Socceroos finally warming up
We don’t have photos available to show you yet, but the squad have made it up the tunnel for what promises to be their most rushed warm-up in recent memory. Feels incredibly unfair, and Moriyasu has clearly recognised that and attempted (unsuccessfully) to rectify it, but here we are.
Brattan to make debut
By Vince Rugari
Tony Popovic is clearly not afraid to make the big calls as Socceroos coach. Dumping captain Maty Ryan to the bench last week was an early indicator, but he’s done it again tonight. Step up, Luke Brattan, for your international debut at the tender age of 34 years and 221 days old. That makes him the oldest Socceroos debutant in history, edging out Bruno Fornaroli, who was just 22 days younger when he pulled on the green and gold for the first time two years ago, also against Japan.
It’s an enormous decision by Popovic, but it kind of makes sense. Real A-League heads will know that Brattan is a high-quality, well-rounded midfielder who was unlucky not to play at a much higher level earlier in his career. He’s got a good passing range and, crucially, is good with the ball in tight spaces, the sort of player who is adept at playing between the lines – which is the exactly kind of player the Socceroos have been lacking in the last couple of years and will definitely need tonight in Saitama. I don’t think he’ll look out of place against the Samurai Blue.
Luke Brattan training with the Socceroos in Adelaide last week.Credit: Getty Images
Socceroos arrive VERY late
An accident on the freeway from the team hotel meant they were stuck on the team bus for more than two hours. They finally stepped off at Saitama Stadium about five minutes ago, or about 35 minutes before the scheduled kick-off. Normally they would have been close to finishing their warm-up by now so it’s pretty wild that, in such a crucial game, this is the way it will start. Japan’s camp reportedly requested a delayed kick-off to allow their opponents more time, but the match commissioner rejected this request.
What Australia can learn from Japan’s rise
A taste from a great piece from Vince Rugari (you can read the full thing here):
It can all be traced back to 1999, six years after the launch of the J.League, when the competition’s governing body unveiled a 100-year plan for football. Their vision: to have 100 professional clubs in Japan by 2092, which would be the league’s 100th season, and for those clubs to stitch themselves into the fabric of their local communities.
Twenty-five years in, they are ahead of schedule: they have 60 professional clubs across three tiers of football, connected through promotion and relegation, underpinned by a thriving high school and university system in full alignment, largely unchallenged by any sports aside from baseball, which remains Japan’s undisputed number one sport. It has created a phenomenal strength in depth to the point where Japan’s B and C teams would probably be in the mix for World Cup qualification through Asia, if they could enter multiple sides.
Meanwhile, the A-League launched in 2005 with eight clubs (one based in New Zealand). Now it has 13 (with a second Kiwi outfit, Auckland FC, beginning this season), and still nothing below it; the radio silence continues over Football Australia’s plans for a national second division next year. And even if it happens, there won’t be promotion and relegation for at least another decade.
The line-ups
Popovic has changed more than half of his XI that lined up against China.
We have …
Burgess replacing Rowles, Geria replacing Deng, Bos replacing Behich, Brattan replacing O’Neill, McGree replacing Irankunda and Hrustic replacing Goodwin.
Gauci retains his spot in goal over captain Maty Ryan.
Moriyasu, meanwhile, has made just the one change, with Take Kubo in for Daichi Kamada.
Both sides look to be set up in similar formations.
Hello
Welcome to live coverage of Australia’s latest World Cup qualifier. The second Socceroos match under Tony Popovic, and a mighty difficult one at that. Japan are an absolute force of nature, with 20 wins from their past 22 games, including 14 goals scored and none conceded across their first three third-phase qualifiers so far.
Hajime Moriyasu’s side sit top of Group C on nine points – five ahead of the Socceroos. That Australia are second is quite something in itself given they were fifth heading into last week’s 3-1 defeat of China in Adelaide. That is on goal difference only, thanks to Japan’s win over Saudi Arabia and Bahrain’s draw with Indonesia, but it does show you what one round of fixtures can make.
The Socceroos haven’t beaten Japan since 2009, and have never done so in Japan. So any kind of result here would be something to write home about. But confidence is up, so don’t rule anything out.
To jog your memory, the top two teams qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup while third and fourth face another round of qualifiers.
