CCM Boys conquering the world

[JoyfulPenguin]

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Maty Ryan played a full game away from home for 14th placed Brighton and Hove Albion as they lost 1-2 to 19th placed AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League (England Tier 1).

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

CCM Boys Conquering the World: Today and Tomorrow Morning

Kim Seung-Yong's 6th placed Gangwon FC faces the 8th placed Jeonnam Dragons today at 4 PM. Gangwon can solidify their spot in the K-League Classic Championship Round with a win over Jeonnam. There are six games until the Championship Rounds (Similar to how the Scottish League splits in half) and Gangwon remain inside the Championship Round places by six points. Kim Seung-Yong is expected to play (off the bench).

Mitchell Duke's 13th placed Shimizu S-Pulse faces 2nd placed Kawasaki Frontale at 7 PM today. Shimizu are 8 points clear of relegation after being promoted into the J-League last year, Shimizu are close to being safe from relegation with 9 games to play. Mitch Duke is expected to play.

Oliver Bozanic's 15th placed Ventforet Kofu face off against 9th placed Sagan Tosu. Ventforet are only above the relegation zone by one point and are fighting for survival in the J-League. Bozanic's last game for Ventforet came last month and he has been struggling for game time since arriving in Japan. Oliver Bozanic is not expected to play.

Mile Jedinak's 18th placed Aston Villa face 15th placed Barnsley at 2:30 AM tomorrow morning in the Skybet Championship. Aston Villa need to start picking up points if they are to be any hope of promotion this season, with Steve Bruce's side already 5 points off of the playoff places. It could be a tough game for Aston Villa with Barnsley's Owner penning an emotional letter yesterday to announce he has terminal cancer and is selling the club. There are concerns on Mile Jedinak's fitness so a starting role is unlikely.

Bernie Ibini's top of the table Western Conference Vancouver Whitecaps play 4th placed Eastern Conference Columbus Crew in the MLS tomorrow morning at 9 AM. You can watch Bernie Ibini's match on BeIN Sports 1 from 2:35 PM on Sunday. Vancouver can strengthen their place in the playoffs with a win against Columbus with only six games of the regular season left. With only a three day turn around from last game Bernie Ibini is tipped to play a part.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Kim Seung-Yong played until the 56th minute at home for 6th placed Gangwon FC as they drew 1-1 with Tomislav Mrcela's 8th placed Jeonnam Dragons.
Gangwon FC remain in 6th place in the K-League Classic (South Korea Tier 1) and are 7 points clear of the relegation round places.

Mitchell Duke played a full game at home for 13th placed Shimizu S-Pulse against 2nd placed Kawasaki Frontale as the game finished 0-3.
Shimizu S-Pulse remain 13th in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japan Tier 1) and are 7 points clear of the relegation places.

Oliver Bozanic was not in the squad away from home for 15th placed Ventforet Kofu against 9th placed Sagan Tosu. The game ended 1-2.
Ventforet Kofu slip to 16th in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japan Tier 1) and into the relegation places, 2 points from safety.

Mile Jedinak was unavailable due to a groin injury for 18th placed Aston Villa at home against 15th placed Barnsley. The game ended 3-0.
Aston Villa climb to 13th spot in the Skybet Championship (England Tier 2) and are 5 points off of the promotion playoff places.

Bernie Ibini came on in the 72nd minute at home for Western Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps against 4th placed Eastern Conference Columbus Crew.
The Vancouver Whitecaps remain on top of the MLS (United States of America Tier 1) Western Conference by 1 point.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Tom Rogic scored (13') and played a full game for table topping Celtic FC as they defeated 10th placed Ross County 4-0.
Celtic sit top of the Ladbrokes Premiership (Scotland Tier) by 2 points.

Tom Rogic's goal:

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

CCM Boys Conquering the World: Preview
Trent Sainsbury's 13th placed placed Jiangsu Suning face off against Champions and league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande in the Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League tonight at 7:35 PM. Sainsbury will have his work cut out for him against Brazilian striker Ricardo Goulart who has scored 19 goals from only 24 starts this season. Jiangsu will be hoping to increase the 6 point gap between them and the drop zone with 7 games to play. Trent Sainsbury will be hoping head coach Fabio Capello goes for a more defensive line up against the free scoring Guangzhou with only 3 foreigners allowed on the field at a time. It's fairly likely that we will see Trent Sainsbury make an appearance.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Congratulations to Alex Gersbach who wins the Harry Kewell Award (For Players U23), over Mustafa Amini, Riley McGree and Johnathan Aspropotamitis

