For
@ESPNAusNZ
;
I sat down for conversation with Liam Hendriks. About cancer.
On treatment, coping, and how it changes you.
On podcasts, routine, and watching loved ones see you go through this.
About being ‘inspirational’ and what exactly that means.
Within seven days, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium has seen the World Cup careers of Christine Sinclair, Marta, and Meagan Rapinoe end on its turf.
#FIFAWWC
I am livid.
Anyone that abused Josh Cavallo -- anyone that would abuse anyone over their sexuality -- is scum.
If you were amongst those that was hurling the abuse last night and you're reading this, fuck off. Australian football doesn't need you and it doesn't want you.
27,706 is the crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium for
#SWEUSA
.
That brings the total attendance of this year's
#FIFAWWC
to 1,367,037 -- which breaks the previous record of 1,353,506 set at Canada in 2015.
We're not even through the Round of 16 stages yet.
Imagine your feelings as a Tunisian fan right now. Your nation has gone undefeated against Denmark and France in the group stages -- beating the latter -- and you're still going home.
Melbourne's contribution to the
#FIFAWWC
will conclude with 159,422 fans having attended across its six games - an average of 26,570 per game.
The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium's capacity for the World Cup was 27,706.
Ten years ago ya boi was coming off a stem cell transplant & was just a few short months away from relapse, infection, and a being hours from death in the Alfred ICU
Last week, he treatment for the very same disease
Today, ya boi is off to cover his first World Cup for
@ESPNFC
No relegation, a salary cap, an uneven fixture, half the league makes finals, and now a reduction to the rewards for finishing first.
Mediocrity is less a curse than a viable long-term strategy.
Channel 7 announce that the
#Matildas
2-0 win over
#Den
was the highest rating TV program of 2023.
6.54 million peak audience with an average of 3.56 million.
These figures do not include those that watched on
@OptusSport
or at live sights, pubs, clubs, and community events.
You run out of superlatives.
Ange Postecoglou is an immense coach.
Seemingly able to find the right tone and forge a deep connection with any fanbase not because of heavily tailored but because he’s just being a genuine bloke.
Mate.
Football Australia officials have confirmed that Optus Stadium in Perth will be showing the
#Matildas
quarterfinal against
#FRA
in the outdoor amphitheatre prior to the West Coast against Freo Derby.
#FIFAWWC
Yo dog, Imma let you finish - but Pele, Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone defeating the Nazis in a football match is the greatest football film of all time
Melbourne Victory boss Tony Popovic on the A-Leagues Grand Final decision.
Says that he and the club agree with fan sentiment surrounding the decision.
Says that the club respects and understands if fans stage walkouts at the Melbourne Derby.
Never had a mixed zone interview request rejected in a nicer manner than Son Heung-min. Unironically genuinely didn't feel mad at all he was so nice about it🥰
Postecoglou joined his local team at SMFC as a kid, developed a vision of football his dad would’ve wanted to watch and stayed true to it and himself
Now, we’re here.
It’s disarmingly simple and romantic in a maddening world. He got here because his talent and effort earned it.
👏
@TheMatildas
are an absolute inspiration.
You’ve shown incredible skill, ferocity and flair, and a camaraderie that defines what it means to play team sport.
The A-League has scrapped the grand final deal with Sydney. Traditional hosting format returning this season for men and women.
A 'Unite Round' where all A-League Men and Women games are played in Sydney between Jan 12-14 replaces it from this season.
Story in
@ESPNAusNZ
soon.
For everyone absolutely fuckin lovin' this feeling around the
#Matildas
right now, the National Premier Leagues, men's and women's, all over the country, enter their finals series in the coming weeks, while the A-Leagues start in October.
Come get around it.
#FIFAWWC
#AUS
Told that Tomoki Imai actually spent the night before the
@aleaguemen
grand final practising the Australian national anthem just so he would be able to sing it with his
@wufcofficial
teammates ahead of the game.
Spoke with someone at
@FootballAUS
, who says that the federation will use the full force of its regulatory and disciplinary powers regarding tonight's incident.
Witnesses are alreeady coming forward to help identify perpetrators.
The phrase used was "enough is enough".
Smugly watching the Opening Ceremony knowing full well that nothing the organisers do will be able to match The Veronicas performing Untouched in Brisbane in 2032.
Each member of the
@TheMatildas
is being presented with their
@FIFAWWC
jersey by a youngster named Matilda, flown in from around the country for today.
After hearing talk, I asked
#JAM
coach Lorne Donaldson if any of his players might look to move to the
@aleaguewomen
next season following his side's
#FIFAWWC
loss to Colombia.
“I would say, it’s a strong possibility. They see the environment in Australia and they like it.
1/2
Rebekah Stott looked up at Ferns’ training, saw a drone, and kickstarted a series of events that have led to Canadian football threatening to implode. Just absolutely wild.
I'm watching on Paramount but I'm almost certain based on the call that viewers on Ten just missed a goal for an ad break. In an elimination final.
That's a joke.
#ADLvCCM
Our captain,
@samkerr1
will be on the sidelines for an extended period after suffering a ruptured ACL.
