texismith

2022 : A year in football pictures

The footballing year has come to an end, here’s a brief look back on the year in a few slideshows of photos from my phone. The number of these photos taken in wild weather is testament to the crazy conditions we’ve faced as supporters, players and referees this year. I’ve attended a 30-game season ofContinue reading “2022 : A year in football pictures”

Good Sydney, bad Sydney

Double headers involving Sydney FC are good for one thing only, and that’s reinforcing the chasm in quality of the men’s and women’s squads in their respective leagues. Yes, the women are a class outfit, they know the way to goal, they create chances, they might not score them all, but there’s a constant streamContinue reading “Good Sydney, bad Sydney”

Sat 03/12/2022 : Argentina given a fright by battling Aussies

There was no way that our first, and probably only, meal of the day was going to be labelled as a breakfast. No one was surfacing at any time that resembled breakfast time, and rightly so after another night that extended into the early hours. This was it, the final game of our World CupContinue reading “Sat 03/12/2022 : Argentina given a fright by battling Aussies”

Fri 02/12/2022 : Uruguay on their knees, angry Serbs undone by Swiss

We arrived at the final day of the group stage games with a lot on our minds. We had managed to get our flights changed (and free of charge!) so we could attend the Socceroos’ Round of 16 game against Argentina. We didn’t yet have match tickets though, but there had been an expression ofContinue reading “Fri 02/12/2022 : Uruguay on their knees, angry Serbs undone by Swiss”

Thu 01/12/2022 : Morocco magic, Japan keep Spain sweating

The Socceroos were through. We had a big night that night, and the knowledge that Australia were up against the might of Argentina in the next game was beginning to sink in. This was a very lazy morning, where I typed up the match report for the Denmark game and uploaded all the photos toContinue reading “Thu 01/12/2022 : Morocco magic, Japan keep Spain sweating”

Wed 30/11/2022 : Danish delight for Socceroos and Argentina do enough

By the time we had got out of bed, got showered and ready and got our hearty breakfast of faken (that’s fake bacon) and eggs on the stove, it was already afternoon. We had been tucking into the Heinekens and the vodka and Irn Bru was flowing. We met down at the entrance to theContinue reading “Wed 30/11/2022 : Danish delight for Socceroos and Argentina do enough”

Tue 29/11/2022 : Senegal power on, Wales throw in the towel

Today was going to be different. We were at the final round of group stage games, and the kick offs were 6pm and 10pm. That freed up the day and we were free to do whatever we chose. All talk pre-World Cup about Qatar’s cultural offerings pointed us to camel riding, a visit to someContinue reading “Tue 29/11/2022 : Senegal power on, Wales throw in the towel”

Mon 28/11/2022 : Ghana fightback and Portugal too strong

This Monday morning was leisurely. We finally had some down time, relaxed over a lazy breakfast and made sure we were up to date with the games we’d missed the night before. Our one job today, before football was back on the agenda, was to pick up a couple of cases of beer from anContinue reading “Mon 28/11/2022 : Ghana fightback and Portugal too strong”

Sun 27/11/2022 : Costa Rica shocker and Canada score first

A 1pm kick off sounds like a terrific time for a football game. When you get to bed at 4am full of takeaway and grog and you’re completely spent after a solid week of World Cup football, that puts a different spin on it. We should have been out of the door at 11am, butContinue reading “Sun 27/11/2022 : Costa Rica shocker and Canada score first”

Sat 26/11/2022 : Australia show grit, Argentina back on track

When you think of Qatar and the Middle East, the last thing you think of is breakfast beers. But that’s what kick-started this game day for us, the remainder of the slab of Heinekens demolished over a hearty fry-up, giving us the required sustenance to take into this vital Socceroos game day. Our game wasContinue reading “Sat 26/11/2022 : Australia show grit, Argentina back on track”