The Rovers Return

Nelsen in action for NZ against Italy

Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, three of Rovers four World Cup stars were in action. Unfortunately, I hardly saw any of it.

Ghana 1-1 Australia

Brett Emerton played the full 90 minutes as the Aussies put their disappointing 4-0 spanking at the hands of Germany behind them with a solid performance and a good result against Ghana.

A side considered by many to be one of the best African teams at the World Cup, Ghana could have been expected to give Australia a lesson or two, but Australia showed they aren’t at this tournament just to make up the numbers.

They even had the audacity to take the lead, Brett Holman somewhat fortuitously hitting home after Mark Bresciano’s free kick was fumbled by Ghana keeper Richard Kingson.

Unfortunately for Australia, Harry Kewell handled the ball off the line, landing himself with a red card and Ghana with a penalty which Asamoah Gyan scored, precipitating the ridiculously over-exuberant celebrations that also took place in their first game against Serbia.

I’m all for goal celebrations, but only if the goal deserves it, and, in my humble opinion, scoring a penalty does not merit a 25-minute celebration.

Ghana dominated the shot count – often a deceptive figure if you ask me – but it was Australia who had the best chances, their best coming when Luke Wilkshire fired straight at Kingson when through on goal.

A draw was not ideal for Australia, but Brett Emerton and Vince Grella’s side do still harbour hopes of a place in the second round, although that requires them beating Serbia and Ghana beating Germany. Read more »

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The only picture I can find of Emerton in the match

It was a disappointing end to the first World Cup game involving a Rovers player as Brett Emerton’s Australia went down 4-0 to an impressive Germany.

Socceroos boss Pim Verbeek has been roundly criticised for opting to take a defensive approach, a tactic his side are not really used to, and the critics could be right.

Brett Emerton suffered as a result of this negative style, being subbed in the second half to make way for the more defensive Mile Jedinak in a move that could only be described as damage limitation.

I’ll be honest, having been out for a curry with a friend in London, we missed much of this match. Then, when we did finally get back and put the telly on, that substitution was made so I never actually saw Emerton touch the ball.

For that reason, I won’t insult you by talking about his individual performance, only that, from what I’ve read, he was about the best of a bad bunch.

What I will say about the match is that I cannot understand all the fuss over Tim Cahill’s red card. The Everton midfielder could have broken Schweinsteiger’s leg with a very clumsy challenge and deserved to go.

However, it certainly isn’t over for Australia. This was as much a fantastic performance from Germany as it was a disaster for the Socceroos.

If Germany have slapped Australia 4-0, they have the potential to smash Ghana and Serbia, while Australia have the group’s most difficult tie out of the way and can concentrate on trying to win their next two matches.

I’m not saying those games will be easy, but it’s no use thinking it’s all over after one setback.

Watch this space for a look at Lars Jacobsen’s efforts for Denmark against Holland, which is just kicking off as I write this

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Before we get on with the real football that is next year’s Premier League season, there’s an international tournament to get out of the way.

No one really cares about it, but a few of the Rovers squad are involved, merely as a keep-fit exercise I presume, so it’s worth giving it a mention.

I do, of course, mean the football World Cup, and everyone’s excited.

Unfortunately for Rovers, a lot of our players haven’t quite made it. Keith Andrews’s Ireland, Morten Pedersen’s Norway and Zurab Khizanishvilli’s Georgia, among others, all failed to qualify, while Paul Robinson was not chosen for England and Pascal Chimbonda missed out on the France squad – no real surprise there.

Youngsters Martin Olsson and Niko Kalinic are both still in their national youth teams, Sweden and Croatia respectively, and Michel Salgado can’t find his walking stick.

However, four (soon to be three) Rovers stars will be hoping to bring glory to their nations.

Captain and centre back Ryan Nelsen will captain massive underdogs New Zealand, while Brett Emerton and soon-to-be-in-Turkey Vince Grella are in action for Australia and Lars Jacobsen will feature for Denmark.

New Zealand

Nelsen will have a job on trying to keep New Zealand in the competition beyond the group stages. Group E has pitched them against Paraguay, Slovakia and Italy, and as a realist you can’t see them progressing.

The lack of optimism isn’t helped by the fact their two best players are Nelsen and Plymouth striker Rory Fallon …

Still, every World Cup has a surprise package, and a couple of surprise results could see New Zealand surprise everyone. I doubt it, though. Read more »

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Argh it’s been hectic and I’ve been a very bad blogger. Let’s start at the beginning, usually a good idea:

Bolton at home: Conclusions

- Something seems to be wrong with Big Sam’s pre-match team talks. We were shite here, absolutely diabolical, and we weren’t much better against Newcastle in the first half. He seems to do something right at half time though!

- Kevin Davies, I’d love to rip his face off. Fat waste of money. As soon as he scored I was straight down for a pint!

- In the second half we were superb. If we were to play like that for the whole game we’d have walked it. Unfortunately we didn’t.

- Is Benni allergic to Jussi Jaaskelainen? This isn’t the first time the Finn has saved his penalty! It was a shite penalty though… Read more »

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