Cover Page: Wayne Snowden

3 About us

Highs, Lows and Absurd

moments of the Noughties:

4 Mike The Football Tragic”

Salter

5 Con Stamocostas

6 Shane Davis and Glenn Siever

7 Ben O’Neill

8 Eamonn Flannagan

10 Russ Gibbs and Keiran

Pender

11 Tony Wilson and Sunil

Awasthi

12 Matt McGrath

Best and Worst of the

Noughties:

13 Tactics, Maradona Quote and

Best Movie of the Noughties

14 Best goal and team of the

Noughties

15 Best player and coach of the

Noughties

16 Cheaters of the Noughties

Some smart advertising

guru type who has dreams of one

day being the next Don Draper

smugly called the decade we have

just lived and about to depart, The

Noughties.

For Australian football fans it

anything but nought.

The Half Time Heroes writers

have kindly given their time to list

their high and low of the

Noughties and most absurd

moment of the past 10 years.

So can you guess what the

contender for the biggest high of

the Noughties is?

As Australians it’s almost like we

were spoilt for choice.

What about the ultimate low of the

Noughties?

Ex –Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett

reckons that Australia bidding for

the World Cup has the potential to

make AFL fans feel pretty low.

What about your absurd moment

of the Noughties?

Flying Italians, French head butts

and outstretched hands and beach

balls anyone?

I hope you enjoy this special HTH

feature.

Everyone here at Half Time

Heroes wishes you all a happy and

safe new year.

Peace and Football

Con Stamocostas

Mike Salter

Football high of the decade

November 16, 2005. Well, it had to be, didn't it? I was sick as a dog that night, in the midst of a hugely busy period at work, but still made it to ANZ Stadium for The Match and The Moment. Behind the southern goal for the first half, I saw Recoba miss that sitter; in the second, there was Kewell taking Uruguay apart down the left, but to no immediate avail. When it got to penalties, I had hardly any nervous energy left (imagine what it would have been like for the players!). And the feeling after Aloisi's penalty? Indescribable.

Football low of the decade:

March 5, 2009. It's not that Australia's A-Leaguers should never lose to a side like Kuwait. It was, rather, the manner of the loss that was so dispiriting, and particularly the fact that the powers that be chose to dress certain players in three-figure numbers. One of the most embarrassing things I've seen in Australian football, and one of the most

embarrassing Socceroo performances ever.

Absurd football act of the

decade:Milan goalkeeper Dida

(pictured below), on being gently

shoved on the shoulder by a Celtic fan

who had invaded the field of play,

briefly pursued the intruder before

collapsing with a pretended head injury.

What made the act so ridiculous (not to

mention disgraceful) was that there was

no chance in the world, given the TV

coverage, of Dida ever getting away with

the deception. An episode from

football's Theatre of the Absurd.

By puffins1001

Con Stamocostas

Football High of the Decade:

Sunday 28th August 5:20pm, Dwight

Yorke heads in an Andrew Packer cross.

Earlier 35 000 fans cram into the

Sydney Football Stadium for Sydney

FC’s first ever A League game against its

fiercest rivals Melbourne Victory.

(All night Dwight!) (Pic by Jonesy

702)

Absurd football act of the decade: If

you said to me a decade ago Australia

would be bidding for the World Cup and

it would have a realistic chance of

winning the bid I would say that you

were ill and in need of a specialist

doctor. It’s absurd but the good kind.

Thousands of football fans are let in for

free, the first time the SFS has done such

a thing.

Football low of the decade: I give up

my England v Socceroos ticket to see

Icelandic prog rockers Sigur Ros.

It’s a great gig with an amazing light

show.

What ends up being a great concert

turns into the dumbest thing I have ever

done. The Socceroos beat England 3-1

and I curse my pretentious side.

Shane Davis

Football high of the decade –

Euro 2000, a wonderful all-round

tournament and sadly totally

contrary to the rest of this

decade's World Cups and Euros.

Football low of the decade - The

death of 22-year-old Antonio

Puerta of Sevilla in 2007. Seeing

this type of thing live for the first

time and on someone my age was

difficult.

Absurd football act of the

decade - Graham Poll's (pictured,

right) three yellow cards to Josip

Šimunić in Australia vs. Croatia at

the 2006 World Cup. An incredible

way to end a momentous night.

(Here have another one!) (Photo courtesy of www.freewebs.com/sooneragooner/grahampoll4dvia4.j)

Glen Siever Football high of the decade Highlight 2005 November. I was there, never has there been such a moment. Football low of the decade My low is right now with the AFL playing politics with the WC bid, Absurd football act of the decade My crazy is in Canada they played a game for 33 hours.

Ben O’Neill

Football High of the Decade:

November 16 2005. Enough said.

Football Low of the Decade:

Corruption. Calciopoli exposed it in Italy

but recent reports suggest match fixing

– especially in Eastern Europe – is wide

spread. I wouldn’t be surprised if much

of what we’ve seen is in some way

tarnished.