Congratulations to Aaron Mooy who wins the PFA Men's Footballer of the Year over Jackson Irvine, Tom Rogic, Danny Vukovic and Milos Ninkovic

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Trent Sainsbury was not in the squad at home for 13th placed Jiangsu Suning as they drew 2-2 with league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande.
Jiangsu remain 13th in the Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League (China Tier 1), 7 points clear of the relegation places.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Mustafa Amini's second to last placed AGF travel to Right to Dream Park to play table topping Nordsjælland in the Danish Alka Superliga at 3:00 AM tomorrow morning.
AGF face a tough test against the boys from Farum, with the Wild Tigers only having lost one game so far this season. Amini and co will quickly need to start picking up pointssoon with the splitting of the league, into Championship and Relegation Round halves fast approaching. Aarhus' defence will need to contain the Tigers' three players in the top 5 of the Alka Superliga's golden boot standings. Mustafa Amini is likely to appear after featuring in most of AGF Aarhus' games this season.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Mustafa Amini, Mile Jedinak, Tom Rogic, Matthew Ryan, Trent Sainsbury and Danny Vukovic make the 30-man squad for the World Cup Qualifying playoffs against Syria.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Mustafa Amini played a full game away from home for 13th placed AGF as they defeated league leaders Nordsjælland 2-1.
AGF Aarhus climb to 7th in the Alka Superliga (Danish Tier 1), 3 points off of the promotion round places.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

CCM Boys Conquering the World: Tomorrow Morning

Mile Jedinak's Aston Villa face off against the fellow Skybet Championship side Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup (English League Cup) at 4:45 AM tomorrow morning. The Villains have earned 4 points less than their North Yorkshire counterparts this season and will be hoping to reach the fourth round of this oft unloved competition. Former Melbourne Victory left back Adama Traoré is unavailable for Middlesbrough after receiving a red card last time out. Mile Jedinak's groin injury is still a concern so he may not feature in this one.

Maty Ryan and Brighton & Hove Albion will travel to Vitality Stadium and AFC Bournemouth once more after only facing them 4 days ago in the Premier League. The Seagulls will be hoping to extract revenge on Eddie Howe's men and progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup after suffering a defeat 1-2 last time out. Maty Ryan didn't appear last time in the Carabao Cup but Chris Hughton might be tempted to give him a run considering Brighton face Premier League opposition.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Mile Jedinak was not in the squad for Aston Villa (Tier 2) as they lost 0-2 at home to Middlesbrough (Tier 2) in the Carabao Cup (English League Cup). Aston Villa are now out of the Carabao Cup.

Maty Ryan was not in the squad for Brighton & Hove Albion (Tier 1) as they lost 0-1 away from home to AFC Bournemouth (Tier 1) in the Carabao Cup (English League Cup). Brighton & Hove Albion are now out of the Carabao Cup.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

CCM Boys Conqeuring the World: Tonight and Tomorrow Morning

Mitchell Duke's Shimizu S-Pulse face a tough task against fellow J-League and 2nd placed Kawasaki Frontale in the Emperor's Cup (Japan FA Cup). Shimizu will be vying for a spot in the Quarter Finals against a Kawasaki side that has beaten them twice this season in the J-League. Mitchell Duke is likely to make an appearance after featuring in most of Shimizu's matches since returning from injury. The game starts tonight at 8 PM

Gangwon FC face an important six point game against a team a spot below them in the K-League Classic table. With a win against the out of form Pohang Steelers they can almost guarantee their place in the Championship round of the K-League and via for a spot in the Asian Champions League this season. A loss would prove costly however, with Pohang closing the gap to only 4 points. Kim Seung-Yong may make an appearance but most of his appearances have been off the bench this season. The game starts at 8:30 PM tonight

Danny Vukovic and KRC Genk face second division side Cercle Brugge in the Belgian Cup (Belgian FA Cup). Cercle Brugge sit third in the Belgian Second division and will be hoping to push further in to the competition they have won twice, last in 1985. Danny Vukovic is likely to appear after having featured in every match for Genk this season.

Tom Rogic's Celtic and Jesse Curran's Dundee FC will play off in the Quarter-Finals of the Betfred Cup (Scottish League Cup). Both sides go into this encounter having won their last encounter and Celtic will be hoping to defend their title from last year. Tom Rogic is likely to appear but Jesse Curran is unlikely.

 

[pjennings]

I don't know what this means for Maty

BHAFC ⚽️‏Verified account @OfficialBHAFC 20m ago BREAKING: #BHAFC have converted goalkeeper Tim Krul's loan from @NUFC to a permanent one-year deal. More at http://BrightonandHoveAlbion.com .

