In a strange twist of fate, a draw and a loss against Brazil have shown the Socceroos are perfectly placed for a tilt at a second Asian Cup title in January.
Australia might have lost the second showdown against the South American giants 4-2 in Brisbane, but the match showed more was right within the Australian set-up than wrong.
The side’s confident, front-footed use of the ball across the two games sent a message that Australia is ready to take on the best in the world again, instead of just soaking up pressure against them.
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The possession stats only finished 51-49 in Brazil’s favour and Australia had 51 final-third entries to Brazil’s 44.
The next part of the evolution is to be more clinical in the box when the big moments arrive, but at least now those big moments are being created with more regularity.
The players look far more assured of themselves, perhaps a by-product of the cut-throat environment the majority of the squad find themselves in daily at their clubs across Europe.
A shared experience of a World Cup campaign that ended in a penalty shootout loss in the Round of 32 against Egypt also looks to have helped their development.
“It’s very different,” Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said after the game when asked about the growth of his players since the tournament.
“In the World Cup, it was a first for everything.
“It was a first that the team plays together, there were a lot of young boys, so they had to experience something at the highest level, which they did, and they performed really well.
“This was another step forward for us against outstanding opposition, with top-quality players and we acquitted ourselves very well over the two games.”
SOCCEROOS WEATHER EARLY PRESSURE AND RESPOND IN SUPERB FASHION
Brazil started the game like a side looking to launch an emphatic response to the wave of criticism that hit them following their 1-1 draw with the Socceroos in Townsville on Friday night.
The five-time World Cup winners scored in just the third minute of the match through Vanderson.
The fullback’s goal was the earliest Australia had conceded under Popovic and Brazil almost doubled its advantage just a minute later.
It looked ominous for the Socceroos at that point, but the Aussies showed the steel that underpinned their stunning performance in north Queensland wasn’t a one-off.
Alessandro Circati and Connor Metcalfe put the hosts 2-1 up in a dominant five-minute spell either side of the half-hour mark.
“Wonderful goal,” was all Popovic would offer on Metcalfe’s moment of magic where he rocketed a left-foot-shot into the back of the net from outside the box.
The goals came after the Socceroos had created several openings and looked far more assured with and without the ball.
Harry Souttar’s foul on Danilo allowed Raphinha to equalise from the spot right before the break, but the maturity of the momentum swing Australia was able to execute showed how much this side has grown.
They didn’t wait, soak up pressure and counter their way back into the contest.
Instead, it was boldness and bravery with the ball on show.
Popovic has seen this group grow “physically” and “mentally” since he last laid eyes on them in North America.
“The confidence from playing at the highest level,” he says when asked why it has happened.
“They saw that they can compete with other top nations at the World Cup.
“A lot of them have moved on to other clubs and you can see that they’re improving, they’re getting better.
“We need more players to hopefully get that experience because you can see the difference between the ones that are playing regularly and the ones that aren’t.
“I thought overall they were really good, and today we went behind very early – and you are playing Brazil – and we really responded in a fantastic manner, really, really pleased with how we played in the first half.
“It’s always those little moments and details and, you know, up until they scored the third goal I thought we were very much in the match and could’ve had a goal ourselves before they scored.”
SOCCEROOS NEW STYLE OF PLAY BREEDS CONFIDENCE
The Socceroos were told to embody those two qualities, boldness and bravery in possession, prior to the start of the series and again before game two.
It’s one thing to ask for it and another altogether to execute it against a side like Brazil in front of two huge crowds.
The players get a significant pass mark on this front.
The side was often criticised for looking sloppy and frantic with the ball at times on the road to the last World Cup, but if what we’ve seen over the last 180-plus minutes from Popovic’s side is the new normal, then the future is bright.
It remains to be seen whether this new-found confidence in possession can be produced under tournament conditions at the Asian Cup in January when the stakes are a little higher, but this was proof of concept against a Brazilian side taking these games very seriously.
JACKSON IRVINE UNLUCKY NOT TO HAVE A PENALTY, AND CALL PROVES COSTLY
Irvine thought he’d done enough to earn a penalty in the 64th minute after another tireless run into the box.
The midfielder got the first touch and was then taken out by Andrey Santos.
It was extremely unlucky not to be given.
The resulting spot kick would’ve given the Socceroos a chance of taking a 3-2 lead.
Instead, Brazil scored soon after following a free-flowing seven-pass move that took the Selecao from just outside their own box to Australia’s in the blink of an eye.
Bruno Guimaraes poked it home from six yards out.
Nestory Irankunda’s foul on Vinicius Jnr allowed the Real Madrid winger to make it 4-2 from the spot in the 80th minute.