Most Absurd Football Act of the

Noughties: Zinedine Zidane’s head butt

on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World

Cup Final. Unorthodox and a sad and

wrong way to close such a classy career.

(Cartoon from

www.buzznet.com/.../zidanes-

headbutt/?id=2984276 by

iheartpatstump)

Eamonn Flanagan’s

Football Decade.

1 Wollongong 3-Perth 3. 7-6 on

penalties. 2000 NSL Grand Final.

Just squeaked in depending on

your definition of a decade I

guess.

In front of 43,000 Perth stormed to a

3-0 half-time lead, only to be pegged

back by a Scott Chipperfield/Paul

Reid inspired Wollongong. All in

front of a live FTA audience.

2 Implementation of the Crawford

Review.Tony Labbazotta and his

mates getting the boot from the

game. Pain before the game.

3. Sitting with my two Aussie

football cynics at the Sydney

Football Stadium one and a half

hours before Dwight Yorke’s Sydney

FC took on Archie Thompsons

Melbourne Victory in the first

Sydney home A-League game. As the

whistle blew there were maybe

5,000 in the ground. The cynics were

twitching. By half-time the official

crowd was 26,000 but many more

got in for free. Great game too, ended

1-1. Cynics were loving it!

4. January 1, 2006. The single

greatest moment in Australian

football this decade. The Asian

Football Confederation invites

Australia in. Thank you thank you

Asia!

5. The night of our lives. Australia v

Uruguay. November 16th, 2005.

Myself my partner and my six year

old daughter had seats in the very

last row at the top of the Olympic

Stadium. If I never go to another

game I’ll die a happy man!

6. Overhearing two “older” women

discussing the Socceroos latest

Germany World Cup game in the

local shops, and of course Timmy

Cahill’s goals, Harry Kewell’s goal

and every bit of the Socceroos 2006

campaign.

7. Abolishing big sided games at my

local club. How slow is this nation to

teach our kids good football skills

and habits? (And now we’re bringing

them back at Under 10 level. Give us

a break!)

(16 November 2005, Australia

playing Uruguay)(Photo by Adran

Furby)

8. Travelling from Canberra to

Seville to watch a Henrik Larsson

inspired Celtic lose to Jose Morinho’s

cheating, diving Porto in the 2003

UEFA Cup Final. Great game. Celtic

fans slept in car boots, hedges and

the gutter on that balmy Spanish

night. Not this Celtic fan, I had a bed!

9. Watching football invade the heart

of AFL country when Archie scored 5

in front of 55,000 fans at the Telstra

Dome.

10. Attending Canberra United W-

League games in the new W-League

with the 1,000 or so other fans.

Great atmosphere, great games and

it’s the only football club we have in

Canberra at an elite level.

11. And Simon Hill and his mates at

Fox Sport for bringing all the A-

League games, Socceroos, and Asian

Champions games live into my

lounge. I’ve been in Australia over 20

years and waited a long time to see a

game live on TV on primetime,

weekends, midweek etc etc. Love it!

Russ Gibbs

High of the Decade: Manchester United's 2008 'Double' of Premier League and Champions League from a personally selfish point of view! Also, the introduction of the Westfield W-League - a masterstroke from the FFA and a huge boost to the Women's game in general. Low of the Decade: The forced retirement of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer through premature injury - the guy is a football legend. And anytime that England were knocked out of a major international tournament. Hint: Practice penalties, it can only help!

Absurd Moment of the Decade: David Beckham (pictured above by Calebrw) signing for LA Galaxy from Real Madrid, Really, how bizarre can you get, and the fact that Alex Ferguson

brought Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Forlan and Kleberson and Eric Djemba Djemba.....how on earth Fergie thought these guys were United players is beyomd me. Oh, and then there was George Weah's 'cousin' getting Premier League time for Southampton.......I could probably go on...........

Kieran Pender

Football high of the decade:

Has to be Australia reaching the 2006

World Cup, and coming so close to the

quarter finals.

Football low of the decade:

It may still be very recent, but

Barcelona beating Manchester United in

the 2009 Champions League final, and

spending the whole day being ridiculed

at school, was very low indeed.

Most absurd act of the decade:

Definitely the Zidane head butt, quality.

Tony Wilson

Football high of the decade: 'Aloisssssssiiiiiiiiiiii! At last. At long long

last. Thirty-one years, four months and

24 days have passed since Australia

ended its campaign at the 1974 World

Cup and now - finally, belatedly,

wonderfully and joyfully - Australia is

back on the biggest stage of all.' Thank

you, Simon Hill.

(That moment! Photo by Rusty 8)

Sunil Awasthi

Football high of the decade:

Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup by

beating Uruguay in Sydney. Yeah, like

you need an explanation.

Football low of the decade: Losing to New Zealand 1-0 in the final of

the 2002 Oceania Nations Cup. The

nadir, but at least from this pile of

footballing manure, a fair ol' plant

grew...

Most absurd football act of the

Noughties: Graham Poll giving Joe

Simunic three yellow cards for Croatia v

Australia at the 2006 World Cup. Silly

pommy bastard...

