australia

Groan. What a disaster - a 1-2 loss to a weaker team. We were out-thought and out-played and "something must be done". It's not panic stations yet. Realistically we should still finish 2nd in our group and qualify for Brazil directly. But another loss could make it very difficult and I'm sure everyone would rather avoid play-offs, especially as the 5th-placed South American team lies at the end of that.

A much improved Australia, captained by Mark Schwarzer in his 100th cap, easily accounted for Lebanon 3-0. Osieck went for his strongest team, demanded a better performance and the players responded well. Lebanon are not exactly a tough opponent, but these are the games you have to win. We'll go into our next qualifier with plenty of confidence.

A disappointing match in which we succumbed 1-3 to Scotland. A cracking goal by Mark Bresciano got us off to good start, but Scotland thoroughly deserved their win. We were flat. Osieck was being kind when he said he expected more of the Socceroos. We have to improve for our upcoming qualifiers.

Japan arrived full of confidence and in form. Australia arrived battle-weary from a tough away match in Oman. But it didn't seem to matter. Australia threw everything into the match, while Japan absorbed it and used their skill. It was a thrilling match that finished 1-1. Probably a fair result, all things considered.

Oman sought to make the most of their home advantage, starting the game at 5:00pm in 32 deg heat. Both sides had their chances, Australia perhaps slightly ahead here, but neither side managed to score. An away drawis a pretty good result under tough conditions.

Our next opponents, Japan, have had the luxury of two home games and are in tip-top form with a 3-0 win over Oman and a 6-0 win over Jordan (although Jordan played with 10 men from 2-0 down). Japan will arrive full of confidence for what should be a very tough match for Australia.

A lacklustre Australia went down 0-2 to Denmark overnight. Just our second match for the year and we were setting ourselves up for a tricky away game in the heat in Oman in a few days. Denmark on the other hand, are just a few days out from Euro 2012. All up, a loss, while disappointing, was probably not too surprising.

The Socceroos were a bit scratchy in the first and the Saudis deserved their lead at the break. A devastating spell from the Aussies saw them comfortably home and they finished top of their group.

It had been a while since our last game. In addition Osieck had made some changes to the line up, eg. the return on Bresciano. So a little roughness around the edges is to be expected. The Saudis attacked well in the first half and lead twice after Brosque's first cancelled out their lead. Our defence was a little poor at times and it was disappointing to concede so close to half-time.

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.