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Sounders FC News & Notes – December 8, 2010

December 8th, 2010
posted by admin 7:02 pm


Montero is Finalist for Seattle Sports Star of the Year
Sounders FC forward Fredy Montero has been named one of five finalists by the Seattle Sports Commission for Sports Star of the Year. The award is given annually to a professional athlete or coach for outstanding sports achievement in the past year or season. Montero led Sounders FC in nearly every offensive statistical category in 2010, including 10 goals and 10 assists.

The list of nominees includes Swin Cash (Seattle Storm), Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants), Lewis Ratcliff (Washington Stealth) and Mike Williams (Seattle Seahawks). Fans can vote for their favorite nominee by visiting SeattleSports.org. Voting runs through January 21, 2011, and individuals can vote up to once a day. Winners will be announced during the show on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at Benaroya Hall.

Okoli Named to U.S. U18 National Team for Israel Tourney
Sean Okoli, forward for the Sounders FC Academy U18 team, has been chosen for the U.S. U18 National Team which leaves later this week for a three-match tournament in Israel.

The U.S. opens against Germany in Tel Aviv on December 13, then faces France the following day and host Israel on December 16.

Coach Mike Matkovich is bringing 20 players, with Okoli, a 17-year-old from Federal Way, being the only selection from the Northwest. Okoli leads the Sounders FC Academy team with six goals. Last month he had participated in the national team training camp in Carson, Calif.

Coaching Staff Bound for College Cup
Sounders FC will be headed by General Manager Adrian Hanauer, Head Coach Sigi Schmid and Technical Director Chris Henderson at the NCAA College Cup in Santa Barbara, Calif., later this week. Louisville faces North Carolina and Akron takes on Michigan in the semifinal matches on Friday. The championship game is Sunday.

Academy Teams Show Strong at Winter Showcase
The Sounders FC Academy U16s went unbeaten (2-0-1) at the USSDA Winter Showcase, completed earlier this week in Phoenix, while the U18s absorbed their first defeat, going 2-1-0.

The U18s won their fifth straight, topping South Carolina United, 3-0, in their opening game on Saturday. Ryan Hermann earned the shutout and Troy Peterson scored twice-including one from the spot-and Yordan Rivera added a third. The brace raised Peterson’s goal haul to four goals over three matches.

Seattle played without regulars Nick Palodichuk, Jamael Cox, Sean Okoli and DeAndre Yedlin, who were all selected to the Academy Select Game. The Academy Select Game gives the best academy players from across the country an opportunity to play in front of national team coaches.

Sounders FC had its full complement of players on Monday but fell to Virginia Rush Auxerre, 1-0, for its first loss of the season. The team played a man down for the final 70 minutes after Yedlin received a red card in the 20th minute. Sounders FC finished with a 15-7 advantage in shots. Virginia’s goal came in the 10th minute.

In their final tournament game on Tuesday, the U18s scored three of their goals late in each half in beating Lonestar Academy of Texas, 4-2, in a physical battle that saw several hard challenges. Hermann made two big saves early on but Lonestar struck first in the 16th minute.

Sounders FC equalized in the 23rd minute when Glenn Paden scored from a Travis Strawn assist. Paden added a second tally shortly before halftime on an assist from Aaron Kovar but the lead was short-lived as Lonestar tied the game in the 46th minute.

Seattle took the lead for good when Cox scored from 20-yards out in the 82nd minute. Darwin Jones secured the victory with a fourth goal in the 90th minute.

Against South Carolina United, the U16s scored twice in the first 17 minutes and went on to prevail, 2-0. Ike Crook scored in the 10th minute and earned a penalty kick in the 17th minute that Jordan Schweitzer put away.

After taking Sunday off, Sounders FC battled Virginia Rush Auxerre to a 0-0 draw on Monday. Conor Adkisson posted the shutout in goal, with Michael Gallagher and Ian Lange anchoring the defense.

