shawThings.net : a collection of shaw things ...

The floods in Thailand forced a change of venue, but that didn't put off the Thais. They played out of their skin and deserved something from this match. Unlike last month though, we hung tough and scored the winner through Brett Holman.

What a difference a month makes. After an excellent effort last time, we failed to show up and went down 0-1 in an insipid performance. We really need to eliminate these poor performances from our repertoire and become more consistent. Annoying.

A potentially tough match against a team we've struggled to beat in the past and we were without Schwarzer, Cahill and Emerton (and Kewell if you care). And we nailed it. A superb performance and a great 3-0 win. Top of the group and virtually guaranteed of progressing to the next stage.

A warm up match for next week's qualifier against a weak opponent doesn't tell you a great deal. However, we looked very sharp and comfortably put them away, something we've struggled to do in the past.

A difficult road trip was met with a much improved performance from the Socceroos. They triumphed comfortably 3-1. This is what we need to see. The poor performance of just a few days ago was taken on board and a much better effort (that was called for) was delivered. Good work.

Our first match in our qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 had the desired result, but our standard of play was well below par.

On Sunday Cadel Evans became the first Australia to win Le Tour de France. An extraordinary achievement, but how does it compare to other efforts by Australians?

The 2011 women's World Cup was brilliant. The level of football was superb and some of the dramatic results captivating. Australia did well but suffered from several defensive lapses. The story of the tournament was Japan though. After the natural disasters in their country earlier this year they claimed the title in amazing fashion.

An entertaining nil-all draw - an oxymoron is some sports perhaps - but a fair reflection of an enjoyable game.

A comfortable 3-0 win for Australia, but the result doesn't mean a lot. A weakened New Zealand, after a long flight following of a drubbing at the hands of Mexico in the USA on Thursday, were clearly not going to push us. More interesting was the chance given to several possible Socceroos of the future. Expect a different side and a much tougher match against Serbia on Tuesday.