{"id":235482,"date":"2026-03-27T11:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/socceroos-streak-finally-breaks-before-world-cup-as-debutants-unleashed-in-key-audition\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:26:00","slug":"socceroos-streak-finally-breaks-before-world-cup-as-debutants-unleashed-in-key-audition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/socceroos-streak-finally-breaks-before-world-cup-as-debutants-unleashed-in-key-audition\/","title":{"rendered":"Socceroos streak finally breaks before World Cup as debutants unleashed in key audition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A late Jordan Bos goal secured the Socceroos a 1-0 FIFA Series win over Cameroon at Accor Stadium on Friday night.<\/p>\n

A pass from substitute Paul Okon-Engstler set up the opportunity, with the ball falling for wing-back Bos after Cameroon defender Samuel Kotto failed with his attempted interception.<\/p>\n

Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

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Bos produced a calm finish to secure the Socceroos their first win in four games after three successive losses to the USA, Venezuela and Colombia.<\/p>\n

It was a deserved victory on the basis of Australia\u2019s second-half performance, with the introduction immediately after half-time of Nestory Irankunda and Awer Mabil adding some much-needed zest to the Socceroos attack after a mundane first-half from both teams.<\/p>\n

The Socceroos\u2019 first proper chance of the game didn\u2019t come until the 71st minute when they were awarded a penalty after Cameroon right-back Oliver Kamdem fouled midfielder Aiden O\u2019Neill.<\/p>\n

VAR intervention was needed before the spot kick was awarded.<\/p>\n

However, it amounted to nothing, with substitute Ajdin Hrustic\u2019s penalty saved by goalkeeper Devis Epassy.<\/p>\n

The Australians had another chance five minutes later, but replacement Cameron Burgess failed to hit the target with his header.<\/p>\n

Irankunda had a chance soon after, but his shot was saved by Epassy.<\/p>\n

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A late Jordan Bos goal secured the Socceroos a 1-0 FIFA Series win over Cameroon at Accor Stadium on Friday night.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the Socceroos\u2019 were finally rewarded for their second-half dominance with Bos\u2019 third international goal.<\/p>\n

In a concern for the Socceroos ahead of their game against Curacao in Melbourne on Tuesday night, midfielder Connor Metcalfe was forced off in the second-half with what seemed to be a knee injury.<\/p>\n

Two debuts<\/b><\/p>\n

National coach Tony Popovic gave Socceroos debuts to two players, striker Deni Juric and 18-year-old central defender Lucas Herrington, with both starting the match.<\/p>\n

Poland-based Juric had been chosen in Australia\u2019s squad for last November\u2019s matches against Colombia and Venezuela but was forced to depart early due to injury.<\/p>\n

Herrington played for A-League club Brisbane Roar until January when he joined American Major League Soccer outfit Colorado, where he has immediately impressed.<\/p>\n

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Irankunda WOWS with another screamer | 00:15<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019ve been given an opportunity, and I haven\u2019t said too much to them to be honest,\u201d Popovic told Network 10 pre-match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to put the pressure on them, let them enjoy it, let them relax (and) embrace the moment of representing your country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to feel the confidence from the whole staff, and all the players, and just go out there and do their best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Juric, he failed to have an impact in what was overall a bland first-half, and didn\u2019t appear after half-time.<\/p>\n

Herrington, who played the entire match, looked assured and composed every time he touched the ball, and nullified Cameroon\u2019s attack with some quality defending in what was a memorable debut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A late Jordan Bos goal secured the Socceroos a 1-0 FIFA Series win over Cameroon at Accor Stadium on Friday night. A pass from substitute Paul Okon-Engstler set up the opportunity, with the ball falling for wing-back Bos after Cameroon defender Samuel Kotto failed with his attempted interception. Get all the latest football news, highlights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":235483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[151,1800,83,1736,3747,23317,22960,6597,5995,66052,2892,1429,68860,149,71439,9597,10744,2626,11442,862,5448,71438,20158,1533,1809,1728,71435,36595,71440,71436,30697,5429,17339,12783,1792,71437,7683,1465],"class_list":{"0":"post-235482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","12":"tag-brisbane-roar","13":"tag-cameroon","14":"tag-central-defender","15":"tag-colombia","16":"tag-colorado","17":"tag-deni-juric","18":"tag-eastern-europe","19":"tag-europe","20":"tag-fifa-series","21":"tag-football-news","22":"tag-football-scores","23":"tag-incredible-goal","24":"tag-international-goal","25":"tag-knee-injury","26":"tag-major-league-soccer","27":"tag-melbourne","28":"tag-middle-africa-sub-saharan-africa","29":"tag-mundane-first-half","30":"tag-national-coach","31":"tag-north-america","32":"tag-northern-america","33":"tag-oceania","34":"tag-oliver-kamdem","35":"tag-romania","36":"tag-samuel-kotto","37":"tag-second-half-dominance","38":"tag-second-half-performance","39":"tag-south-america","40":"tag-stoke-city-football-club","41":"tag-tony-popovic","42":"tag-united-states-of-america","43":"tag-var-intervention","44":"tag-venezuela","45":"tag-victoria"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}