Argentina Bounces Roos
June 18, 2005
Australian goalkeeper must feel jinxed at the Confederations Cup 2005. For the second match in a row, the Roos keeper let in four goals. However, not one of the goals in the 4-2 loss against Argentina could be blamed on the 1.94 meter man.
"It was a bad game," said the goalie who once played for Kaiserslautern. "I had little to do but I still had to fetch the ball from the net four times."
True. He was hardly challenged in the match but his defense let him down so badly that he will not be buying them dinner, let alone a round of cold German beer in this Cup.
The Confederations Cup 2005 edition may be a disaster for goalkeepers so far (25 goals in six matches), but goal scorers have been able to make a name for themselves. Argentina's Luciano Figueroa scored a hattrick. When he put his side up 3-0 with his second goal in the 53rd minute, the game looked all but over. The Roos had little if any spring in their step.
Penalty opens the door
Argentina, seemingly confident of victory, then got complacent. Defender Fabricio Coloccini committed a foul in the penalty box that Australian striker John Aloisi then converted and Australia were only down 3-1.
Some ten minutes later, Argentinean defender Gabriel Heinze made an indescribable mistake by using his chest to try and pass it back to keeper German Lux. The attempt went awry and the ball landed on the foot of Aloisi who only had to lift the ball over the helpless Lux. It was Aloisi fourth goal in the tournament, making him the best in the tournament All of a sudden, it was 3-2 and 20 minutes were remaining.
Argentina began to look nervous. Australia could smell the equalizer in the air of the two-thirds full Franken Stadium in Nuremberg. Yet the ingenuity on their part and the generosity on the Argentinean's part was lacking.
"I never thought that they would be able to turn the game around," were the thoughts of three-goal scorer Figeuroa. In the 89th minute, he got that third strike when an inattentive Australian defense allowed a free-kick cross from Juan Ramon Riqulme to reach Figueroa on the far post. He needed only to touch the ball to assure Argentina of victory.
Last group match has meaning
On Tuesday, the two semi-finalists, Germany and Argentina, will meet in Nuremberg to determine who wins the group and, most likely, avoid world champs Brazil in the semi-final.
They met in Düsseldorf in February and played to a 2-2 draw, thanks to a late strike by the Argentinean striker Hernan Crespo. He is at home for this tournament, but Figueroa filled his shoes nicely against Australia.
Germany on the other hand are hungry. It's been almost five years since a victory against one of the world's top teams, a 1-0 win in Wembley against England. Jürgen Klinsmann has been able to put a few feathers in his cap since taking over the team that humiliated itself at the Euro 2004. The big win, along with the big feather, is missing, though. That he naturally would like to change on Tuesday.