Socceroos hammer Asian champions in statement win
Ian Chadband |
The Socceroos have enjoyed one of their most emphatic outings under Tony Popovic, outclassing woeful Asian Cup holders Qatar 3-0 with a statement win in front of the champions’ home fans in Doha.
Goals from Riley McGree, Tete Yengi and Nestory Irankunda in a dominant first-half display put the one-sided friendly to bed by the break on Friday (Saturday AEDT) with the help of dreadful defending from the back-to-back continental champions.
The fare did get totally disjointed after the break amid a bewildering raft of personnel changes, as subs Eli Adams, Sam Klein, Kasey Bos and Diesel Herrington all earned their Socceroos debuts, but Australia remained in complete control with the hosts only firing their first tame shot after 72 minutes.
“The win was what we wanted and we set the game up with a very good first-half,” Popovic, whose name has this week been linked with the now vacant Crystal Palace manager’s job in the Premier League, told Paramount+.
“We won some balls high up the pitch, which is always encouraging, in difficult conditions. A lot of the boys have come from Europe where it’s a lot cooler, so we were tested physically to be that aggressive.”
Relieved that they won’t have to travel to Amman for their second match next Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) and that Asian Cup finalists Jordan will come to Doha to face them, Popovic’s men seemed relaxed and confident from the start.
It certainly helped when in the fifth minute, new Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada had a complete brain-fade, attempting a short pass to his central defenders only to deliver it straight to a grateful Riley McGree, who slotted home left-footed into an unguarded net.
It was the Middlesbrough creator’s second international goal, a gift four years after his first.
McGree, who missed the World Cup through injury, showed what the Socceroos had missed as he ran the midfield show early on, also firing over narrowly with a 17th minute volley.
With Julen Lopetegui’s hosts looking strangely lethargic and toothless, it felt no surprise when another aimless clearance from Abunada resulted in Connor Metcalfe pouncing to put Yengi in the clear to finish neatly just after the half-hour.
Irankunda had a ball on the left flank tormenting the Qatari defence and another neat bit of midfield thieving and distribution from Metcalfe enabled him to free the Sporting Lisbon tyro to smash home his eighth international goal five minutes before the break.
It was the first time in five years the Socceroos had scored three in an overseas international, and it could have been six at the break, such was their dominance.
Popovic rang the changes in abundance, conceding: “We lost a bit of cohesion and fluency, but we got a lot of debuts as well, so special moment for them.”
Brotherly love was the order of the day. Kusini Yengi replaced Tete at the break, while on 65 minutes, Bos joined his absent older sibling Jordy as a full-fledged Socceroo before Diesel replaced Lucas Herrington, who’d had an armchair ride all match, in the final 10 minutes.
Popovic, while looking frustrated on the bench that his side hadn’t kicked on with more goals, couldn’t complain at a fine night’s work after 14 Australian shots on goal were answered by just three from Qatar, and not one on target except for an offside goal in the 88th minute.
The Socceroos can now face Jordan with confidence, perhaps just a little miffed they won’t be back in the Middle East in January for the Asian Cup now that it’s been rescheduled to December 2027 in Saudi Arabia because of the regional conflict.
AAP