OV started at 11pm. SBS had to finish one of their high rating shows before they could start "live" at 11.30 with exactly the same pictures and sound.
The preamble included fatman Puskas kicking off, closely watched by paramedics in case the exercise load caused a heart attack. On the way off he asked several Aussies "So how are Hellas doing under that goose Angie?"
To the game though, a pretty lively affair and far more interesting to watch than the Makedonia tedium. We got off to a flying start, the long haired Vidmar scoring in the first few minutes and the short haired one going close a little later. The rest of the first half was a bit of a mixture. Zelic continued to rediscover what the concept of football is and how he might fit in with it. Viduka continued to hide for most of the half. Slater played well out wide, but for the first 45 Lazaridis was a disappointment, looking like it was easy to impress in a lowly ranked English prem league team. His stuff up in attack led directly to a Magyar break away and a well taken equaliser.
From then the Hungo's looked confident, as we squandered plenty of possession. At the end of the first half Arnie latched on to a good Zelic thru ball and he found the keeper's head brilliantly, rather than the net. A great effort though, and a great save.
If the first half was us and them, the second was a complete domination by the Aussies. Their possession football improved out of sight, and but for squandered chances might have finished it off well before the final few minutes. Lazaridis had a great second half, and Ned got better and better, looking every bit the consumate sweeper. To keep El Tel's result sheet going, Muscat hit a great goal and then set up LH Vidmar for the third.
In summary I thought the second half was one of the best displays of football by an Aussie team for some time, given the opposition and the location (ie away). And whilst on that, lets get one thing straight: Hungary are a better team than the FIFA rankings suggest. This is best demonstrated in the "rankings link" between them and us: recent games against Norway. They played a full strength Norway and lost. We played a second string team and won. As a result (all other respective games effectively against weaker opposition), Hungary's ranking is artificially low. I was disappointed to hear CSTJ on the radio tonite playing down the win. I think he and the SBS boys aren't coping too well with El Tel's success.
The worst performer on the night? F**cking Charlie Yankos, making PW sound like an expert. "I think the socceroos just need to keep possession" the record in his chest was stuck at.
PS Who'd you go for, Lazlo????