Musings about sports in general, & Cricket in particular. With baseball season coming up, will look into that, too. And lots of good cricket in 2007, including the World Cup.
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This is where you stick random tidbits of information about yourself.
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20060613
Another day, another great story. Today belongs to the Boys from Oz. Yes, in the upset of the day, the win goes to Australia. The goals came too fast too furious in the Aussies' stunning rally for a 3-1 victory over Japan on Monday. Tim Cahill scored in the 84th minute and again five minutes later. John Aloisi added one in injury time. "It was unbelievable to come away with a first World Cup win like that," Aloisi said. "It was 10 minutes of probably the most exciting soccer that Australia has ever seen." Cahill, who came on in the 53rd minute, made an impressive showing for a player coming off a knee injury who has seen limited playing time heading to the tournament. "It's been one big massive procedure for me to get fit in such a short period of time," he said. "To do what we did today shows Australian spirit, and it's good to be up there with the rugby and cricket players." And, for one day at least, up there with soccer's elite. Monday's comeback added another nerve-jangling chapter to the Socceroos' World Cup story. In November, they upset Uruguay in a penalty-kick shootout in a playoff to qualify. The Aussies didn't appear capable of even tying the game after falling behind in the first half. But Cahill equalized when he picked up a loose ball off a throw-in and beat Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi with a right-footed shot. Kawaguchi erred in coming out of his net. Five minutes later, with the Japanese clearly off-balance, Cahill scored from 20 yards with a right-footed shot that went in off the goalpost. Although the stunned Japanese pushed up for a second goal, it was Australia's Aloisi who found the net in the final seconds from 15 yards after snaking through the defense. That finished off the comeback for his nation's first World Cup win. Australia's only other trip was in 1974, when it failed to score a goal in losing to host West Germany and East Germany and tying Chile 0-0. Shunsuke Nakamura gave Japan a lead in the 26th minute, floating a cross from 25 yards that sailed in over the head of Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Schwarzer failed to grab the ball when he crashed into a group of players. Japan forward Naohiro Takahara made contact with Schwarzer as the two jumped, but there was no foul and Schwarzer walked off at halftime shaking his head. Kawaguchi made several key saves off free kicks in the second half before his blunder on the first Aussie goal. Japan is in its third straight World Cup. Co-hosts in 2002, the Japanese lost 1-0 in the round of 16 to eventual semifinalist Turkey. Their chances of advancing are slim now, considering they have Croatia and Brazil ahead. Australia, at least, can a bit more realistically contemplate making the second round.
At least for today, Oz has a winning team that doesn't play cricket or rugby. Good luck to them.
2:33 AM
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