We're all behind you as you start your road to recovery, Sam 🫶
Post-game presser with Kisnorbo delayed tonight. City coach had to get stitches on a head wound suffered in the celebrations of the premiership.
#ALeague
#MCYvCCM
Reminder that if your first thought after one of the greatest games in Australian football history is to send harassing DMs to a certain teenager then you’re lame af.
#BREAKING
🚨 Police will allege Sam Kerr called an officer a “stupid white bastard” after the Matildas captain was charged with intentially causing racially aggravated harassment, the Sun reports |
#6NewsAU
I am once again begging those that are upset about a lack of media coverage of sokkah to try and consume and share the limited content that is being made by passionate, hard-working journalists alongside their focus on a lack of mainstream attention.
So the league fundamentally altered the way that ladder positioning is determined -- going against the global norm in doing so -- and seemingly told absolutely nobody, let alone provided an explanation.
Update from APL:
1. The regulations are correct — wins is now the 2nd rank determinant (goal diff is now 3rd).
2. A-Leagues digital team are working to have their ladders reflect this.
All that is to say that
@WgtnPhoenixFC
are currently top of the table in the
@aleaguemen
Victory keeps their season alive with a huge 3-2 upset win over Melbourne City.
Anyone tuning in expecting violence or trouble instead had to make do with an amazing atmosphere and one of the games of the season.
#MelbDerby
Scott Jamieson stopping the City players from going down the tunnel so they can give Nikolai Topor-Stanley a guard of honour after his 350th
@aleaguemen
game. Great stuff.
Australian football is now making headlines around the world for what has happened tonight.
You can't claim that the BBC and organisations of that ilk have a bias against football.
There are no scapegoats outside the tent for this.
This game will be mythologised, adding to the legend of the Never Say Die™️, Til It’s Done™️ Matildas.
And yes, winning 6-5 is absolutely better than the alternative. The players fought.
But even better is not going down 5-2 at all.
Chaos, vibes and inshallah™️.
#AUSvZAM
Victoria Police Statement:
"Victoria Police is disappointed with the behaviour of some supporters at Saturday nights A-League men’s game between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory in Melbourne. The match was abandoned after approximately 150-200 Melbourne...
FIFA Release: "The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 is on track to become the most attended standalone women’s sporting event in history, with over 1 million tickets now sold for next month’s highly anticipated tournament."
1,032,884 tickets are now sold.
Irvine: "It's hard to even... I wish I was there as well. I wish I could do both. That just looks absolutely incredible. I hope every single one of them has had a night they'll remember for the rest of their lives - like I've had as a fan. It's special."
What a month for Craig Goodwin.
Becomes one of the
#Socceroos
heroes at the World Cup and is now the most outspoken player against the A-Leagues’ Grand Final decision.
Good luck winning a PR war against him right now.
If you have a pet please give them a hug.
I said goodbye to my best mate tonight.
He'd been with my family and I through every bump of the past twelve years and we the best dog you could ever ask for.
Sympathies to all the foreigners that started following Australian sokkah accounts during the World Cup and now have no idea why their timeline got so angry all of a sudden.
There are football journalists who have been critiquing both the loss and this team for a while now. Yes, we actually exist. I'm as shocked as you.
The problem is a mainstream that jumps on board for World Cups has ignored football for so long, they have no idea where to look.
"I think we've been a bit soft (on the Matildas). I think if this was the men's side, we would be going extremely hard on the errors (against England) and the ease in which we conceded those two goals."
-
@kanecornes
As part of our chat, I asked Liam about the exploits of Shohei Ohtani.
Not only did he confirm that Shohei is definitely not a "dick", he also made my day by revealing that both himself and Shohei are DBZ fans.
In her first
#Matildas
start in six years, it takes Michelle Heyman 15 minutes and five seconds to net a hat trick against Uzbekistan. Warra return.
#AUSvUZB
If I held the rights to show the Hearts game against St Mirren here in Australia, I would simply put it on the air so that people could watch the five World Cup Sokkahroos playing in it.
With a population smaller than Melbourne or Sydney, Croatia are heading to back to back semifinals at a
#FIFAWorldCup
. What this country is able to achieve in football is remarkable. Football culture.
#CROBRA
In
@ESPNAusNZ
;
#Socceroos
players will donate a portion of their match fees from their World Cup qualifier with Palestine to Oxfam’s aid efforts in Gaza, Jackson Irvine telling
@AnnaHarrington
and I the ongoing conflict in the region is “unfathomable”.
There’s a level of joy inherent in this clip, because that’s what’s being captured.
It’s not slickly produced nor selling something. What’s happening isn’t in pursuit of any kind of greater purpose .
It’s kids playing football. One of their heroes joins them. Because it’s fun.
For
@ESPNAusNZ
;
Sam Kerr and Steph Catley have said that the
#Matildas
are at the point where they can consistently challenge for major international tournaments but that a funding model that "isn't really good enough" needs to change to keep them there.
UPDATE: Celtic have agreed a £2.5m deal with Suwon Bluewings to sign striker Hyeon-Gyu Oh.
The South Korea international, 21, has verbally agreed personal terms and is expected to finalise the move this week.