“You could still see – the last twenty minutes – we looked very fatigued, but you see their players, with what comes on and where they play, and their big players can still make big actions late in matches,” Popovic said.
“I said it at the World Cup. When we are winning games between the 80th and 90th minute with the players that started the match, that will be a really big step for us.
“We’re working towards that.”
WHAT FRIENDLY? TENSIONS SPILL OVER JUST AFTER THE HOUR MARK
It wasn’t quite a push-and-shove as much as it was a bunch of frustrated players coming together in front of the benches.
Tension was already high before a challenge that saw Harry Souttar just get to the ball before Endrick, who slid through the Socceroos captain.
Endrick chased after his much taller opponent as well to show his displeasure and things boiled over from there.
The moment seemed to fire up Brazil who went from 2-2 to 4-2 up in the blink of an eye.
HOW DID THE SAME STARTING XI RESPOND?
Popovic named an unchanged starting side from the 1-1 draw in Townsville on Friday night. The coach said prior to the game in Brisbane that he was looking forward to seeing not only how the players who started in Townsville backed up, but whether they could at all.
It wasn’t a given.
As part of his World Cup debrief, Popovic revealed he could’ve made more changes to his side for the second group-stage clash against the USA which they lost 2-0 in Seattle, because of the fatigue – both physical and mental – accumulated by the players during the first up win over Turkey in Canada days earlier.
The meeting with the USA was the game where the coach was criticised for benching Irankunda and Metcalfe who had both scored in Vancouver.
Brisbane was a test of character and resilience for those given the opportunity in Townsville.
“We wanted to test the group on playing again four days later and that was deliberate, to keep the same squad,” Popovic said of not making changes to his starting side from Townsville to Brisbane.
“We wanted to see how they could handle that.”
Initially, it looked like the same malaise that was apparent on that hot summer’s day in Seattle had cropped up again in the opening minutes of the contest at Suncorp Stadium, but the Socceroos quickly got a foothold in the contest.
Popovic and his coaching staff have revealed the amount of growth they’ve seen in the players in the first camp since the World Cup has been substantial, particularly among the group that secured moves to bigger clubs.
There was no greater evidence of this than the mere minutes it took the Socceroos to arrest Brazil’s early runaway momentum. In Seattle against the USA in June, that task needed most of the first half to complete.
“We weren’t ready for that at the World Cup, nowhere near, but now there’s a growth.”
Socceroos seconds away from HUGE UPSET | 02:59
THE FANS HAVE RE-ENGAGED WITH THE SOCCEROOS
Prior to the World Cup, Football Australia knew they needed to get supporters re-engaged with the narrative of the Socceroos.
The global showpiece was an easy re-entry point, but would fans stick around for the four-year cycle in between and follow the fortunes of the players weekly? That type of loyalty is hard to win.
It seems like there’s been some breakthrough on that front.
Not only were both matches in Townsville and Brisbane sold-out (and yes, Brazil is an easier sell than most opponents) but almost 10,000 people showed up to Australia’s open training sessions across the two cities.
“The fans, in general, I think – I’d say 90 per cent of fans – probably felt that way during the World Cup and after the World Cup, and a lot of the people here in Queensland saw the performance in Townsville – they see that we have stars of the future, great young talent and they wanted to come and support them the day before the game,” said Popovic.
“I think it was quite special. A lot of the young boys looked even nervous in that training session, to be honest because they haven’t experienced something like that
before.”
The crowd of 52,423 at Suncorp Stadium broke the record for a Queensland football match, beating the 51,153 that rocked up to the 2014 A-League Grand Final between the Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers.
It also set a new mark for a Socceroos game in Queensland passing the 48,678 who watched the 2008 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iraq.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE SOCCEROOS AND WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE THEM BEFORE THE ASIAN CUP?
The Socceroos will be back in action against Qatar and Jordan in the next international window in November.
Against Brazil, Popovic largely put his faith in the players who featured at the World Cup and then added Marcus Younis to the mix.
Dylan Leonard, Yaya Dukuly, Jacob Chapman, Kasey Bos, Kealey Adamson and Eli Adams were among the new or relatively new faces who didn’t see any minutes.
How many did enough in training to earn recalls for the camp in the Middle East will be intriguing.
It’ll be one of the last chances to impress the national team coaching staff before the start of the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia in January where squad depth could prove pivotal in determining the Socceroos chances of securing the regional crown for a second time.
“We’ve got to see if some players can get some minutes between then,” Popovic said.
“There might be some new players that get an opportunity.
“We’re not closing the door on anyone and hopefully we have a very fit and strong squad available for the Asian Cup.”