Australia 2 – Croatia 2
What an interesting game this turned out to be, full of controversy and most of the madness happened in the last 15 or so minutes.
The game started of exactly how we did not want. A goat after 2 minutes by Croatian number 2 Srna. This freekick was given after a late tackle by Viduka. The freekick curled into the top left of the net and I doubt any goalkeeper would have kept that shot out.
In the 6th minute, Viduka was manhandled and thrown to the ground, but a foul was not given. This was most likely due to Viduka backing into the defender first. However, the incident one minute later left me scratching my head. The defender had a hold on Viduka’s waist and prevented him from reaching the ball as it went out of play. The referee Graham Poll (whose first name I am ashamed of sharing) just smiled as if to say he thought Viduka was acting. There was a chance the ref did not have a good view on this foul, but the sideline assistant must have because his view was clear. But he did not raise his flag so I was left confused.
The Australian supporters did there best to keep the spirits high of the Socceroos, and after many opportunities at there end of the ground, a Croatian defended handballed in the square on a cross that was looking dangerous. A penalty was awarded for this blatent foul, and Craig Moore stepped up and slotted the penalty into the net in the 38th minute. 1-1.
The rest of the first half, it was fairly quiet though Kalac gave us a bit of a scare in the 40th minute with his first fumble from a corner kick that luckily swerved out of bounds before he mishandled it.
The second half started similarly to the first with Croatia scoring an early goal. Kovac twisted Cahill inside out and had a weak shot that went straight to Kalac. We all though it would be easily covered but he fumbled the ball for a second time and it rolled its way into the net. 2-1. It was now do or die for the Socceroos, they must score to draw and stay alive.
Around the 59th minute, Simunic would receive his first (of 3, yes 3) bookings for holding Kewell about twenty-five yards from goal. Strangely, this 3 card booking is not reported on the official FIFA site – or maybe it is to try to save face.
Around 70th and 71st minutes, Kewell had two good shots on goal, both saved by Pletikosa. A few minutes later, there was another handball inside the box by a Croatian defender, who leapt for a cross with his arms raised and the ball stuck him on the arm. No handball was called by the (blind) ref, despite the protests. In the 79th minute, Harry was not to be denied for a third time. Aloisi flicked on a cross with his head and Kewell controlled it before putting a right-footed volley into the net. There were hints of him being slightly offside, but after the blatent handball was missed previously, let’s call it even. And it was, now 2-2.
It was from this point on that all the madness set in. On 81 minutes, Emerton was booked for delaying the game. At 85 minutes, a foul was commited on Harry Kewell who was making a run through midfield. Dario Srna grabbed the ref and seemed very angry. However, he ended up not getting booked – or so it seemed – instead Simic who was shown a second yellow and then a red card. I was very confused by this decision and did not know why Srna was not at least yellow carded for manhandling the ref.
It became ten a side on 87 minutes as Brett Emerton became the second player to be red-carded in the space of two minutes after a deliberate handball. He would now miss the Italy game.
In the 90th minute, an Australian player (I missed who) took a quick free kick, knocking it into the back of a Croatian player and the Socceroos lost possession in the process. Why would you do something like this?? We should have slowed the game down and taken our time. A minute or two later in extra time, Simuvic received his second booking for a discression in midfield, but incredibly, was only showed a yellow card and not a red, so he stayed on the pitch! You would’ve thought that one of the other officials might have said to Graham Poll in order to alert him of this blunder, but nothing!
Play continued on and Bresciano appeared to commit a foul but the call went the Socceroos way. Australia were sending all players forward, and in a moment of pure insanity, the referee called a foul against Croatia inside the penalty box just a second or two before Cahill booted the ball into the net! Simunic gave the ref some lip (hopefully he said what I would have) and Poll showed him his third yellow card, then red, then blew the final whistle before the meaningless penalty kick too place. I am betting he wanted to escape fast and get off the pitch and out of the stadium.
So, it’s onto Italy now in K Town on June 26th. I hope we can at least draw and win on penalties on this one.