Aussies in action in the UEFA Cup
After watching Arsenal dismantle Juventus in the Champions League earlier this week with a style that can only be described as beautiful, it was with great anticipation last night that I switched on to Europe's second tier competition, the UEFA Cup, to watch the Australian players, at both Middlesbrough and FC Basle, similarly dazzle. As I should have known, the standard is a fair bit lower, however there were some good performances amongst the Australian contingent.
On the park for Boro were Mark Schwarzer in goal, Viduka up front and Brad Jones on the bench. For FC Basle sometime striker Mile Sterjovski started on the left of midfield while everyone's favourite bus driver, Scott Chipperfield, and former Perth Glory starlet, and now Serbia International, Ivan Ergic, warmed the bench.
Mark Schwarzer: 3/10
Schwarzer looked comfortable early on, easily dealing with 3 goal-bound efforts in the first 40 minutes. All were simple saves but the Socceroo penalty hero was the victim of an extremely cruel bounce in the 43rd minute which resulted in the first Basel goal. Seeing as his central defender, Chris Riggott, had ducked under the ambitious long range effort by Delgado, Schwarzer would have only seen the ball late and he dived towards where anyone other than Bruce Grobbelaar would have gone. Instead the shot dipped and bounced uncharacteristically high off the slippery turf and into the back of the net. Poor Schwarz.
He could hope for no sympathy two minutes later though, when a through ball down the right hand channel caught the Boro defence off guard and Schwarzer went to ground far too early, anticipating a shot across goal, rather than protecting his near post - which is, of course, where the ball ended up. A bad error.
The rest of his game was solid but if anything the two quick goals to Basel indicate how quickly a game can change and how a slice of bad luck can seriously affect the confidence of a player.
Viduka: 5/10
Mark Viduka is in a rich vein of form at the moment and is keeping Boro top scorer Yakubu out of the starting line-up. He started brightly enough but in the slippery conditions the service to the big man was not great and his greatest contributions for the half were a few nice lay-offs for midfielders joining the attack and winning a couple of corners. Tellingly he was let on for the whole game as Yakubu replaced Hasselbaink in the second half but his touch was often sloppy and a couple of promising positions were squandered by poor control.
Sterjovski: 6/10
A good game from the man whose last Socceroo appearance was a number of years ago. He provided Schwarzer with a comfortable save in the first half with a shot on the turn from 10 yards, but in his defence it was a difficult chance. Solid rather than spectacular, Mile was involved in a few nice passing exchanges while on the pitch but never looked like he would rip the game apart.
Chipperfield: 7/10
After 66 minutes, Scott Chipperfield entered the fray at the expense of Sterjovski, taking his place on the left side of midfield. Of all the Australians it was Chipper who most impressed. He was sharp, full of running and was unlucky not to score when he found himself on the end of the passing move of the night. His side-footed shot beat an out of position Schwarzer but Chris Riggott stood in his way and cleared the ball off the line. For a neutral fan it was a good thing as there is still life in the tie yet, however it was disappointing for Chipperfield who really looked like he was one of the classier players on the pitch. If comparisons are your thing then Chipperfield looked a better player than left-sided England-hopeful Stewart Downing did on the opposing team.
Ergic: 4/10
He came to Australia and at a young age looked like he would one day pull on an Australian top and add some real class and creativity to the Australian midfield. Unfortunately it was not to be. Taken to Juventus, Ivan Ergic went back on an earlier statement that he wanted to play for Australia, and has since played for Serbia-Montenegro. Nevertheless it would appear he is no great loss to the Australian side as his potential may have been overestimated. He was energetic but had little time to impress.
On the park for Boro were Mark Schwarzer in goal, Viduka up front and Brad Jones on the bench. For FC Basle sometime striker Mile Sterjovski started on the left of midfield while everyone's favourite bus driver, Scott Chipperfield, and former Perth Glory starlet, and now Serbia International, Ivan Ergic, warmed the bench.
Mark Schwarzer: 3/10
Schwarzer looked comfortable early on, easily dealing with 3 goal-bound efforts in the first 40 minutes. All were simple saves but the Socceroo penalty hero was the victim of an extremely cruel bounce in the 43rd minute which resulted in the first Basel goal. Seeing as his central defender, Chris Riggott, had ducked under the ambitious long range effort by Delgado, Schwarzer would have only seen the ball late and he dived towards where anyone other than Bruce Grobbelaar would have gone. Instead the shot dipped and bounced uncharacteristically high off the slippery turf and into the back of the net. Poor Schwarz.
He could hope for no sympathy two minutes later though, when a through ball down the right hand channel caught the Boro defence off guard and Schwarzer went to ground far too early, anticipating a shot across goal, rather than protecting his near post - which is, of course, where the ball ended up. A bad error.
The rest of his game was solid but if anything the two quick goals to Basel indicate how quickly a game can change and how a slice of bad luck can seriously affect the confidence of a player.
Viduka: 5/10
Mark Viduka is in a rich vein of form at the moment and is keeping Boro top scorer Yakubu out of the starting line-up. He started brightly enough but in the slippery conditions the service to the big man was not great and his greatest contributions for the half were a few nice lay-offs for midfielders joining the attack and winning a couple of corners. Tellingly he was let on for the whole game as Yakubu replaced Hasselbaink in the second half but his touch was often sloppy and a couple of promising positions were squandered by poor control.
Sterjovski: 6/10
A good game from the man whose last Socceroo appearance was a number of years ago. He provided Schwarzer with a comfortable save in the first half with a shot on the turn from 10 yards, but in his defence it was a difficult chance. Solid rather than spectacular, Mile was involved in a few nice passing exchanges while on the pitch but never looked like he would rip the game apart.
Chipperfield: 7/10
After 66 minutes, Scott Chipperfield entered the fray at the expense of Sterjovski, taking his place on the left side of midfield. Of all the Australians it was Chipper who most impressed. He was sharp, full of running and was unlucky not to score when he found himself on the end of the passing move of the night. His side-footed shot beat an out of position Schwarzer but Chris Riggott stood in his way and cleared the ball off the line. For a neutral fan it was a good thing as there is still life in the tie yet, however it was disappointing for Chipperfield who really looked like he was one of the classier players on the pitch. If comparisons are your thing then Chipperfield looked a better player than left-sided England-hopeful Stewart Downing did on the opposing team.
Ergic: 4/10
He came to Australia and at a young age looked like he would one day pull on an Australian top and add some real class and creativity to the Australian midfield. Unfortunately it was not to be. Taken to Juventus, Ivan Ergic went back on an earlier statement that he wanted to play for Australia, and has since played for Serbia-Montenegro. Nevertheless it would appear he is no great loss to the Australian side as his potential may have been overestimated. He was energetic but had little time to impress.
posted by Greg Horgan at 3:01 am
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