 

[Rowdy]

I don't know what this means for Maty

Either way, Brighton have a shithouse back 4, so if it's Hughton's plan to have Krul be primarily #1 ?? BHA will still continue to leak goals .... regardless.

A #1 Krul conceding goals regularly because of that 'shit-house defence will soon enough lead to calls for a change between the sticks.
.... therefore Maty will get his chance

 

[Big Al]

I don't know what this means for Maty

BHAFC ⚽️‏Verified account @OfficialBHAFC 20m ago BREAKING: #BHAFC have converted goalkeeper Tim Krul's loan from @NUFC to a permanent one-year deal. More at http://BrightonandHoveAlbion.com .

Not a great deal, he was there for the year anyways, more a paper work move. See from article, so could now do another loan in January for another player

Albion are limited to a maximum of two loan signings from fellow Premier League clubs; they currently have Izzy Brown on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

 

[pjennings]

NEVER, EVER WRITE OFF THE SOCCEROOS
Maty Ryan - Founding Contributor

Representing the Socceroos is my purpose in life.

Playing in the biggest leagues in the world, in Spain and now England, is fantastic, but if I didn’t have that Socceroos jersey I’d be asking myself what it is exactly that I’m doing over here, on the other side of the world, away from family and friends.

That’s why the last few weeks have hurt so much. The Thailand result was painful. The moment the whistle blew for fulltime there was frustration that I hadn’t been able to keep a clean sheet, disappointment that we hadn’t been able to convert more of our opportunities and angst that our World Cup fate was out of our control.

I had a 5am flight back to the UK the next morning and Saudi Arabia-Japan started at 3am. I watched the game in the lounge until just after halftime before we had to board. Someone checked the scores when we got to our seats and said the Saudis had scored. Our hearts sank a bit.

Then the plane took off when the game was in the 89th minute. We weren’t able to access WiFi until it had leveled out. They were a nervous few minutes. When the WiFi came back on, we knew we had missed out on direct qualification.

I wouldn’t be being honest with you if I said my mind didn’t momentarily consider the prospect of not qualifying for the World Cup. All those annoying little ‘what ifs’. But that thought was quickly replaced with determination. We are four games away from the World Cup. I believe this group can do it. Never, ever write off the Socceroos.

THE (NEW) ROAD TO RUSSIA

It was straight back into club duties with Brighton and Hove Albion upon returning to England, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the hoo-ha about where the away game against Syria will be played.

Wherever they eventually decide to play it, the boys will dust themselves off and give it everything. All the European-based players are back with their clubs now and will be in their rhythm by the time the next international window comes around.

I’ve also heard how much Ange Postecoglou has been copping it from various pundits. It wasn’t so long ago that they were all praising the Socceroos for our 1-1 result against one of the best teams in the world, Chile, at the Confederations Cup. Now it’s all turned. I guess that’s just sport these days.

We are four games away from the World Cup. I believe this group can do it. Never, ever write off the Socceroos.

Ange has done a good job of preparing us but, at the end of the day, he’s not the one out there making tackles and solving problems. That’s on the playing group. No excuses. We haven’t got the job done.

The boss has said to us from the beginning: as long as we’re sticking to our philosophies and what he believes is going to work for us, he’s always going to back us. We haven’t stayed true to our principles in crucial times in crucial games. It’s hurt us.

Those of us who have been lucky enough to play at a World Cup know just how magical an event it really is. Qualifying for it is never easy – and our road obviously just got a bit harder – but we still have a massive opportunity over these next four games.

To understand just what it means to me to represent the Socceroos and play at the World Cup, I need to take you back…

MY HEROES, MY TEAMMATES

My first real Socceroos memory was sitting in the stands for the famous game against Uruguay at Homebush in 2005. I was 13. I watched the heroics that night – from Mark Schwarzer’s saves to Johnny Aloisi’s penalty shoot-out winner and everything in between – to qualify for the World Cup. But I never thought I’d ever be a part of something like that.

Sure, you dream about it. Every kid dreams of playing football for his country. But that’s the thing with dreams. You want to play for this great club, or that great club, you want to play for Australia – but come on, man, I’m just a little kid from western Sydney. it’s never going to be possible!

I found out it was possible, though. I’m here to tell every little kid that.

Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill played that night. So did Mark Schwarzer, Mark Bresciano and Lucas Neill. Graham Arnold was assistant coach to Guus Hiddink. I was just a starry-eyed kid in a crowd of 80,000 people, but I ended up being coached by Arnie at Central Coast Mariners. And when I eventually broke through to the Socceroos, Timmy, Harry, Schwarzy, Mark and Lucas were still there. I was pinching myself.

