After 12 long years, the Socceroos have finally tasted victory at the World Cup with an enthralling 1-0 victory over Tunisia.
It came on the back of Graham Arnold making an extremely gutsy pre-match call that one former Socceroo believes he got “absolutely spot on”.
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The Socceroos boss also demonstrated he had learned from the France defeat in one critical area which proved critical.
Foxsports.com.au analyses the critical elements of the Aussies’ victory in the Socceroos Talking Points!
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ROOS ‘RUN THEMSELVES INTO THE GROUND’ AS ARNIE NAILS SUBS
Coach Graham Arnold was roundly slammed for his unwillingness to make substitutions earlier in the Socceroos 4-1 defeat to France – making just one of his five possible changes before France put the game to bed with their fourth goal.
Socceroos great Craig Foster told SBS after that loss: “I think the question for Graham is whether he should have changed the game earlier? We were 2-1 down but really we were conceding a lot of really good chances. We thought that maybe he was going to change (Nathaniel) Atkinson earlier. He got through an incredible amount of work.”
Mark Bosnich interjected: “He should have changed him at halftime.”
Foster continued: “I was surprised he took so long to change (him), close to the end of the game.”
Before this match, Bosnich also said: “Coming back to what Fozzy said about damage limitation, that is something else we could learn from that game, in that first game, we should have made substitutions far earlier considering so many had not played regular football.”
This time, Arnold pulled a double substitution at just the right time – bringing off the hero of the hour, scorer Mitch Duke, along with attacking midfielder Riley McGree in the 63rd minute.
Souttar’s superhuman effort saves Roos | 00:36
Both had got through a mountain of work, while Tunisia had fought back strongly after the interval and were looking increasingly dangerous. The two substitutes – Ajdin Hrustic and Jamie Maclaren – both delivered, with Maclaren just centimetres from setting up a goal.
Arnold then made three more substitutions at key moments – first veteran Milos Degenek coming on to reinforce the backline in the 75th minute, before another double-sub of both wingers ten minutes later. That saw Mat Leckie and Craig Goodwin hooked after a sensational effort from the pair, with defensive midfielder Keanu Baccus offering even more solidity in the final minutes. In short, Arnold pulled the strings perfectly to throw on fresh legs precisely when they were needed.
Duke said after the game: “The message from Arnie (after the goal) was the same one he gave at halftime – run yourself into the ground.”
“We’ll make five subs and those players will do the same when they come on.”
Craig Foster said on SBS: “He got it absolutely right, the first half was brilliant and hanging on in the second, but they threw everything at it and when he brought on Hrustic in the 63rd minute, it was perfect. Jamie Maclaren almost got one as well for Leckie. Everything was right.”
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ARNOLD GETS GUTSY TEAM CALL ‘ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON’
Before the crunch clash, Arnold reiterated he had to go with his strongest possible line-up.
What that looked like differed depending on who you asked.
But for Arnold, that meant a virtually unchanged team from the one that lost 4-1 to France, with Fran Karacic the only new face as he replaced the injured Nathaniel Atkinson at right back.
Many, including Socceroos legend Harry Kewell, felt that would include star midfielder Ajdin Hrustic but he was an unused substitute in the loss against France having recently returned from an ankle injury.
“I am disappointed (Hrustic isn’t starting),” Kewell told SBS.
“I could understand the first game, not playing. I’m sure there are a lot of players out there not playing at 100 percent.
“I would have liked to have seen him start, to see how long he could have played.”
Given the fact his team ran their socks off in the defeat against France, it was a bold call by Arnold to back his troops to chalk up crazy running distances once again.
So too was the decision to stick with the centre-back pairing of Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles as both struggled against France.
BLISTERING Duke header puts Roos up! | 00:35
Yet the duo, especially Souttar, were at their best as they constantly swatted away several Tunisian attacks and produced some crucial tackles.
And there was plenty of praise from the SBS punditry team for Arnold’s decision to stick with his gut on the line-up as opposed to ringing the changes.
“He’s (Arnold) there every day,” John Aloisi said.