In their final tournament outing, the U16 team fired home a season-high five goals in beating Lonestar, 5-1. Prince Gundersen scored from a Jesse Klug assist in the 6th minute, and Lange doubled the lead just two minutes later when he headed in an Austin Sweeney corner kick.

Lonestar pulled a goal back just before halftime but Sounders FC took a 3-1 lead when Jeffrey Collings scored from distance in the 50th minute and Klug added another in the 62nd minute. Michael Steele, who assisted on the fourth goal, scored the fifth from a feed by Schweitzer in the 71st minute. Klug and Crook each have five goals to date.

Going into the holiday break the U18s are 8-1-3 and the U16s 8-2-2. Both teams resume play January 16 at the California Development Academy in Loomis, Calif.

Upcoming Key Dates (times are Pacific & subject to change)
Wednesday, December 15 – MLS Re-Entry Draft, Stage 2
Friday, December 17- Sunday, December 19 – Sounders FC College Combine, Las Vegas
Saturday, January 8-Tuesday, January 11 – adidas MLS Player Combine, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Thursday, January 13, 9 a.m. – 2011 MLS SuperDraft, Baltimore

Open Tryout Dates Set
The Seattle Sounders FC will hold Open Tryouts on January 29-30, 2011, at the team’s training ground, the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington. Tryouts will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Open tryouts are open to male soccer players ages 18 years and older. Tryouts will feature small-sided as well as 11v11 games.

Players will be assessed by members of the Sounders FC technical and coaching staffs, including Head Coach Sigi Schmid, General Manager Adrian Hanauer and Technical Director Chris Henderson.

The registration cost for each player is $125. Space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Registration fees will go directly to the Sounders FC Youth Academy program.

To register, visit www.SoundersFC.com/opentryouts.

Fredy Montero Signs Extension, Transfer Completed
Sounders FC has signed forward Fredy Montero to a contract extension and completed the permanent transfer of his contract to the club and Major League Soccer, qualifying him as the club’s third Designated Player. Per MLS and club policy, terms were not disclosed.

Montero, 23, has finished as the Sounders FC Gold Boot honoree in scoring each of his two seasons, totaling 22 goals and 17 assists in 56 league appearances. Only two other players-Conor Casey and Jeff Cunningham-have totaled more points the past two years.

Montero is a two-time MLS All-Star selection and was voted the 2009 MLS Newcomer of the Year after scoring 12 goals. He has made four appearances for the Colombia National Team.

This past season Montero was one of two players to finish among the MLS top ten in both goals (10/tied for 10th) and assists (10/tied for fifth). He became the second-youngest player in league history to achieve a double-double in goals and assists. Montero also tied for fifth in game-winning goals (4). He was fourth in both shots attempted and fouls suffered.

His nine consecutive matches with either a goal or an assist from June 5 through August 8 was the longest in the league this season. In addition, he scored the winning goal in Seattle’s first competitive international match, a 1-0 win over El Salvador’s Metapan, and in 2009 he scored the first goal in 2-1 victory over D.C. United in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.

Montero received his Green Card earlier this month, granting him permanent resident status in the U.S. A native of Barranquilla, Colombia, he was originally signed on loan from Deportivo Cali in January of 2009.

Hurtado, Nkufo and Zakuani Receive Green Cards
The Seattle Sounders FC announced on Tuesday that defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, forward Blaise Nkufo and midfielder Steve Zakuani have received their U.S. Green Cards, granting all three players permanent resident status in the United States, effective immediately.

As residents, Hurtado, 26, Nkufo, 35, and Zakuani, 22, will no longer occupy International Player slots on the club’s roster.

A native of Colombia, Hurtado was a finalist for 2009 MLS Defender of the Year and an MLS All-Star selection. He started nine of the first 10 matches in 2010 before sustaining a season-ending injury.

