world cup

In the end Australia were comfortable winners. It wasn't a great performance, but it was another win and another clean sheet and there's a lot to be said for that.

Naturally I went to the game as it was in Sydney. For the first time ever though, there were issues with the special event buses out to the stadium. I've always found them to be quick, punctual and a very convenient way to get to the game. But for this game the bus was very late and I only just made it in time for kick-off. Talking to someone else on the bus it seems four buses didn't turn up.

Woo-hoo! Australia secured the point it needed in an exciting 0-0 draw. We're off to South Africa as one of the first qualifiers, instead of the last.

When Valeri went down and the referee awarded a penalty, there was that feeling again. We're off to the World Cup Finals! A great result for Australia. The other result overnight means technically we can't be certain, but it's all over bar the shouting. We will get the solitary point required from our next three matches. And then it's South Africa here we come.

Circumstances conspired to prevent me from seeing the game. Reports suggest I didn't miss much. We played a defensive game and managed to contain a very well prepared Japan and escape with a 0-0 draw. In the scheme of things, ie. qualifying, a good result.

Japan, and their coach, were under a lot of pressure to win. They spent five weeks preparing and were very sharp all game, but couldn't find the killer blow. We had limited preparation and didn't create much in attack. Nonetheless, a solid defensive effort is something to take from the match.

The ultimate snatch-and-grab victory. Bahrain played out of their skins and were on top for most of the match. We were kept in it by some good work by Schwarzer (again). And Bresciano steals victory with an injury-time goal.

Another away win maintains our perfect record in our group. But everybody admits we were lucky to win; we would have been pleased with a point. Next up is Japan away and they had a good win over Qatar. We'll have to be a lot better for that game. Bring it on.

Man I really hate the fact that the Socceroos are only on Foxtel. By all accounts we played really well and blew Qatar off the park. The 4-0 result combined with Japan's 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan means we've gone top of the group and we've had our bye.

We had the bye for Match Day 1 and enjoyed a 2-1 win over Holland in a friendly. Uzbekistan meanwhile had gone down 0-3 to Qatar. So we were in form, but they were desperate and at home. And we came away with a priceless 0-1 win away. I didn't see much of the match, but by all accounts we did pretty well.

Groan. What an appalling game. Verbeek experimented with many new players and it showed. We played poorly. China scored a cracker of a goal after 10 minutes and didn't do much more apart from waste time. A 0-1 loss.

Best bit: China was awarded a penalty and scored. Only to be forced to retake it because they encroached on the penalty area. They missed the second attempt.

Worst bit: we've been undefeated in home qualifiers for 24 years. Now that's a record that's going to take a long time to equal.

Australia has progressed to the next stage of World Cup qualification with an emphatic 3-1 away win over Qatar! A Brett Emerton double did the damage. Kewell wrapped it up with a third before a late consolation to Qatar.

Another match I didn't get to see. Apparently we didn't play too badly, but we lost 0-1. The goal may have been a bit of a fluke, but we rode our luck in Brisbane last week so we can't complain too much.

Our first loss under Verbeek and our first conceded goal for the qualifiers. It had to happen sometime I suppose. In the other game, Qatar defeated China 1-0 away, to draw level with us on points. This all makes next week's game against Qatar very important.