Doha: Graham Arnold wanted Australia to play like “11 boxing kangaroos”. And they did, for a while at least, going toe-to-toe with defending world champions France, ducking and weaving, and even taking a shock lead through Craig Goodwin which gave them a tantalising 18-minute glimpse of football’s promised land.
The plan was working. But everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
There was no great shame in this 4-1 defeat to the World Cup holders, who ruthlessly exposed the gulf in class between these two teams which everyone could see existed. But on another day, there might have been. After their initial hiccup, Kylian Mbappe and his crew of superstars had no trouble chopping up Australia’s feeble rearguard at will, forcing them to retreat deeper and deeper into their shells.
Eventually, the blood pooled at the Al Janoub Stadium in Doha’s south, and Australia were down for the count.
The margin should have been far greater, yet the Socceroos’ campaign in Qatar still has a pulse — but only if they can learn from this outing quickly, tighten up their defence, and bring their absolute best in their upcoming clashes with Tunisia and Denmark, who fought out a scoreless draw earlier in the day. They both look beatable enough; or at least they did before Australia unravelled in the second half, and optimism faded. The goal difference here could be a killer, as could the heavy hit to their confidence.
Speaking of which: spare a thought for poor Nathaniel Atkinson, the Tasmanian tasked with keeping arguably the world’s best player on a leash. He failed miserably, but who among us has succeeded in that? There were hints of the ugliness to come within the opening five minutes as Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele casually torched Atkinson and Aziz Behich, the Socceroos’ full-backs.
Olivier Giroud scored twice for the French.Credit:Getty
But first, there was some incredible beauty.
It all started with Harry Souttar, the towering Scottish defender, who sent a wonderful cross-field ball to the feet of Mathew Leckie on the right wing. As Leckie cut inside his marker, Lucas Hernandez, the French left-back suddenly crumpled to the ground clutching his knee. There was no collision, so Leckie pushed on and sent the ball to the far post.
Goodwin was there waiting, and had the poise to seize his moment and smack the ball into the roof of the net, past a helpless Hugo Lloris, becoming just the second South Australian to score at a World Cup after John Aloisi. It was the Socceroos’ first goal in open play since Brazil 2014, and their first time in the lead during a World Cup match since those dreamlike four minutes in Porto Alegre, between Mile Jedinak’s penalty and Robin van Persie’s quick reply for the Netherlands.
1-0 to Australia. Imaginations ran wild. They were playing out of their skins. Was this real? Could this be? Were they on? How long could this last?
But as France applied more and more pressure, and started picking off Socceroos defenders one by one, it felt increasingly inevitable that they would strike back. They did, in the 27th minute, through a recycled corner. Australia cleared the danger initially, but not far enough. Theo Hernandez, who had come on for his injured brother, delivered a beautiful ball into Adrien Rabiot, and he nodded it home. It was that simple.
And it got simpler, six minutes later. Maty Ryan played out from a goal kick, passed to Jackson Irvine, to Atkinson, to … France. His touch heavy touch was a needless invitation. Rabiot pounced, picked his pocket, and cut the ball back to Olivier Giroud. 2-1.
From there, the Socceroos were lucky to stay in the game – the chances piled up for Les Bleus, and Mbappe should have scored their third in the 45th minute when he blasted Antoine Griezmann’s cross over the bar from close range, a lazy finish unbecoming of a player of his calibre. So many other moments like it went begging.
In reply, out of nowhere, Riley McGree floated a ball into the penalty area from the byline, and Jackson Irvine rose to meet it. His header had Lloris beaten, but not the left post. It was Australia’s last real moment of attacking significance. They barely saw the ball again.
Craig Goodwin celebrates his stunning ninth-minute opener for the Socceroos before his joy proved short-lived.Credit:Getty
The dangers kept coming on the other side of the break. Giroud nearly had France’s third goal with a scissor kick that flashed just wide. Behich cleared an attempt for Griezmann off the line. Then the dam wall burst.
Dembele cross, Mbappe glancing header. Boom. Three minutes later, Mbappe cross, and Giroud’s second goal, drawing him level with Thierry Henry with a record 51 goals for France.
Arnold emptied his bench, sending on Jason Cummings for the ineffectual Mitch Duke, and deploying Garang Kuol — who became Australia’s youngest ever World Cup player — and Awer Mabil on the wings. The problem was the Socceroos needed to first win possession off France to threaten through them. Ultimately, Les Bleus showed mercy through their profligacy. Back to reality, back to the drawing board.
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