Socceroos star Tim Cahill relived his 2006 World Cup heroics with two second half goals against Japan to ensure Australia ended their qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010 in triumph.
Australia won 2-1 at the MCG on Wednesday night, meaning they went unbeaten through the eight games of their final phase of qualifying and stayed ahead of Japan at the top of their group to earn Asian bragging rights.
Cahill, who scored the first two goals in Australia’s World Cup history to spark a famous 3-1 comeback victory over Japan in Germany in 2006, was again the shining light for the Socceroos against the Blue Samurai.
While both sides were already guaranteed World Cup qualification before Wednesday night’s match, Cahill’s second half heroics at least gave an MCG crowd of 69,238 plenty to cheer about.
There had been precious few moments for the green and gold army to get excited about before the break, as Australia continued the effective but unadventurous style that had served them well previously in the campaign.
Their one real chance of the first half came in the 10th minute, when Cahill ran onto a long ball in the box.
His left foot shot was not hit with enough venom to trouble goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki, who blocked it away.
But the rebound ended up with Mile Sterjovski, whose much more powerful shot required a brilliant reflex move by the `keeper to deflect it over the crossbar.
Cahill had another chance from the resultant corner, with a header from the box, but was wide of the target.
Japan did most of most of the attacking for the rest of the half and eventually opened the scoring through Tulio Tanaka in the 40th minute.
Tanaka made a well-timed run into the middle of the box from a corner kick and leapt over Cahill to head it home.
It broke a seven-game streak of clean sheets for Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who had spent his previous 710 minutes in goal without conceding.
But the rare blot on their defensive copybook stirred the Socceroos into life after break and they attacked constantly in the opening stages of the second half.
It took a brilliant Cahill header to level the scores in the 59th minute.
He produced a huge leap above two Japanese defenders at the left side of the box to connect with a long-range Vince Grella free kick and head it into the right side of the net.
The goal seemed to inspire Cahill to press even harder for the winner, getting onto the end of several promising attacking moves in the following minutes.
He eventually gave the Socceroos the lead in the 76th minute, when a Nicky Carle corner kick from the right side floated over a pack of players in the box.
Cahill, lurking at the back, got enough of his right leg to the ball to send it home and lift the crowd to their feet.
It was his 16th goal in 33 internationals and he was later given a huge ovation as he walked to the bench in the 86th minute, having once again lifted Australia to a comeback victory over Japan.
But, asked after the match about his scoring record against Japan, Cahill would only speak about the Melbourne crowd, a possible snub to the media who have criticised the Socceroos’ playing style.
“I’d just like to thank the crowd, the lads, a great turnout in Melbourne, I’m so proud to be here, so proud to play tonight so I think the credit just goes to the crowd, you were brilliant,” he said.
“This is a step forward for us, it’s great to finish top of the group.”
Source : www.thewest.com.au
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Gordon Ramsay targets Tracy Grimshaw in rant
Posted in Local News, tagged A Current Affair, a lesbian, a pig, activities., animal, audience, Australian journalist, Botox doctor, celebrity chef, Channel Nine, Chef, chief executive, comedian, comment, commented, cook, cooking., create, crowd, Current Affair, David Gyngell, depicting a woman, depictions, deriding her looks?, describe lesbians., dump him Australia., executive producer, facial mole, food and wine, food expo, FOUL-mouthed, Friday nightsponsor, gasps, get paid, Good Food and Wine Show, Gordon Ramsay., Grant Williams, great relationship, Grimshaw, Grimshaw's, Grimshaw's sexual preference, Hell's Kitchen, high profile, highly derogatory, holy crap, immediately, impress, inappropriate, incident, interview, interviewed, joke, kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, LG, Local News, looks, major sponsor, Melbourne, Melinda Tankard Reist, money, nightmare., Nine's, obscene, of women., out of order., pretty good, programs, public, publicly, putrid tirade, Ramsay's sponsors, rating highly, reacted, references, remove, send him packing.", sexist rant., sexuality, shocked, shocked audiences, Simon Cowell's, spokeswoman for Ramsay, sponsors, stunt, Sunday Herald Sun reports., support, term, The Chaser.", too far, Tracy Grimshaw, trip, verbal abuse, vilifying, wart, Women's Forum Australia on June 7, 2009| 2 Comments »
The putrid tirade, which included references to Grimshaw’s looks, sexuality and depictions of her as a pig, shocked audiences who went to see the celebrity chef at the Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne.
Ramsay told an audience of several thousand people that Grimshaw was “a lesbian”, the Sunday Herald Sun reports.
When the crowd reacted with gasps, he said: “What? I’m not saying she’s a …”
The phrase that Ramsay used was a highly derogatory term often used to describe lesbians.
Ramsay also showed a picture of a woman – who appeared to be naked – on her hands and knees with the features of a pig and multiple breasts.
Tracy Grimshaw,” he told the audience. “I had an interview with her yesterday – holy crap.
“She needs to see Simon Cowell’s Botox doctor.”
Ramsay – who later dismissed the comments as a joke – went on with more innuendos about Grimshaw’s sexual preference and activities.
The crude remarks did not impress Channel Nine chief executive David Gyngell, who phoned Ramsay to tell him they were inappropriate and that he had gone too far.
Just a year ago, the celebrity chef had been lauded as the network’s saviour, with his programs Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares rating highly.
Mandy Saunders was at the food expo with her two children and elderly mother.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing – it was disgusting,” Ms Saunders said.
“The show is meant for families. That was way out of order.”
Anthony Kavroulas was also in the audience at Ramsay’s performance.
“What can I say? It was totally sexist,” Mr Kavroulas said.
Women’s groups also expressed their disgust, saying it was wrong that Ramsay was making money by comparing women with animals.
Melinda Tankard Reist, from Women’s Forum Australia, said Ramsay’s sponsors should dump him and he should leave Australia.
“Ramsay’s sexist and demeaning actions are offensive to every Australian woman,” Ms Reist said.
“Why should he get paid for depicting a woman as an animal and publicly deriding her looks?
“He shouldn’t be making money through the verbal abuse of women.
“Gordon Ramsay is no longer welcome here. The sponsors of his trip should immediately remove their support and send him packing.”
LG, a major sponsor of the Good Food and Wine Show, said it did not want to comment on the incident.
Ramsay appeared on Nine’s A Current Affair and was interviewed by Tracy Grimshaw on Friday night.
During the interview, he commented on Grimshaw’s facial mole, asking: “Is that a wart? It looks like your little sister’s on your lip.”
Grimshaw appeared to take that remark well.
But A Current Affair executive producer Grant Williams said yesterday the chef had gone too far and should stick to cooking and lay off the comedy.
“We know Gordon Ramsay sets out to shock, but if what we’re being told is true, we’re very surprised,” Williams said.
“Frankly, although it’s plainly a joke, it’s out of order.
“Gordon has proved here that he doesn’t need to be in the kitchen to create a nightmare.
“As a comedian, he makes a pretty good cook. Maybe he’d be better off at The Chaser.”
A spokeswoman for Ramsay said the stunt was just a joke and should have been taken as one.
“He really respects Tracy Grimshaw as a journalist. It was just a joke,” Sarah Armstrong said.
“She interviews him every time he comes to Australia. They have a great relationship.”
Source www.news.com.au
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