Jim Smith

@rohancct You know nothing about Santo and his love for Australian football . Stick to AFL and love for Pauline 🤦‍♂️

Santo Cilauro was born and raised in Australia & the Socceroos are having a WC run. Yet his greatest fear is Italy will never make another WC.

@Conorpope No daily rhythm lol . There’s 4 games a day it’s literally on the whole time .

So far, this has been the worst World Cup as a viewing experience of my life. Put aside overnight games, the lack of regular kick-off times means there’s no daily rhythm. 48-team format with 3rd-place qualifying makes it difficult to follow. The H2H change knocks teams out early

@millfieldsports Weird take on the USA fans attending a game in their own country . It would be the same in any other country in the world including Australia .

🇦🇺 v 🇵🇾 - World Cup Matchday Review (Santa Clara/San Francisco/San Jose/Bay Area) I have loved my time here in he Bay Area so far, however, the overall fan experience left me pretty underwhelmed. Firstly, the game was marketed as being in "San Francisco." In reality, it was played in Santa Clara, over an hour away by Uber and, from what I experienced, with pretty poor public transport options. If you're a travelling supporter staying in San Francisco, it's a long and expensive trip. What surprised me most was that there was virtually nothing happening in downtown San Francisco on matchday. No fan festival, no obvious meeting point, no streets full of green and gold or Paraguayan colours. The only organised gathering for Australian fans ended up being... a car park near the stadium so we could march together, no pubs or bars within walking distance. The stadium itself is genuinely beautiful. One of the nicest I've been to. But it's also in the middle of nowhere, surrounded almost entirely by parking lots. Once you leave the gates, the atmosphere disappears instantly. Compare that to World Cups (or Vancouver/Seattle) where supporters spill into pubs, restaurants and city squares before and after matches, and it just felt like something was missing. Then there was the crowd. When the USA took a 2-1 lead over Türkiye, the stadium erupted into loud chants of "USA! USA! USA!" at an Australia vs Paraguay match. 😫 That was bizarre to me. Maybe it's just a cultural difference, but if I'm wearing my national team's shirt, I'm going to watch my national team. Not someone else's match because there's football on. It felt like there were thousands of locals treating the game as general World Cup entertainment rather than supporters adding to the atmosphere of the fixture they were actually attending. And that's what I think many Americans don't realise. The World Cup isn't special because it's hosted in America.... It's special because hundreds of thousands of travelling supporters from around the world bring the culture with them. They're the ones who create the atmosphere that makes a World Cup unforgettable. The host nation's role is to embrace that and make it easy for those supporters to gather and celebrate. One final kick in the teeth... One beer, one spirit and two bottles of water came to US$77 (roughly AU$100+). That's hard to justify, even by major sporting event standards. Would I go again? Absolutely. 😅 The stadium was excellent and seeing the Socceroos at a World Cup is something I'll never forget. But if this tournament wants to be remembered as one of the greatest World Cups ever, I think the matchday experience outside the 90 minutes still has a long way to go... well in San Francisco anyway. We March On 💚💛

@SPFLWatch Note the word ‘World’ in world cup .

We need to have a discussion about Asia. They got 8 spots at this World Cup. Australia and Japan currently the only two going through South Korea and Iran might still do so. Qatar, Iraq, Saudi and Uzbekistan have absolutely stunk out the joint. FIFA need to move to a Coefficient style system. Can’t be handing out spots to them like Confetti.

@davisjarrafooty We are lucky to have SBS free coverage but the On demand picture quality is abysmal .

Can we just take a minute to appreciate what SBS has done in the first few days of the World Cup… From a broadcast perspective, they’re awesome. Highlights, mini matches, extended highlights, full replays as soon as the match is done. The hosts and panelists have done a great job between matches with informative and interesting discussion, not just ragebait and headlines. And completely free. In terms of a sporting product… jeez, it puts a few other outlets on the hot seat with viewers you’d think

@ANVL007 @DamirKulas If you didn’t know Asian cup or Socceroos was on you probably aren’t going to those games anyway no matter the advertising .

@DamirKulas Many events, not just these,are HORRIBLY advetrtised. Had no idea the T20 world cup was on,no idea the asian womens cup was on til the semis,and the socceroos I knew were playing, but no idea where or when until I saw the result

Difficult to ascertain why the Socceroos don’t resonate with the general public more but it’s hard not to feel that an opportunity was missed following the success of Qatar 2022. Me thinks that a multitude of reasons are in play.

@scout_aussie Interesting take mine would be 30% went on to play ALeague which looks like a great stat . 11 Socceroos and 14 other internationals in 10 years is also pretty good .

