Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

[21C]

Oi! Oi! Oi!

OK so it's not the greatest of rallying cries but it will do for now.

Australia just qualified for the football ( soccer ) World Cup for the first time in 32 years. After coming close so many times in the past, we finally made it through after beating Uruguay on penalties at home ( Sydney ). Uruguay knocked us out in the last campaign and had a 1-0 advantage after the first leg in Montevideo. We scored in the second leg to make the aggregate score 1-1. With nobody able to score in extra time, we went to penalties where our goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer ( plays for Middlesbrough in the English Premier League ) saved two penalties and Australia took it 4-2.

I'm not the biggest soccer fan but I have suffered along with the tragics when we missed out on qualifying in the past - Iran was particularly galling eight years ago since we had a two goal lead in the second leg at home but squandered it.

For now, the whole of Australia celebrates. I'm not expecting great things in Germany 2006 but at least we are there.

[3ric]

Congratulations! I was rooting for you guys based on what happened four years ago, when Uruguay qualified...

[Northwood_DK]

Originally Posted by 21C

I'm not expecting great things in Germany 2006 but at least we are there.

With Guus Hiddink you never know what’s going to happen.

Congratulation Australia.

[Professor58]

I thought this was about the WSOP.

[kcchief19]

A question for our foreign friends -- is our chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" even half as annoying as this whole "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" thing? If so, let me be the first American to proffer a formal apology and offer to refrain from ever doing it again.

If it is not and our Aussie friends have simply managed to stumble upon the single-most annoying cheer in the history of man, what can we do to get you to stop doing it? Going to see Paul Hogan movies again? Buying every Olivia Newton-John album on the rack? Eating Vegamite like it's going out of style? It's kind of like offering food to North Korea to stop developing nuclear weapons. At this point, I'm ready to offer compensation in exchange for dropping the cheer.

Regardless, congrats on the World Cup berth.

[McSweeny]

i'll be pulling for you guys, since Ireland couldn't manage to qualify

[Sadalia]

Congrats and good luck to the Aussies. I predict much drinking of German beer.

And personally I find the "U-S-A" chant a lot more irritating than the Aussie one; it just sounds so dreary.

[PackerFanatic]

I thought it was about the WSOP too, haha.

[21C]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

A question for our foreign friends -- is our chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" even half as annoying as this whole "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" thing? If so, let me be the first American to proffer a formal apology and offer to refrain from ever doing it again.

If it is not and our Aussie friends have simply managed to stumble upon the single-most annoying cheer in the history of man, what can we do to get you to stop doing it?

Don't worry! The "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" chant is annoying to me as well. There just seems to be a lack of imagination with coming up with an alternative. Before that, we overused a "C'mon, Aussie, c'mon" refrain which was a song from a cricket marketing campaign. Mind you, the "Aussie" chant is easy for people to remember when they're drunk.

I think the "U-S-A" chant is only annoying when it is used to rub in a victory - like an "Up Your Ass! Up Your Ass!" chant would.

[Huckleberry]

I personally find all chants that are based on being positive about your side fine. "U-S-A!", "Aussie!", etc. No problems with any of that.

The ones I find annoying are the ones based on denigrating your opponent instead. Some of them can be funny, but mostly they're not.

By far the dumbest chant in all of sport is "Over-Rated!". Yes, we have just beaten this team so let's be sure to remind everyone that they're not really that good. You know, in case anyone was going to make the mistake of thinking we just beat a good team.

The only exception to this rule is the "OU Sucks!" chant. Solid gold, that one.

[bhlloy]

I'm stoked that Tony Vidmar finally made it - he was always one of my favourite players at Cardiff. Scored a penalty in the shootout as well. Let's just hope that he's not past it when the squad gets announced next year. He's been in the Aussie team for at least 10 years now, so he deserves to get a free pass right? After Dennis Lawrence scored the goal that put Trinidad and Tobago through as well, a distinct Welsh club theme running through the games today

Also, Uruguay might be my least favourite footballing nation. Whenever I have caught one of their games I have been disgusted with how dirty and unsporting they are. So, for once in my life, good on the Aussies. Although it's a shame you couldn't do the job properly and beat England at rugby on Saturday....