Nkufo finished as the team’s third-leading scorer after arriving in midseason, following World Cup duty with the Swiss National Team. He scored the first hat trick in club history on September 18 at Columbus.

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zakuani ranks second on the club with 14 goals and 10 assists in his two MLS seasons. A finalist for 2009 Rookie of the Year, he more than doubled his production in 2010, scoring 10 goals with six assists.

Alonso Voted MVP, Riley Defender of the Year
Osvaldo Alonso is the Sounders FC Most Valuable Player and James Riley is the team’s Defender of the Year. The awards, both by a vote of their teammates, were announced at last week’s Alliance Annual Meeting at Qwest Field. Riley was also named the Humanitarian of the Year and Fredy Montero received the Golden Boot by virtue of leading the team in scoring.

Alonso played an instrumental role in helping Sounders FC post the league’s best record in the second half of the season. The holding midfielder started 21 of 23 appearances and matched his 2009 totals with one goal and three assists. Sounders FC was 11-3-5 in matches where Alonso played at least 45 minutes. The team allowed just 12 goals (0.80 GAA) in its final 15 matches while it allowed 23 goals (1.53 GAA) in the first 15. Alonso was on the field. Alonso also appeared in two U.S. Open Cup and five CONCACAF Champions League games, recording one assist in Champions League play.

Riley led all Sounders FC outfield players with 2,418 minutes played (3,273 in all competitions). The right back scored one goal, his first since his rookie season in 2005, in the final regular-season match in Houston. His three assists were the most of any Seattle defender and he added a fourth in Champions League play. He matched his career high with a total of five points.

One of only two players to finish in the top 10 in goals and assists this season, Montero received the team’s Golden Boot for the second consecutive year. He tied Steve Zakuani with 10 goals but edged the winger with a team-high 10 assists. The Colombian striker had four game-winning goals, six in all competitions, and four game-winning assists. Montero scored (9) or assisted (7) on 16 of 19 MLS goals scored between April 22 and August 28, and earned at least one point in nine consecutive matches–the longest such stretch in MLS this season. He was voted Major League Soccer’s Player of the Month for July when he contributed two goals and three assists in five games.

Honored as Major League Soccer’s Humanitarian of the Month for October, Riley has embraced his role as community ambassador with purpose and enthusiasm. Since January 2010, he has made nearly 40 community appearances, including work with the Ronald McDonald House, the MLS W.O.R.K.S. Nothing But Nets campaign to fight malaria in Africa and the Sounders FC Bone Marrow Registry Drive. Riley, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, is also active with Komen for the Cure and Gilda’s Club, raising awareness and encouraging fans to get involved in early screening through his public service announcements. Riley was an honorary coach for the Washington Special Olympics soccer team that finished fourth at the National Games. He is also a regular visitor to the Renton/Skyway Boys & Girls Club where he has fostered personal relationships with the kids and provides mentorship with his participation in the MicroSociety Program. .

Give Us Your Full 90 Again in 2011!
Sounders FC are currently accepting deposits for 2011 season tickets. To join, please visit SoundersFC.com or call 877-MLS-GOAL. Seattle’s schedule will include matches with MLS newcomers Portland and Vancouver, plus an international friendly against a soon-to-be-announced opponent. Sounders FC had 32,000 season ticket holders in 2010.

Throw-ins
Owner and General Manager Adrian Hanauer will answer questions in a live online chat on The Seattle Times web site on Thursday from 1-2 p.m. PT…Osvaldo Alonso is currently in Liverpool, England training with Everton FC. Steve Zakuani has completed his training stint with Everton and returned to Seattle…James Riley, Taylor Graham, Technical Director Chris Henderson and Assistant Coach Brian Schmetzer served as celebrity bell ringers for The Salvation Army on Tuesday in downtown Seattle…December 11 marks 37 years since top-flight professional soccer first arrived in Seattle. The city was awarded a North American Soccer League franchise on December 11, 1973. The original Sounders began play the following spring…On Sunday in Lacey, Wash., Kasey Keller will be signing copies of a new children’s book about his life called “The Mighty Kasey.” Author Jarrett Mentink and his wife, sportscaster Angie Mentink, will also be on hand. The signing begins at 1 p.m. PT at Skyhawks Park (425 Marvin Road SE). Cost of the book is $13, with proceeds going to Boys & Girls Clubs. For more information, call 360-459-8735.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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Stephen Hart named Canada’s new men’s head coach