“He’s got his high performance team there. They’ll know how well they’ve recovered from games, how well they’re looking in training, the lead-up into the tournament, who’s playing, who’s not playing, who’s in form, who’s confident.
“So he has to go off his gut.”
Former Socceroo Mark Bosnich added Arnold got his line-up “absolutely spot on”.
Whether Arnold goes for the same line-up against Denmark remains to be seen, but based on the Tunisia victory, he has proven his gut feeling is probably right.
‘AUSSIE SPIRIT’ ON FULL DISPLAY – BUT THAT’S HALF THE STORY
Throughout his tenure, Arnold has repeatedly spoken of ‘Aussie DNA’ – a shared belief, a willingness to fight for one another, a dogged determination and underdog spirit. It’s a theme he repeated after the win.
“I’m hugely proud of the boys, they showed that great fighting Aussie spirit,” Arnold said.
“Our fight and our grit and our determination, the old Aussie way, was very important tonight.”
It was on full display throughout the match, from Harry Souttar’s desperate goal-saving tackles to the incredible gut-bursting runs of Leckie and co in attack. But we’ve seen the Socceroos fight and be courageous and physical before – and lose. This time, the difference was as much about mentality as tactics.
John Aloisi told SBS: “The mindset tonight was different. The mindset was put pressure on the ball when Tunisia have it, and then play when we’ve got it. And they did that in the first half, they did that really well.”
But Craig Foster said: “What Graham did today was outstanding. He got everything right … that’s so magnificent.”
“The thing about what Graham said: ‘Oh, it’s the Aussie fighting spirit’. That’s right, but that’s the minimum. Actually in the first half, they played fantastic football. They played Tunisia off the park.
“They didn’t just take the ball off them. They didn’t just use their fighting spirit, actually they played football as well. And that’s up to him as well, because Graham’s tactics in this game were absolutely spot on.
“And we played football! And that’s what you want. When you put the two together, this is what can happen.
“That’s what’s required against Denmark. It’s not enough just to go (and fight).”
It mirrors what Foster said before the game: “Courage in football is not just about playing into people and being aggressive in the tackles and physical bravery, it is about playing, wanting the ball in tight positions, wanting to press high, taking risk at the back, and wanting to win the game not waiting for the game to be handed to you.”
Tunisia presented a series of tricky tactical problems, with their coach Jale Kadri saying afterwards: “We changed tactics two or three times in the second half”).
But Arnold responded to the tactical changes and solved each puzzle he faced – and his players showed every bit of that Aussie spirit.
AUSSIES TOOK 23 MINUTES TO ROB TUNISIA OF THEIR GREATEST WEAPON
Against Denmark, Tunisia was roared on by a passionate support barely any other nation could boast.
Every crunching tackle, every run off the ball and every charge at goal got a sea of red shirts up on their feet and yelling from the top of their lungs.
It no doubt played a key role in the ‘Eagles of Carthage’ securing a scoreless draw against the World No. 10.
And the Tunisian fan base, supported by a strong expat community in Qatar, was expected to bring the noise once again to create a lion’s den-like atmosphere for the Aussies.
The boos at the Al Janoub Stadium rung loud as early as the Socceroos’ warm-up in a reminder of the hostile territory they were entering.
But Arnold’s troops had been in the exact same situation only a few months earlier when they faced Peru in the all-important World Cup qualifier play-off.
Lusail Stadium was decked out in a sea of red and white Peruvian shirts that day, yet the Socceroos proved their mental toughness and came out on top in a nerve-racking penalty shootout to break the South American nation’s hearts.
Although the Tunisian fans were in fine voice from the start, it began to get quieter as the Socceroos took the early ascendancy with their attacking play.
Then it was time for those in yellow shirts to be the loudest when Mitchell Duke scored the opener in the 23rd minute.
The goal not only sent Aussie fans in Qatar and at home delirious, but it then robbed Tunisia of its best weapon: their crowd.
The second half was a slightly different story when Tunisia began to take the upper hand, but the crowd simply couldn’t lift them over the line.
Once again, the Aussies proved they could walk straight into the hornet’s nest and come out unscathed.