[terpkristin]

I always thought that Australia and New Zealand got a raw deal in how they had to qualify for the WC.

Congrats to Australia for getting to the WC!!!

(In 2006 they become part of Asia for qualifying, IIRC, so this was especially fortuitous timing!)

/tk

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

I personally find all chants that are based on being positive about your side fine. "U-S-A!", "Aussie!", etc. No problems with any of that.

The ones I find annoying are the ones based on denigrating your opponent instead. Some of them can be funny, but mostly they're not.

By far the dumbest chant in all of sport is "Over-Rated!". Yes, we have just beaten this team so let's be sure to remind everyone that they're not really that good. You know, in case anyone was going to make the mistake of thinking we just beat a good team.

The only exception to this rule is the "OU Sucks!" chant. Solid gold, that one.

Could not agree more about the "Over-Rated" chant. I've never understood it. You should WANT the other team to be a truly great team. That means you've accomplished something. If they sucked, what'd you just do?

[21C]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I always thought that Australia and New Zealand got a raw deal in how they had to qualify for the WC.

Congrats to Australia for getting to the WC!!!

(In 2006 they become part of Asia for qualifying, IIRC, so this was especially fortuitous timing!)

/tk

I actually thought that it was fair enough. At one stage, FIFA granted Oceania an automatic berth which was great for Australia but not something where I felt we'd actually earned a spot. These are some of the giants of the football world we were competing against.

Oceania First Round Draw
Group 1	Group 2
Cook Islands	American Samoa
New Caledonia	Fiji
Solomon Islands	Papua New Guinea
Tahiti	Samoa
Tonga	Vanuatu

Wow, Samoa AND American Samoa!

FIFA then withdrew the place and returned us to a playoff with the 5th place team in South America. A much harder proposition but if we made it then we deserved to be there.

I think that the Asia qualifying in the future will also be good for the game. It will mean that we'll have more meaningful competition over a longer period. It will attract the crowds for games that count ( we got 82,000 in Sydney while the national league games are lucky to get 10,000-15,000 a game ) and get people talking about the games more often than just once every four years like it's been.

[Wolfpack]

So, if Australia's moved to Asia, what does this do for Oceania as a group? Is New Zealand following the Aussies? Just curious.

[Huckleberry]

I think they'll still play off against CONMEBOL.

[kiwiLB57]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

So, if Australia's moved to Asia, what does this do for Oceania as a group? Is New Zealand following the Aussies? Just curious.

I think it kind of consigns Oceania to the dustbin. There is talk of just rolling Oceania into Asia. Oceania will also be the only federation not to be included in the automatic rotation of the world cup (for obvious reasons).

It wasn't always an Australian dominated affair, NZ has been to the Confederations cup twice in recent years (beating Aussie to get there). NZ has also been to the World Cup more recently than Aussie (ok 1982 isn't exactly recent). But by and large Oceania has been Aussies whipping ground.

I think it is fantastic for Aussie that they are part of Asia and will be so much better for them. It is a shame for NZ football as I feel we are almost on the edge of something finally happening. If the NZ Knights could get off the ground and win a game or two in the A-League then the public might get behind it. The one shining light is Ryan Nelsen formerly captain of DC United, and now a key man in the Prem league side Blackburn Rovers.

ta

kiwiDE57

[kiwiLB57]

Originally Posted by 21C

For now, the whole of Australia celebrates. I'm not expecting great things in Germany 2006 but at least we are there.

Congrats to Aussie on this one. Not sure if NZ will get behind the Aussie team, but at least it will be someone "local" in the finals!!!

kiwiDE57

[kiwiLB57]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

A question for our foreign friends -- is our chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" even half as annoying as this whole "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" thing? If so, let me be the first American to proffer a formal apology and offer to refrain from ever doing it again.

Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy is slightly more annoying than oo-ess-ehh, oo-ess-ehh.

Both very annoying.

[Mac Howard]

What a great night it was but still can't get over my pdr stopping the recording just before the penalty shootout began