Amazing what a difference two games can make. Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against benchmark nation Japan in Saitama, combined with last Thursday’s 3-1 come-from-behind win over China in Adelaide, means the Socceroos have four from a possible six points since Popovic took over. The results have been achieved with very limited time to imprint his philosophy onto a squad low on confidence and in a sticky World Cup qualifying predicament. Within five days, Australia have surged from fifth in the six-team Group C to second behind only Japan. Given third-placed Saudi Arabia and fourth-placed Bahrain are behind only on goal difference, they are not out of the woods yet. But the players have endorsed the intensity and drive demanded by their new manager, and dealt with what was in front of them even after a traffic accident left them trapped on the team bus and late to the match. Popovic himself was upbeat, too. “This window has been good for us,” Popovic said. “It’s always nice when you have a change – coaching change, staff change. We won the first game at home. After [we were] losing 1-0 we won 3-1. They’re the first goals we have scored. Then we come to Japan. Excellent team … we score a goal against them. It’s the first goal they’ve conceded. So it’s positive.”
Winning (or drawing) ugly is sometimes okay
If we are quoting Popovic himself, “it’s always okay to win ugly”. He did qualify that statement his first press conference with: “I’ll never be satisfied when we win and we don’t play well, we’ll be satisfied with the win, but we need to make sure that the style gets better.” Which sort of sums up the smash-and-grab in Saitama, in which the Socceroos ended the Samurai Blue’s perfect run of nine wins from nine games with no goals conceded – without even registering a shot on target. An own goal apiece is, by definition, ugly. That was especially for an Australian side whose only shot on goal all game was when Cam Burgess scored for the other team. Japan had 12 shots, including three on target, and two-thirds of possession. Popovic’s set-up was a defensively minded variation of the new-look 3-4-3 formation he’d unveiled in Adelaide, and you got the sense from his post-match remarks that he views the way it played out as more of a starting point than a set-in-stone style. “Our aspirations are to challenge Japan at a better level than what we played today,” Popovic said. “That’s the goal for us.”
Tony Popovic in the dugout at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday night.Credit: AP
No one is safe
Not even the captain, as Mat Ryan found out. Australia’s long-time first-choice goalkeeper spent two straight games warming the bench as Joe Gauci took the incumbent’s place between the posts. Whether this is the beginning of the end for Ryan at international level or just a blip on the radar is something only Popovic will know, but the major omission signalled that the new manager has no intention of selecting players based on anything other than his belief in their capacity to perform in the manner he wants them to. Both line-ups featured a couple of shocks, and among the six changes to the XI facing Japan was his decision to make Luke Brattan the oldest Socceroos debutant in history. After 45 minutes of watching the Macarthur FC midfielder, aged 34 years and 221 days, repeatedly turn the ball over, the experiment was ended and Brattan was replaced by another auditionee in Patrick Yazbek. All the chopping and changing hints at more squad surprises for the November meetings with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Mat Ryan had the unusual experience of sitting on the Socceroos’ bench – twice.Credit: Getty Images
Geria is the missing defensive piece
Jason Geria’s international career appeared to have started and ended back in 2016, when Ange Postecoglou gave the then 23-year-old his debut off the bench in a friendly against Greece. The right-back did not get a look-in during Graham Arnold’s tenure, but received a shock recall a fortnight ago from his former Melbourne Victory boss. Popovic, in his own words, has “got a history with” Geria, now 31, and had a pretty significant hole to fill in the absence of both Alessandro Circati (ACL) and Ryan Strain (hamstring). And while Thomas Deng got the nod the starting nod against China, Geria’s half-time introduction was so assured he played the full 90 minutes against Japan and was awarded player of the match. He and the also-excellent Harry Souttar looked like they have played alongside each other for years, to the point it’s now tough to see a squad without him in it this cycle.
Jason Geria in action against Japan.Credit: AP
Suspended Goodwin will be sorely missed
Playing as an inverted winger on the right – where he now plays for his Saudi Arabian club Al-Wehda – Adelaide’s hometown hero was the glue that repaired the team after going down 1-0 to China, providing the assist for Lewis Miller’s first-half equaliser before scoring a trademark Goodwin second-half screamer. The 32-year-old spent most of the Japan game on the bench, which is where Popovic may now wish he had left him given his 87th-minute cameo ended with his second yellow card of this qualifying stage. It means that Australia’s strongest route to goal will be missing for next month’s campaign-defining fixture against Saudi Arabia in Melbourne.
