"That", Joinery would say "was real World Cup football". Its rarely pretty, scares the wits out of you, puts the players backs to the wall and in the end leaves you an absolutely exhausted nervous wreck just watching it.
Stuck on a company weekend with football philistines, my anxienty heightened as the day wore on. At dinner, there was plenty of stick. "What's the problem, Mark?" "Its just a soccer game" etc. They all insisted on watching it with me. I suggested this would not be wise for a number of reasons. They wouldn't enjoy it and just distract me; more to the point they'd see my darker side. They would have none of it.
In the end, they realised (a little) of what WC and football in general really means. Their sniggers ceased when the first shots of the Iranian crowd came on and the whistles and noise went thru our anthem. "Shit.." said one under his breath.
The Iranians were clearly better than last week. Partly because they were at home, the coach now knows them a little better, they are used to that surface, national pride, maybe all of the above. I was convinced that if we scored first they would crumble, but it didn't turn out like that....
El Tel has said a few times that there are two playing schemes, with the option to convert on the pitch if problems emerge. Last night, I think we saw glimses of plan B. So overwhelming was the atmosphere, the Iranians at full speed for significant patches of play, a completely unreliable surface, the best bet was play high, play away and boot it to safety.
With some luck, patches of decent play by our guys, and Bozza's brilliance, we survived.
I am certain it will be different in Melbourne, although we may be nervously awaiting the final whistle. Our guys and Tel now know a lot more about them, plan A will come back on a better surface, the team will have had more time together (and now a real game together), and if we make enough noise, that will help too.
Meanwhile, on a very nice paddock in Scotland, the Wallabies played a pleasant test, the result of which meant absolutely fuck all. And they think that's exciting and meaningful sport....