It’s hard to put it into words, the emotion I feel when I represent my country, but I learned from my experience in Spain just how much it meant to me.

You want to play for this great club, or that great club, you want to play for Australia – but come on, man, I’m just a little kid from western Sydney. it’s never going to be possible!

When it wasn’t working out for me at Valencia I started questioning myself. I thought, ‘I’m over here fighting and trying to make the best career I can have and I’m not playing, so what am I doing here?’ I felt like I wasn’t being valued by the club, but I still had the Socceroos in my life and that’s what kept me going.

Family comes before anything for me, but if you want to be a successful footballer you have to dedicate your life to it. I packed up my whole life and moved to the other side of the world to try to make that happen and every time I’m called into camp – and I pull the jersey on and go out there for my country and my family – I know all the sacrifices are worth it.

I guess it was pretty amazing for a kid like me, from Plumpton in western Sydney, to play at the World Cup in Brazil at just 22, in 2014. It was less than two years after I’d made my Socceroos debut. But the World Cup wasn’t memorable for me in terms of my performances.

MY WORLD CUP MISTAKE

I was playing for Club Brugge in Belgium at the time and it’s not the highest level of football. It’s a tough league and very respectable, but it’s not the same as playing in one of the top five leagues and the World Cup was my first time playing against the superstars of the game and seeing first-hand how they can create something out of nothing.

I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to take my game to another level to try to handle this, I have to raise my game and do something extraordinary.’ That was a mistake. What I should have done was stick to the fundamentals I’d learned, the things that had got me there in the first place. If I’d just done what I’d learned to do I would’ve been able to make better saves and perform better overall.

I was still young as a ‘keeper. I still had a huge amount to learn and that was going to come. I tried to get ahead of where I was at that stage of my development and I realised afterwards that was wrong. The World Cup was the biggest learning curve of my career so far.

I can’t tell you how determined I am to get to Russia to put those lessons into practice on the grandest stage in world sport again.

THE ANGE REV-UPS

Ange has been great for me as coach.

One of his best attributes is the way he gets players up for games. The thing he always goes back to is that you never know if this is going to be your last game for the Socceroos and you need to make it a special night and not go out and treat it like just another game.

It’s something he does really well. Ask any player who’s been in camp with him, after the meeting on game day – the last meeting before we go and have a sleep and do pre-match and play – he’ll give you a speech where you just want to run through walls for him. You want to go out and have the best night possible, create the most memorable night in your life until now.

Ange talks of the tragic story of Phillip Hughes, the cricketer. He says how Phillip would never have thought, walking out on to the SCG that day, that it could be his last ever moment playing the sport he loves, even taking a breath of air.

It’s obviously an extreme example, but you never know what’s going to happen on or off the pitch. Seize the opportunity while you have it. The message from Ange before a game against a big team like Chile, for example, when we played them in the Confederations Cup, goes something like this: ‘Life is unpredictable, so when you go out to play this game, play it like it’s going to be your last chance to ever play again, and if it is your last chance how would you want this game to be remembered in terms of your performance? Do you want it to be remembered as you going out there and going through the motions, or do you want to go out there and knock off one of the biggest football countries in the world?’

We almost did that against Chile. We played really well and got a draw and those are the sort of performances Ange drives us hard to achieve.

He’ll give you a speech where you just want to run through walls for him. You want to go out and have the best night possible, create the most memorable night in your life until now.

My attitude is that I try my heart out every time I play, leave nothing on the field, because as Ange often brings up you never know when your last game is going to be. Touch wood it doesn’t happen, but you could break your leg in a match, or a tragedy could happen away from football, in the street or whatever.

I’ve adapted my mentality that way and whoever I’m playing for now, whether it’s club or country, I just love being out there and I’m trying to create as many lifetime memories as I can.

Next stop: Syria.
Maty Ryan - Founding Contributor

Read more at https://www.playersvoice.com.au/mat-ryan-never-write-off-the-socceroos/#Suiyj8MV26SIAepz.99

 

[Rowdy]

Came across this great article on FourFourTwo by Adrian Deans, a Coastie.

It's highlights just how Fickle Fan Forums can be, using Tom Rogic as a perfect example.

Quoting individual Celltic fans going from wanting to bin, burn or sell him to then ironically turn to the extreme polar opposite & have complete undeniable
'I knew from the first time I saw him' adulation.

.... and NOW how our beloved Maty Ryan is experiencing the exact same thing from the Brighton Hove Albion fans.

 

[Rowdy]

..... and NOW how our beloved Maty Ryan is experiencing the exact same thing from the Brighton Hove Albion fans.

If they only knew
......... what we already KNOW !