December 8th, 2009
posted by admin 6:00 pm

As expected, Stephen Hart was named Canada’s new men’s head coach. It has been expected for a while and the CSA finally does something right. The players all seem to like him (Will Johnson reiterated that fact when he joined us a few weeks ago), the fans seem to like him and it would also appear the CSA seems to like him. So that’s one thing the CSA has officially gotten right. Can they get something else right and move in a forward direction? Can David Hoilett be tempted to lay for Canada? Will Canada play for friendlies? Will Canada make the World Cup in 2014? I guess we will wait and see. In the meantime, it looks like the CSA might actually be making moves in a positive, forward direction.

Here’s the official release:

Stephen Hart named Canada’s new men’s head coach

The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Stephen Hart has been appointed head coach of Canada’s national team. Hart will be in charge of Canada’s qualification efforts as Canada works toward the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.

“Stephen Hart is the man in charge with the task to lead Canada to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil,” said Canadian Soccer Association president Dr. Dominic Maestracci. “He delivers an exciting brand of football that has proven to be successful against our CONCACAF opponents. He will have full support of our country as he builds a winning team that will qualify us for Brazil in four years time.”

“I am honoured to be chosen for this prestigious and very important position,” said national head coach Stephen Hart. “I am fully aware of the expectation and look forward to the challenge of building a team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers and beyond.”

Hart most recently served as Canada’s interim head coach for the 2009 season. He helped Canada compile a record of four wins, one draw and three losses, including a quarter-final finish at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Hart led Canada to a first-place finish in its group. In the quarter-final stage, Canada lost 0:1 to Honduras who scored on a penalty kick.

In 18 career games over two stints as Canada’s head coach (2006-07 and 2009), Hart has posted nine wins, two draws and seven losses. His 50% ratio of wins to games is the highest in Association history, ranking ahead of Barrie Clarke and Tony Taylor who each won six of 14 games for a 43% ratio. In those 18 games, Hart’s teams have averaged 1.33 goals scored per game and 0.94 goals allowed per game – both the second-best totals behind Clarke’s teams from the early 1980s (1.57 goals scored and 0.93 goals allowed per game).

Hart has been the Canadian Soccer Association’s Technical Director since March 2008. In this role, he oversaw the Association’s long-term player development program (Wellness to World Cup presented by BMO) and was in charge of directing and monitoring the national development teams, the coaching education program, the National Training Centres, and the sports medicine program. This vacancy will be filled in the coming months.

CONCACAF’s next round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers™ is scheduled to begin in 2012, which will take place after the next CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2011. To date, Canada’s men’s national team has won two CONCACAF championships – the 1985 CONCACAF Men’s Championship (which qualified Canada for the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico™) and the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup (which qualified Canada for the FIFA Confederations Cup Korea/Japan 2001).

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A Day at the Football

September 26th, 2009
posted by admin 10:03 pm
Well this incredibly unprolific blogger couldn’t resist writing about this one. It’s not just the game of course – a Celtic victory over the local Brisbane Roar side 3:0. It was the experience. Haven’t had that much fun at a game for a long time.

I took Jacob of course, and also Dawn, my fiance (I successfully proposed last Sunday), for her first ever soccer game (not including watching me play futsal last Tuesday).

As we approaced the stadium, by train then bus, it was clear that the Celtic support would rival the Roar support. I’m guessing over half of the 31,000 people were Celtic, which is kind of embarrasing but very cool at the same time. Approaching the stadium itself there was colour, bagpipes and chanting hoop-clad yobos. All fun.

