pair will be Uruguay’s game breaker, Alvaro Recoba who will surely have free reign to roam the park and lead an attack-minded midfield.

The Uruguayan starting eleven is: Fabian Carini; Dario Rodriguez, Paolo Montero, Alejandro Lembo; Gonzalo De Los Santos, Pablo Garcia, Gianni Guigou, Mario Rugueiro, Alvaro Recoba; Dario Silva, Federico Magallanes.

Regueiro will have strict orders to run at Brett Emerton and Kevin Muscat down the Urugauayan left. In the centre of midfield will be Gonzalo De Los Santos and Pablo Garcia with Gianni Guigou marshalling the right flank and no doubt, paying especially close attention to Harry Kewell.

Juventus star Paolo Montero, who has the unenviable record of having been booked more times than virtually any other player in the Serie A, will captain Uruguay from the centre of defence and will be backed up on the left by Dario Rodriguez and Alejandro Lembo on the right. Fabian Carini remains in goal.

Still of concern will be the fitness of Silva who has somehow managed to recover from a shoulder injury which forced him out of the first leg in Melbourne.

One man keenly aware of Silva’s condition, Socceroos defender Tony Vidmar insists the Australian defence will be keen to lock arms with the Malaga striker.

“It’s a contact game,” Vidmar said. “If you know players are coming in with injuries, you want to test them out.

“I’m sure any challenge, players will go in as hard as they would normally even if the player’s fully fit.”

[King Italy]

Paul Okon sent a scare through the Socceroo camp when he was left clutching his knee after a heavy tackle in Australia's final training run at the Centenario Stadium ahead of tomorrow's crunch World Cup qualifying tie against Uruguay.

Okon was writhing in agony after being brought down in a tackle by his midfield partner, Josip Skoko.

He was treated on the field for about five minutes before the knee was immediately packed in ice.

He took no further part in training, but by the end of the session he was able to flex his knee and walk around without apparent discomfort.

The Australian contingent and media breathed a large sigh of relief when Okon got up and walked around before making his own way down the players’ tunnel and onto the team bus.

Medical staff later diagnosed a pinched nerve and were optimistic he would be fit to take his place in the heart of the Socceroos midfield.

Socceroos coach Frank Farina took the surprising step of opening the team’s first and only training session at Montevideo’s premiere soccer stadium to the media.

The team went through crossing drills before engaging in sprints, ball work and shooting practice and appear extremely sharp but equally relaxed ahead of the biggest game of their lives.

Concerns over the state of the pitch never materialised with the surface perfectly acceptable.

[King Italy]

Greetings from Montevideo where it's been raining for the past
two days.

We tried to hold our second training session yesterday but it was so wet that we would have been better off bringing a couple of surfboards with us.

It's no great problem, in fact, the water has softened the ground
considerably which is to our advantage, especially as the pitch
at the Centenario Stadium is supposedly full of pot holes.

It's supposed to be sunnier tomorrow, anyway.

Since the problems we had on our arrival, everyone I have spoken with back home has asked whether the crowd will intimidate us.

We knew from day one that we'd have to come to South America and get a result if we were to qualify for the World Cup. So, the answer is no.

That's the great thing about football - it's played all over the world and everywhere is different. If conditions were always the same it would be a bit boring.

I enjoy the challenge and when we do get through no one can deny that we've earned it.

No matter which opponent we ended up with we were always going to face a hostile crowd.

This team has grown up together and I think there is enough experience within the team to do it. Don't forget that most of the guys in the side play big matches week in, week out.

It's a big job but not one we're afraid of. I'll take any result that will take us to the World Cup. A 2-1 loss? Bring it on.

Hopefully, we won't concede a goal too early because that might put the pressure on to make it more difficult.

The first 20 minutes will be important and if we hold out like we did against France I think we will be in a good position.

I can't see Uruguay opening up in the first minute and coming right at us because they know Harry, Stan, and Brett have pace that could expose them.

If we do score early then it won't mean that the game is over, we found that out against Iran, but it will make it more difficult for them.

We defended very, very well on Tuesday and we have to defend as good, if not better, on Sunday.

We just have to make sure that when they have the ball we defend with our lives. We need that killer instinct to help us win every tackle and we must be sure not to make mistakes.

We must double up when we defend, get back into position, and be aggressive.

If we do all that then we will give ourselves a very good chance. An example of what we have to do is Tony Vidmar's fantastic tackle on Recoba in the first half in Melbourne.

It was unbelievable on one hand but totally believable on the other. A story is going around that if it's 0-0 at half-time then their fans will turn against their own team.

We're not allowed out of the hotel but a couple of the Australian journalists who have been to see us have said that the locals are predicting a 3-0 whitewash.

Good. Let's surprise them. Their public won't enjoy losing to an unknown football nation called Australia.

An hour before the game on Monday morning your time, Frank will give us a quick two-minute chat.

It won't be about tactics - that has already been worked out. He'll tell us to enjoy the game, relax, and give it our best shot.

Everyone will put on their strappings, get a rub down, and try and read the match program.

Once it gets near to the time to go out and warm up everyone starts to get vocal and we begin encouraging everyone, going through last minute things.

Many of us have been together for 10 years now so its enough to look at each other and know what one another wants and what we want from them.

We know that this match is our destiny. When the bell sounds, and its time to go out into the tunnel, we'll look each other in the eye and it will be down to business.

This is the time. See you on the other side.

[NeraAzzurri32]

Recoba is gonna put on a show tomorrow.......

2-0 win for Uruguay.....

[King Italy]

A show with his big mouth.
I can't see Uruguay winning, they will be so fatigued.

[FANTA]

viduka sucks ! how could be miss that header from a yard out ???!!!

agostino should've played from the start.

who cares. i give up. australia will never qualify for another world cup ever.

[Mrs Stankovic]

It's all about not having sufficient international experience

[King Italy]

Originally posted by FANTA


who cares. i give up. australia will never qualify for another world cup ever.

Not even if we get direct qualification?

[Looney]

That's not likely, Blatter's full of shit and the other guy will want to develop African football.

And as for Viduka, really now 2 goals in how many matches? Come on I've lost count of how sitters he's missed for the Socceroos, he's a great striker at club level but for the Socceroos he's been crap! Aloisi and Agostino should start up front, I reckon Farina's been listening to too much hype about the Kewell-Viduka striking combo by an Australian media who's better at crapping on about Rugby and Aussie Rules.

[FANTA]

Originally posted by King Italy

Not even if we get direct qualification?

i hope that never happens. it wouldn't be fair on the rest of the world if aust do get direct qualification. even my indoor soccer team could qualify through oceania.

they should have a playoff against the 2nd placed asian country, or be placed into one of the asian groups and battle it out with them.

and even if they did get direct qual, they would still find a way to lose

[Looney]

I agree, Soccer Australia's rationale for a direct qualification spot is that Australia was loses one in the whole qualification and they go out while Uruguay loses 10 or something and still qualifies. They don't seem to notice that Uruguay lost to Argentina and Brazil while Australia's hardest opposition other than Uruguay was New Zealand.

Oceania's finalists should join the two Asian final qualifying groups and Asia gets an extra spot I reckon.