Monday, July 30, 2007
Pot, kettle, black and a whinging Aussie
Please remind me...who came to the Asian Cup saying there were going to win it? Who came to the Asian Cup saying they would win every game?
Ok, read on...
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Vince Grella has lashed the gamesmanship and chicanery of the Socceroos' rivals and the standard of refereeing at the Asian Cup, calling it disgraceful.
The Italian-based midfielder, who finished Australia's abject tournament with a red card in the quarter-final loss on penalties to Japan, said there was no respect for the Socceroos playing in their first Asian Cup. (Sorry Grella fella, respect must be earnt)
He is still bitter over the way Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara carried on in the incident which led to his 76th-minute red card in Hanoi.
"We respected all our opponents but they had no respect for us," Grella told Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper. (Oh really? Who reckoned all they had to do was turn up and they'd win it?)
"There were guys rolling around all over the place every time we played and all our opponents went out of their way to goad us.
"They all had a bad attitude towards us. I've written the names of Oman, Iraq, Thailand and Japan down, so it will be payback time when we meet again. (Nice professional attitide there)
"I don't know what they all had against Australia but it was a joke.
"When Iraq scored against us (during their shock 3-1 victory) they were jumping around like kangaroos (I believe they call it celebrating?) and when Oman scored a goal they went and celebrated in front of our supporters ... that's taking the p**s. (Why???)
"Japan called us a bunch of wrestlers before the game.
"They were winding us up. (No shit) As an honourable nation their people should be ashamed of the conduct of their team. It was totally unacceptable and disgraceful.
"They drove me insane with their remarks - I (wanted to) kill them before the game even started. The way they acted wasn't in the spirit of football. (Of course when the Aussies do this shit at cricket they call it sledging and it's ok)
"We have players in the best leagues in the world and I don't even know the names of half their team. But I wouldn't have come out and said they were a bunch of nobodies."
Grella believes he was a victim of bad acting by Takahara and ham-fisted refereeing.
"I barely touched him yet he went down screeching as if he'd broken his leg," Grella said. "It was ridiculous. It was a challenge I've made 1000 times and I was surprised, to say the least, it got me a straight red card.
"Of course I feel responsible, because that left nothing else other than (for Australia) to play for penalties.
"But I also feel Takahara intimidated the referee." (All that rolling around must be pretty scary)
Grella said the referees were inconsistent (welcome to football) and appeared to turn a blind eye to gamesmanship, including diving.
"We all wore the fair play badge on the arms of our shirts but there wasn't much of that going around on the pitch," he said. "We were frustrated with the inconsistencies of the decision making.
"The referees let it all go. We need to remember these things and give these teams a hiding when they come to Australia in the future, but we're too nice. That's our mentality.
"The Asians saw us as arrogant. But our organisation is humble and just wants to follow the rules of the sport." (This is an April Fools joke right???)
While Grella can whinge and moan all he likes the facts are these. The Aussies came into this tournament understimating the opposition. They were found out and now the man is just spitting his dummy out the pram. Yes his red card was unfair but at every level of football there are inconsistencies. When your team of all stars had a full quota how many times did you ceonceivably look like scoring?
I swear when it comes to whinging there ain't no one can do it as well as an Aussie.
Ok, read on...
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Vince Grella has lashed the gamesmanship and chicanery of the Socceroos' rivals and the standard of refereeing at the Asian Cup, calling it disgraceful.
The Italian-based midfielder, who finished Australia's abject tournament with a red card in the quarter-final loss on penalties to Japan, said there was no respect for the Socceroos playing in their first Asian Cup. (Sorry Grella fella, respect must be earnt)
He is still bitter over the way Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara carried on in the incident which led to his 76th-minute red card in Hanoi.
"We respected all our opponents but they had no respect for us," Grella told Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper. (Oh really? Who reckoned all they had to do was turn up and they'd win it?)
"There were guys rolling around all over the place every time we played and all our opponents went out of their way to goad us.
"They all had a bad attitude towards us. I've written the names of Oman, Iraq, Thailand and Japan down, so it will be payback time when we meet again. (Nice professional attitide there)
"I don't know what they all had against Australia but it was a joke.
"When Iraq scored against us (during their shock 3-1 victory) they were jumping around like kangaroos (I believe they call it celebrating?) and when Oman scored a goal they went and celebrated in front of our supporters ... that's taking the p**s. (Why???)
"Japan called us a bunch of wrestlers before the game.
"They were winding us up. (No shit) As an honourable nation their people should be ashamed of the conduct of their team. It was totally unacceptable and disgraceful.
"They drove me insane with their remarks - I (wanted to) kill them before the game even started. The way they acted wasn't in the spirit of football. (Of course when the Aussies do this shit at cricket they call it sledging and it's ok)
"We have players in the best leagues in the world and I don't even know the names of half their team. But I wouldn't have come out and said they were a bunch of nobodies."
Grella believes he was a victim of bad acting by Takahara and ham-fisted refereeing.
"I barely touched him yet he went down screeching as if he'd broken his leg," Grella said. "It was ridiculous. It was a challenge I've made 1000 times and I was surprised, to say the least, it got me a straight red card.
"Of course I feel responsible, because that left nothing else other than (for Australia) to play for penalties.
"But I also feel Takahara intimidated the referee." (All that rolling around must be pretty scary)
Grella said the referees were inconsistent (welcome to football) and appeared to turn a blind eye to gamesmanship, including diving.
"We all wore the fair play badge on the arms of our shirts but there wasn't much of that going around on the pitch," he said. "We were frustrated with the inconsistencies of the decision making.
"The referees let it all go. We need to remember these things and give these teams a hiding when they come to Australia in the future, but we're too nice. That's our mentality.
"The Asians saw us as arrogant. But our organisation is humble and just wants to follow the rules of the sport." (This is an April Fools joke right???)
While Grella can whinge and moan all he likes the facts are these. The Aussies came into this tournament understimating the opposition. They were found out and now the man is just spitting his dummy out the pram. Yes his red card was unfair but at every level of football there are inconsistencies. When your team of all stars had a full quota how many times did you ceonceivably look like scoring?
I swear when it comes to whinging there ain't no one can do it as well as an Aussie.
# posted by Me @ 4:19 PM 
Comments:
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This is not an anti Aussie tirade. Rather there is a tendancy in some quarters to downplay an event when they lose, especially after bigging themselves beforehand.
Also blaming everyone else for your failings isn't confined by geography.
I'd rather celebrate the victory of Iraq than the small minded whinging of a sad loser no one had heard of before...
Also blaming everyone else for your failings isn't confined by geography.
I'd rather celebrate the victory of Iraq than the small minded whinging of a sad loser no one had heard of before...
I hope Grella never plays for Australia again. His comments are a disgrace. We have so much to learn.
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