One of the curious takeaways from this is that long stints playing senior academy NPL rarely ever translate into regular AL football. From the top 10 appearance-makers at each club, only 3 (Walatee, Khaddour, Shamoon) ever broke through to regular AL football at those clubs.

@JordanTHFCFFC Fair enough but those criticising Perth for not selling out were dumb fks . Anyone with half a brain thought it was a good crowd .

So many spare seats available. Never give Sydney another Matildas game again, disgraceful support for our national team in a cup final /s

@OkGurt 40000 at a womens international match in Perth and this is your take ?

No songs, no atmosphere, no vibes, no energy. Just a big soulless bowl full of casuals. Horrible experience #matildas #AFCWomensAsianCup #AUSvPHI

@scout_aussie Excellent work @scout_aussie . Perhaps showing the opposition goals would add to this scouting .

Lucas Herrington (2007) vs. Seattle Sounders.

@GDaddyzs What a whiny bitch you are . Assault assault embarrassing .

Hell of a week! Here's a highlight reel of gold!

@FBugnone Torino manager Interpol lyric please explain

It took a life span with no cell mate The long way back Sandy, why can't we look the other way?

@AUSFUTNews You are making stuff up . They let much more go than other leagues around the world .

the Standards of A-League Referees need to lift and not give away every small tug on a shirt or bump? Should the referee let the games play on more frequently instead of stopping the game and killing momentum?

@ElfdeWanderer @thewswpost Who would you drop and who would you start ?

@thewswpost Reverted to type after their equaliser. Wasn’t helped by wrong starting 11. Several should be at least dropped to the bench.

WSW just got dominated by 16 year old Akol Akon, on starting debut, who wasn’t even in our first grade NPL team last season. Genuinely laughable how bad that was. Complete lack of intensity and fight after Sydney’s first goal, pathetic. So much wrong at Wanderers.

@KingKuluDeki @AUSFUTNews 2 games every Saturday on FTA

@AUSFUTNews For starters channel 10 is awful if the aleague wants to reach more viewers. Dead channel. Hardly any proper games on free to air tv either.

Genuine question. Why doesn’t the A-League have a proper weekly highlights and panel show on mainstream TV? A consistent recap with goals, talking points, personalities and real discussion keeps casual fans engaged even when they miss matches. Other leagues use this to build storylines and stay relevant week to week. If the A-League wants to grow its audience, it has to sell its stories better, not just show the games. Is this a missed opportunity or a must-fix? 👀

@Gatty54 A lot of comments here based on feelings.The law is clear Jelacic was offside and he was in the GK line of sight . Maybe if you are a professional player you should endeavour to get onside when a shot is taken .

That ranks as one of the worst VAR decisions I have seen. Superman would have struggled to get to that. Where’s the common sense? VAR is a blight on the game.

@yabigjabroni @M1D3V Can you explain why you think it’s not offside ? Was a great goal but it looks like pretty clear cut offside standing in front of the keeper ?

@M1D3V I grew up watching this league as well, go to every MVFC game. It’s a good league, it’s not the greatest. But people jumping and down saying how good the end was last night when incompetence ruined the game are deluded. Last night was a great spectacle, but that last 10 wasnt

LOLLL In a country where we so many people who turn a blind eye to to our top flight league, and would prefer to get up at midnight to watch a team they have no connection with other than a Stan Sports login. I'd rather watch the league i grew up on, that has everything you could ever want - no game is like another, there is always drama whether good or bad, and you can never guarantee a result come 90 minutes. I believe the A-League is the greatest league in the world, and the best thing is, whether you agree or disagree - you ain't gonna change my mind.

@rorbag9 @football360au Crowds are down yes but quality has not dropped . That is just your negative perception . In fact the last few years has seen a huge leap . Some outstanding young players and very exciting football, definitely still a fun watchable league .

@football360au He's correct. The product on the pitch is woeful. Worst its been since the A league's inception. You need experienced players 28 to 35 to help bring these young players through. Its literally a youth league now. No decent Marquees outside Mata. Crowds are down,half empty stadium

These comments about the A-League from a former star turned player agent have sparked debate online 🗣️🇦🇺⚽️ Do you agree with Fahid Ben Khalfallah? Is there a line where shining a light on certain issues stops serving football in Australia? Or is any conversation good for the game? Full quotes and reaction: tinyurl.com/ye285e9v

@football360au Rather see you Aussies than FBK’s shit over the hill imports .

@M1D3V I think he connected with the defenders shin , felt contact then thought better go down for a pen . Unfortunately it took a bit too long for the rest of the body to catch up with his thoughts .

Honestly what is this?? How is there 0 punishments. #ADLvCCM