Still in the tunnels, the PA began playing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. I thought that was kind of cool, but a bit daggy. Then I started hearing voices – many, many voices – competing with the PA. I ran through the closest entrance and witnessed the entire southern end on their feet belting out the song. Wow! Now that was very, very cool. This crew was, quite frankly, showing the locals how it was done. It was already a brilliant event, indeed a unique cultural experience, and the game hadn’t begun.

Next comes my one complaint. We went up the first set of stairs, along with many others, which stated clearly that they led to “Sections 726-732″ (we were in 731). AT THE TOP was a single security person telling us that this entrance was closed to us. I’m talking seven flights of stairs. Maybe place the guy at the bottom of the stairs? Or maybe a single sign, “Please use another flight of stairs”? As I told the poor guy (who had clearly been given a bum job), this is terrible management. I emphasise again that the stairs were actually correct ones, according to the signs. They did not lead to closed sections, they were just for reasons known only to the management not being used. Anyway, good for the thighs, and a small complaint when compared to the total experience.

This crowd was brilliant. We were at the opposite end to “The Jungle”, where the Celtic hardcore were designated, but we were surrounded on all sides ourselves by Celtic support and wild celtic accents. From our birds-eye view you could see green hoops throughout the stadium. Being above “The Den”, where the Roar loonies are, we could not actually see them, and truly it seemed like a Celtic home crowd. Not flattering for the Roar fans that’s for sure, but bloody brilliant to see and experience.

After the first Celtic goal, I almost hoped the Roar would not score because the cheer would have been embarrassing. I have never heard such a roar from a crowd. I had my Roar scarf on and of course hoped the Roar would not embarass themselves (to be sure, the first 30 minutes looked very competitive), but it was actually difficult to maintain my loyalty. With a crew like this, thousands of miles away from their home, Celtic deserved to win, they almost must win. “You’ll never walk alone” indeed.

About half way through the second half Jacob noticed a Mexican wave getting going, which looked pretty feeble and he noted, “That’s not going to get far.” The stadium was just over half full after all and the season-ticket side was very thinned. How wrong we were! It went around FIVE times and then some, and it quickly became obvious that the momentum was from the huge portion of ‘away’ supporters throughout. I remember when Australia played Paraguay in the same stadium, to a packed house (50,000+) and being so impressed when it nearly went round three times. These guys just know how to party.

And not one but THREE seperate streakers. Talk about a complete package of entertainment.

Yeah, yeah the game was good. Both sides attacked throughout and it was always exciting. Nice to see Robbie Kruse back and he was very impressive for the first half after which he seemed to sort of lose control. Overall I wasn’t embarassed for the boys in haz-chem. Celtic was just too good.

In the throngs back to the station after the game there was some brilliant (and all good-natured) yoboism from the hooped fans, climaxing in a staged group sex session between about five of them in the middle of Caxton St.

Dawn had fun, and not just for the reasons of spectacle, which bodes well for our future marriage. She said she actually found herself ‘rivetted’, and I could see why. As I said, the game wasn’t cagey, but open, attacking and attractive. That’s the way to seduce new fans.

Fantastic day at the football. Thankyou to whichever geniuses managed to organise this one. And, for what it’s worth, and I hope these things have some impact, a Red Card to Racism.

PS. Jacob and I have booked our packages to The World Cup South Africa, paid deposits and, according to the correspondence, have tickets to Australia’s three group games. How cool is that?

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A Rose by any Other Name Smells Just as Sweet (We Call it Soccer Prt 2)

September 26th, 2009
posted by admin 10:03 pm
This subject, I will admit at the outset, since first writing about it in September last year, has continued to absorb me. I see material everywhere, constantly, and have taken to making sure I have a notebook so I can at least partially document the extent of the absurdity. This material has overwhelmed me in fact, to the extent that it has held me back writing about it at all.

