Australia 2-0 up against China scorers were Brett Holman and Marco Bresciano.
Go the green and gold!
Australia vs China
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Chelsea007
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China 0 - Australia 2
March 24, 2007
AUSTRALIA made the most of a rapid start to brush aside a muddled China side in a pre-Asian Cup friendly at Guangzhou, and record a first win since October 2006.
Well made goals to Brett Holman and Mark Bresciano inside the first half hour of the match gave the Socceroos a commanding position they never relinquished, despite a furious China resurgence that made its insipid early play all the more puzzling.
Without a host of established names including Tim Cahill and Vince Grella, Australia coach Graham Arnold gave first caps to midfield player Carl Valeri and defender Shane Stefanutto, with Valeri taking up Grella's pivotal central holding role in a 3-4-3 formation.
Both players acquitted themselves ably, but it was Holman and Bresciano, with help from skipper Mark Viduka, who made a thorough mess of the opposition early on.
The locals had named what looked on paper to be a strong starting XI, captained by Charlton Athletic striker Zheng Zhi.
However the troubled state of the nation's football, which saw head coach Zhu Guanghu physically attacked when leaving a league fixture last week, was laid bare by a Socceroos side that had clearly benefited from a four-day training camp in Hong Kong.
Viduka had a pair of stinging shots parried away by goalkeeper Li Leilei inside six minutes and a cleared attacking free-kick from Zheng allowed Bresciano to create the first goal in the eighth minute.
Eluding the attention of Sun Jihai, Bresciano tore past the China defence so comprehensively that an unmarked Holman was allowed to slightly scuff his shot and still see it nestle in the back of the net.
The lead was doubled on 28 minutes when Bresciano nipped in to steal the ball from the China defence, take a pair of princely touches then slide a diagonal drive beyond Leilei.
China managed only a pair of woefully off target attempts at goal and the visitors' only cause for complaint at the half was a poor offside decision that denied Holman the chance for a second when through on goal.
Three China substitutions were made either side of halftime and the changes were allied to a greatly improved level of aggression that pushed Australia back into their own half for much of the final 45 minutes.
Mark Schwarzer was forced into a pair of fine saves, the first from a driven Zheng free-kick on 52 minutes and the second when substitute Han Peng shot after Zheng's 65th-minute run and cut-back.
China's fire dimmed towards the end in the face of diligent Socceroos defending, allowing Australia to look confidently towards its maiden appearance at the Asian Cup in July
AUSTRALIA made the most of a rapid start to brush aside a muddled China side in a pre-Asian Cup friendly at Guangzhou, and record a first win since October 2006.
Well made goals to Brett Holman and Mark Bresciano inside the first half hour of the match gave the Socceroos a commanding position they never relinquished, despite a furious China resurgence that made its insipid early play all the more puzzling.
Without a host of established names including Tim Cahill and Vince Grella, Australia coach Graham Arnold gave first caps to midfield player Carl Valeri and defender Shane Stefanutto, with Valeri taking up Grella's pivotal central holding role in a 3-4-3 formation.
Both players acquitted themselves ably, but it was Holman and Bresciano, with help from skipper Mark Viduka, who made a thorough mess of the opposition early on.
The locals had named what looked on paper to be a strong starting XI, captained by Charlton Athletic striker Zheng Zhi.
However the troubled state of the nation's football, which saw head coach Zhu Guanghu physically attacked when leaving a league fixture last week, was laid bare by a Socceroos side that had clearly benefited from a four-day training camp in Hong Kong.
Viduka had a pair of stinging shots parried away by goalkeeper Li Leilei inside six minutes and a cleared attacking free-kick from Zheng allowed Bresciano to create the first goal in the eighth minute.
Eluding the attention of Sun Jihai, Bresciano tore past the China defence so comprehensively that an unmarked Holman was allowed to slightly scuff his shot and still see it nestle in the back of the net.
The lead was doubled on 28 minutes when Bresciano nipped in to steal the ball from the China defence, take a pair of princely touches then slide a diagonal drive beyond Leilei.
China managed only a pair of woefully off target attempts at goal and the visitors' only cause for complaint at the half was a poor offside decision that denied Holman the chance for a second when through on goal.
Three China substitutions were made either side of halftime and the changes were allied to a greatly improved level of aggression that pushed Australia back into their own half for much of the final 45 minutes.
Mark Schwarzer was forced into a pair of fine saves, the first from a driven Zheng free-kick on 52 minutes and the second when substitute Han Peng shot after Zheng's 65th-minute run and cut-back.
China's fire dimmed towards the end in the face of diligent Socceroos defending, allowing Australia to look confidently towards its maiden appearance at the Asian Cup in July
Good win for Australia with a 2nd or 3rd rate side. I still cant believe that China who has 1 billion people in their country cant find 11 decent Football players, quiet amazing really.
These friendlies are good for the players to interact with each other and get to spend time on the park with each other. The upcoming Uruguay and Argentina friendlies will be very good for us in terms of the quality of the opposition and to see where we are at 8 months after the World Cup.
GO YOU SOCCEROOS
These friendlies are good for the players to interact with each other and get to spend time on the park with each other. The upcoming Uruguay and Argentina friendlies will be very good for us in terms of the quality of the opposition and to see where we are at 8 months after the World Cup.
GO YOU SOCCEROOS
Hawkesy wrote:COLOSSUS...........Congratulations, you have won the title fair a square.
PLEASE WELCOME THE NEW WNID UP KING
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Reggina10Cozza
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gold. That puts it all into context really. But I bet theres millions of Jackie Chans around. hwa!COLOSSUS wrote:Good win for Australia with a 2nd or 3rd rate side. I still cant believe that China who has 1 billion people in their country cant find 11 decent Football players, quiet amazing really.
These friendlies are good for the players to interact with each other and get to spend time on the park with each other. The upcoming Uruguay and Argentina friendlies will be very good for us in terms of the quality of the opposition and to see where we are at 8 months after the World Cup.
GO YOU SOCCEROOS
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rooboy1986
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