Japan 0- Australia 0

Australian players raising there hands in the air in celebration at the fulltime whistle was a tell-tale sign. They had a mission to come away with a result at Yokohama, and as ugly as it looked, it was mission accomplished. For 90 minutes there was surge after surge of Japanese attacking play that could just not find the final pass, or moment of brilliance to strike a killer blow. It seemed like the dam would break and the goals would come flooding, particularly in the last quarter of an hour where we continually lost the ball in midfield.

Tim Cahill was visibly upset at being replaced towards the final whistle. Understandable for a top flight competitive athlete. But it is a manager's job to marshall the talent and keep the eye on the prize. Keeping Cahill and Kennedy on the pitch, together, may have been the most obvious choice, indeed the Japanese probably expected the move. However, sticking with the lone striker paid dividends for Verbeek in terms of our chances of qualification to South Africa. Granted, not so much for the purists who despise the one striker solution.

Schwarzer once again pulled off routine yet solid saves to keep Australia in the match. Craig Moores experience in top flight football helped put the lock on the chain. Lady luck slipped the key into her breast pocket, and we survived. A deflected shot spraying wide when a Japanese goal seemed certain provided an elegant synopsis. Japan, after making this match the focus of a 5 week training camp, and in front of a fantastic but expectant home crowd, was under too much pressure to get a win, and they simply could not step up. For the Aussies to come away from the game with a draw is one thing. To keep Japan scoreless at home with just a couple of days in camp, a weakened midfield and a raft of injuries is another. Although we are not mathematically there yet, we have one big fat green and gold toe in South Africa.

Not since Dwight Yorke have we had a player of such calibre grace the competition; A player who will get the turnstiles ticking over; A player with a chequered history, no doubt.

Despite his indiscretions, this guy is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League (120 goals) - Scowsers still refer to him simply as ‘God’, and still at the relatively young (as far as marquee imports go) age of 33, he has the potential to deliver big time.

Pic via Tenacious T

With crowd averages dropping back to season two levels in this fourth season, the FFA has been banking on the addition of the Fury and the Gold Coast to inject some more variety into the fledgeling competition. They will be over the moon with this signing, following on the heels of Gold Coast’s Jason Culina signing a few weeks ago.

It’s easy to see why. If you are a Liverpool fan over the age of 20....hell, if you are a football fan period, you’ll put your backside on a seat when the North Queensland Fury rolls into your town. Players like Fowler are the guys we grew up, or grew old watching, and they are coming to a town near you.

I’ve written about the tremendous advantage that football, as a truly world game, has over and above all the other domestic competitions in this country. This is yet another example of what a global talent pool can offer the Australian sporting market.

Season 4 is barely over, yet the buzz for season 5 is well and truly building.

Jackass of the week this week goes to Greg Denham of ‘The Australian’ for his story on how the A-League finals could, via a combination of wins and losses to certain teams in both the A-League finals and the AFL pre-season cup, prevent a debut in front of home fans for the troubled player. It’s too convoluted to explain - have a look at the link.

So what is Mr Denham’s point? That Football is denying AFL fans a chance to see poster boy Cousin’s return?

Although thats implied in the headline, reading a few lines further reveals all:

The (AFL) league yesterday said it would be more profitable to play it at Subiaco Oval, based on a similar attendance figure. In Perth the AFL pays a lower ground rental than at Telstra Dome and has better stadium rights. It has less access to revenue streams at Telstra Dome...

Don’t let a ‘soccer’ bashing headline to grab a readers attention detract from the truth, aye Greg? And what about the inevitable sellout of the Dome by Melbourne Victory fans if they make the football final?

Eee-owwww!