Go Australia!

Of course I'm rooting for Australia in the World Cup. I'm not one of those fairweather fans who go for Brazil just because they're the strongest team. I know Australia is nowhere in the latter's league, but it makes no difference to me. 

Let's be honest: it's not going to be easy for us. It's been estimated we have only a 30% chance of getting out of our group. Group F, that is. Apart from Brazil (yes, we're playing against them, and good luck to us) we have Japan and Croatia to contend with. I'd be utterly ecstatic if we beat Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and sundry in the field, but there's little chance of that happening. But beating one or both of the others - difficult but doable. That should be enough to get us into the second round.

At the moment, we're in the middle of the friendlies - the matches before the Matches. And things aren't looking too bad. We beat Greece eleven days ago. Now we just got a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. The Dutch are good, so not losing is almost as good as winning. There's just one more match before the World Cup begins: against Liechtenstein. Let's hope Australia gives that tax-havening relic from the Holy Roman Empire a good walloping on Wednesday. It's probably wouldn't mean anything; little Liechtenstein is better known for skiing than football. It would be a nice morale booster anyway.

Go Australia.