Entries from June 2008 ↓

The Melbourne Victory announced last Friday that it has buoyed its defensive stocks by signing Michael Thwaite. The Socceroo joins Melbourne on a one-year loan from his Norwegian club, SK Brann.

Gary Cole, on Thwaite’s signing:

“It’s very pleasing to be able to bring another Socceroo home, albeit for only a short time at this stage.”

“He’s big, quick and will do a great job for us in defence.”

Meanwhile, mystery still surrounds whether Costa Rican defensive midfielder José Luis López has signed with Melbourne. The Costa Rican press seems quite certain of the deal, but the club hasn’t made an announcement yet.

Just to stray off-topic for a while…

Who are you going for in the Euro 2008? Why?

Me? I’m half-Dutch, so I am hoping to see Oranje lift the trophy. They had a good run in qualification, but are now faced with the hardest group in the cup: Group C, with Italy, France and Romania. Things are looking even tougher as they have to contend with injuries to some key players, including Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Ryan Babel. But I think they can do it.

Over to you. Where does national allegiance lie, other than Australia?

My apologies for the lack of posting lately. It is off-season though.

Here’s some news items you may have missed during the week:

• Kaz Patafta: Released by Benfica, under-utilised by the Melbourne Victory, young Kaz runs to the wide open arms of Gary Van Egmond.
• Mark Byrnes: The former Victory player has signed a short-term deal with Apia Leichardt in the NSW Premier League. He’s hoping to make his way back into the A-League.
• A-League expansion: There are plenty of people jostling for a piece of the pie, with no less than three Melbourne teams hoping to become the second Melbourne club. Meanwhile, billionaire Clive Palmer has thwarted the Gold Coast Galaxy franchise, wooing the FFA with his own – more lucrative – club, Gold Coast United, which he hopes will become the new Bling FC.
• Carlos Hernández: The injury he picked up against Juventus has forced him to forego a spot in the Costa Rican World Cup qualifying squad.

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