‘Moments of the Noughties’ by

Matt McGrath

High of the decade: ‘The 200th

Merseyside Derby’ (11/12/04)

On December 11th 2004 (my eldest

sons birthday) Lee Carsley scored a

68th minute winner in the 200th

Merseyside derby my home town team

Everton’s first victory over its bitter

rival in 5 years. The match was

particularly special & memorable as it

was being viewed with a visiting old

mate, a fellow Scouser of the ‘Red

Shiote’ variety. The moment the ball left

super Lee’s foot I went up & before even

getting the ensuing scream out

something snapped in the back of the

throat or vocal box & no word of a lie I

was unable to speak until the middle of

the following week! (Some said this was

a good thing!)

Low of the decade: ‘The Tragic Death

Of Marc Vivien Foe’ (26/6/03)

We often get caught up in the trivialities

of both life & football but one fateful

June day in 2003 reminded us all of the

very fragility that is the wonder of life

after Manchester City & Cameroon star

Marc Vivien Foe collapsed & tragically

died of cardiac arrest (later revealed to

have been caused by hypertrophic

cardiomyopathy) during Cameroon's

Confederations Cup semi-final against

Colombia, lest we forget.

Absurd moment of the decade: Sepp

Blatter - ‘Tighter Shorts For Women

Footballers’ (16/1/04)As far as the

absurd goes the football world is a

treasure trove full of anecdotes but who

other than FIFA supremo ‘Septic

Bladder’ a regular peddler of the absurd

could come up with a proposal so out of

touch, sexist & generally offensive to

Women? After being quizzed by a Swiss

journalist regarding possible solutions

to enhance the broader appeal of

Women’s football Herr Blatter

suggested that “they could, for example,

have tighter shorts!" But hey this is the

same gentleman who (seriously) was

once elected president of the ‘World

Society of Friends of Suspenders’ a

1970’s organisation formed solely to

protest women replacing suspender

belts with pantyhose!

The Noughties; it was the best of

times; it was the worst of times.

Tactics

Damn you 4-2-3-1! The Noughties

has seen the death of the striker

and the rise of 4-2-3-1.

Best Quote about Tactics:

“140 years of tactical history

seemed to have produced

nothing more sophisticated

than moving a player a little bit

forward or back”

Best Maradona Quote:

After qualifying for South Africa

2010 against Uruguay in the final

game of the South American

qualifying, Maradona was at his

most humble.

"They can suck it and carry on

sucking it," he fumed in the

press conference after the

dramatic win. "This is for all

Argentines, minus the

journalists.

(Maradona grafite by Antonio from

Mijas, España)

Best Football Movie of the

Noughties

The Damned United

“The Damned United may not be the

best movie about an English Football

Manager ever made, but it’s in the top

one.”

(Michael Sheen as Brian Clough)

(Photo of Lionel Messi against

Getafe 18/4/07 by Darz_Mol)

Best Goal of the Noughties

Messi’s goal against Getafe

18/04/07

Click to see the Maradona/Messi

split screen comparison

Read excellent Spanish football

writer for the Guardian Sid

Lowe on that goal.

“So, you can copy a work of art,

after all," wrote AS's Alfredo

Relaño, comparing Messi to Elmyr

D'Hory, who forged famous

paintings but always put the

signature upside down.

"This was a replica, with the same

path, the same acceleration with

every touch, the same pauses and

feints, always escaping on the

same side.

The only difference was Messi

finishing with his right foot - that

was the upside-down signature."

Team of the Noughties

(FC Barcelona 2007 by Xavier

Salvador )

Player of the Noughties

Messi or Ronaldo? HTH couldn’t

decide. So both superstars share

the honour.

(CR9 pick by Elamaki)

Coach of the Noughties

For Australians there was “lucky”

Gus Hiddink getting the Socceroos

to the world cup after 32 years!

(Lucky Guss, not so lucky Russians)

(photo by Paul Blank)

And for the Europeans “The

Special One” Jose Mourinho but

surely Josep Guardiola winning six

titles with Barcelona has to be the

gaffer of the Noughties?

(Josep Guardiola celebrating

Barcelona's 2009 UEFA Champions

League Final with Uefa boss Michel

Platini) (pic by funnydae)

Cheaters of the Noughties

The lasting legacy of the

Noughties must be the cheating

The Italians, French and Germans

lead the way. In no particular

order was the match fixing

scandals in Italy and Germany. On

the field it was the French head

butting and handballing their way

to football immortality.

While the Australians found out

the hard way that Italians are

likely to dive over lunging

defenders in the last minute of a

World Cup knockout game!

Let’s not forget Australia had

prominent players Kevin Muscat

and Craig Moore involved in their

own betting scandals during the

Noughties. Though we may

pontificate like we are clean skins

in Australia, like the rest of the

world we can cheat with the best

of them.

That wraps up the Half

Time Heroes review of the

Noughties!

Thanks to all who contributed we

wish you a Happy New Year and

bring on the Tweenies!