So there will be more. But here’s instalment Two.

My point is not trivial. The insistence on the word ‘Football’ in the Australian media is holding the game back from the public mind. Now me merely stating that view will not convince anyone, so I ask that you read my points (including my first article) and THINK about this. I honestly and seriously believe that the Australian soccer community has so far lost the plot on this front.

First, in case anyone thinks I’m making this business up, consider the following sentences, from two bloggers I respect greatly for their love of the great game:

From Eamonn, of Nearpost: “It might be acceptable to Australians in State Of Origin or AFL but in my view football, men and women’s doesn’t need it.”

And from Ambrose’s Bloggerfella: “The only leagues I can think of which may offer precedent for the A-League’s four subs are the other Australian “football” leagues, the AFL and NRL, which both employ four-man interchange benches with unlimited changes allowed in AFL and 10 in NRL. Their formats are entirely different and irrelevant to football‘s.”

Now both of these intelligent people know the word ‘soccer’, they know what it means, it’s 100% in their vocabulary and, importantly, they have no other meaning for the word. Also, their audience also understands the word, unambiguously. From a purely editorial point of view, the word ‘soccer’ is appropriate in these sentences, for the very simple criteria of clarity of meaning.

Why don’t they use the word? This is just two cases from the past week. I see this editorial absurdity constantly. Now from an insider’s view they may even get a bit of congratulations for holding the flag or something. But from any other point of view (in Australia and many other countries) it just looks like they are, um, holding the flag. That is they look like they’re promoting an ideology or religion rather than a great game. They reinforce, every time they do this, the image of a slightly esoteric pursuit for foreigners and fanatics. It glares, and there’s no way that these writers aren’t self-conscious when they’re doing this.

In the second case the author goes further, and actually tries to imply that other football codes (there is no synonym for the word football-as-generic) shouldn’t be called that. That’s also common, from Les Murray for example: “so-called football codes”. Now that’s aggressive, even rude, toward codes that have generations of passionate and loyal followers, and even evokes the question, toward us, “Who’s afraid?” I’ll pursue that more in the future, but suffice to say here that it’s not helping anyone.

Ok, here’s another quote, from a bumper sticker I see around: “Support St Aidans’ Soccer.”

Now I have no idea about St Aidans, but this sticker is, by being around the place, also promoting the game I love to play and watch, so I think it’s cool that people have it on the back of their cars. Can anyone tell me what word they should use? Let’s just state the fucking obvious: “Support St Aidans’ Football” would simply NOT be promoting our game AT ALL. “Support St Aidans’ Football (Soccer)” would be editorially clumsy, I add because we actually see this absurdity, even in the mainstream press.

I’ve barely started. I know I’m up against pretty much the entire soccer community (‘football community’ would only make sense if I was referring to all the codes) here, but I know I’m right and I simply have to keep hammering this one.

For my money, every time the media, on radio, TV or in print is speaking of our game, which does have a greater actuality than a decade ago and has found its rightful place in our sports press (however reluctantly), the public should be seeing the word, the brand, SOCCER. Soccer, soccer, soccer. That’s what the public mind, however oblivious or married to other games they may be, would be being bombarded with. Bombarding it with yet more of the brand ‘Football, football, football’ does nothing. Read it again. From a promotion viewpoint, it does nothing.

Incidentally, on the three occasions I’ve been to the United States I’ve thought to ask everyday people whether they follow Gridiron. They have had no idea what I was talking about. They know it only as ‘football’. Funny how language works. And funny how authority doesn’t get to tell the public what words mean, except in Orwell’s dystopia. People decide what words mean, and linguists tell us why, whilst lexographers record the meanings in dictionaries. Next time you want to know what ‘soccer’ and ‘football’ mean in a particular language or dialect (and Australian is a dialect) try a dictionary. The FFA are not an authority, and neither are the fanatics, and neither am I.

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Melbourne vs Brisbane

September 26th, 2009
posted by admin 10:03 pm
Well it was the bottom of the table clash we’ve been waiting for all season. I walked from the shop, past the Irish Pub on the corner which only had AFL on, and past the two pubs in the mall which also only had AFL on, to the Pig & Whistle on the mall which had AFL on two screens and the A-League on the smallest third screen.

Alone in a corner I sipped my beer and for 20 minutes wondered why the hell I was a Roar fan. If it hadn’t have become “Brisbane Roar”, defecting to Gold Coast United would have been a no-brainer. I love Brisbane, but when it comes to sport I don’t really give a shit about ‘Queensland’. A sporting team should, in my view, represent an actual ants nest, a real community of humans, with a stadium in the middle. And while I was sitting there, watching my team play truly woefully, albeit attempting to play this ‘attacking football’ everyone seems to harp about, I thought, ‘Well, this is my lot. Thick or thin, this is my team. I guess they’ll have glory some time in my life, and other times they’ll probably be at the bottom, but they play for my town, which I live in, work in and love’.

Then Danny scored a cracker. Seconds later I apologised to the table next to me for my spontaneous reaction. They were good humoured about it – actually the smile from the girl was worth it. I was so excited I wandered outside the drinking area for a cigarette when Henrique was brought down and Dijk popped the penalty. 2:0 up, but I’m not really convinced by Dijk’s celebrations. Two goals in two games on paper, but both because he gets to take the penalties, which he didn’t earn, and he still keeps missing his chances from play. And God he’s ugly. Anyway he plays for my team.

I stll thought Melbourne were playing better and not once thought they weren’t still in the game. Just after Hernandez scored (The Roar’s defence up to that point so had that coming) a cop came over. He was a senior constable but I can’t remember his name. I noticed he didn’t look at the AFL screen. “Are you a Roar supporter?” “Aye.” He asked me who’d scored the goals and I told him. He’s from Wales and is a Leeds supporter. “It’s the only team,” he said. Now if that was true it would be a pretty small and uninteresting league, but I learned long ago to never argue with a policeman. Anyway, he wandered past a few times after that and got updates from me. Nice guy.

I’ve found before that when you go out alone to watch a football game you kind of spontaneously meet people who are also interested. It’s a contrast to going out alone to listen to music or trying to get laid, when I inevitably just get lonelier as the night goes on. The other bloke I got chatting to, who came in later, was wearing Celtic gear, a Scot. We reminisced joyfully about the Roar vs Celtic game, and he told me a wonderful story about a home Celtic game vs Liverpool where both groups (is 50,000 still a ‘group’?) sang ‘You’ll never walk alone’. I’m bloody jealous. Frankly I reckon the Roar should consider itself tagged with the Celtic germ and take the song up as our own. There is no greater soccer anthem in the world.

While I was chatting to the cop again Henrique scored his. Now that was quality – neither a somewhat lucky but brilliant bash like Danny’s nor a routine penalty like Dijk’s. A REAL goal. A goal to celebrate. Celebrating it with a yellow card (taking the shirt off) was a bit stupid, but he does have a nice bod – much prettier than Djik.

The mystery, which has almost become mundane, is that in the second half Brisbane actually looked better, but it was Melbourne scoring the goals. If someone has the time please drop me a line and explain to me what it’s all about. You know… soccer, life, whatever. Life is rich with metaphors for explaining soccer.

3:3. Jesus the A-League on this Saturday yielded 11 goals from two games. I don’t even want to talk about the Gold Coast. Frank Farina has put it on public record that he will bare his arse in public if the Gold Coast go through undefeated as Clive Palmer predicted. This is one of the most interesting things Frank has ever said and I almost hope it comes off so Frank is obliged to be so daring. Sorry I keep digressing. 3:3. A deserved draw, in a game of two halves where the teams took turns scoring against the run of play.

PS. I like the yellow nets.

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