Strap yourselves in because it looks like it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride to South Africa.....yet again the Socceroos rode their luck and have Mark Schwarzer to thank for securing vital points that saw them take a big step towards the second stage at SunCorp last night.
It was end to end stuff all the way with scares for the Socceroos coming early on, late on...and in the middle for good measure. The Iraqi team showed that in the 12 months since their Asian Cup victory they have not become the $7 outsiders that TAB had them at kick off. They played the way we knew they would play...with Mahmoud up front making a nuisance of himself and holding the ball up to allow the likes of Akram and Mulla Mohammed to get forward and cause havoc...they did it in Bangkok a year ago where Kisnorbo and Neill had no answer to their movement from deep positions.....this time it was North and Beauchamp who failed to come up with the answers as the Iraqis had more than enough clear cut chances to have been out of sight at half time and comfortable winners at full time.
But a combination of great keeping from Schwarzer, poor composure in one-on-one situations from Mahmoud and Mohammed and the early intervention of a cross bar meant that Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos are still yet to concede in his time in charge.
Sandwiched in between the scares at other end though was some of the best football the Socceroos have played since the World Cup...Harry Kewell played like that most motivated of footballers – one without a contract – and produced his best performance at any level for a long time capped off with a clinical headed finish. Scott McDonald had a good game alongside him but really needs a goal to boost his confidence at this level...Grella and Culina had solid games in the guts, Bresciano was busy just ahead of them and Carney and Emerton were strong on the flanks going forward but in defence sometimes allow their men space to run inside which increases the pressure on the heart of the defence. The period of play after the goal produce some fantastic possession football for the Socceroos culminating with the creation of the chance that so nearly saw Kewell double his tally at the end of the a flowing move. That would have put the game out of reach but it didn’t and then with Verbeek withdrawing some of the key threats to Iraq in Bresciano and Kewell he handed back the initiative to the Iraqis for the last 15 minutes and they took advantage and created enough chances to win the game in the remaining minutes.
The recent retirements of Moore, Popovic and Vidmar have left the Socceroos short of good old fashioned stoppers....those under rated players whose main task is to stop the opposition getting space where they can hurt you, nullifying the physical threat of attacking players like Mahmoud and providing a threat from set pieces at the other end. Rarely do the Socceroos pose much of a threat from attacking set pieces in the air without the presence of Josh Kennedy and Tim Cahill. Of the four at the back two are converted wide midfielders and one of the centrebacks is converted full back and at times when faced with a mobile and fluid attacking threat as they will be throughout this Asian qualification process they were left wanting a few too many times for comfort yesterday.
As it is the Socceroos stand on top of the group but we shouldn’t forget that without the heroics of Schwarzer in Kunming and now Brisbane they could easily be bottom and facing the prospect of their World Cup campaign being over before it had really begun.
They should make the second stage from here with one win from their final 3 games likely to be enough to secure qualification. However, the Socceroos will learn a lot more about the size of their task in their two game trip to the middle East where their defensive frailties will be tested again without the benefit of a large home crowd and a comfortable Aussie autumn evening kick off time.
There were a lot of positives to take from last night’s performance but let’s hope "lucky" Pim's heeding the warnings signs too.
It was end to end stuff all the way with scares for the Socceroos coming early on, late on...and in the middle for good measure. The Iraqi team showed that in the 12 months since their Asian Cup victory they have not become the $7 outsiders that TAB had them at kick off. They played the way we knew they would play...with Mahmoud up front making a nuisance of himself and holding the ball up to allow the likes of Akram and Mulla Mohammed to get forward and cause havoc...they did it in Bangkok a year ago where Kisnorbo and Neill had no answer to their movement from deep positions.....this time it was North and Beauchamp who failed to come up with the answers as the Iraqis had more than enough clear cut chances to have been out of sight at half time and comfortable winners at full time.
But a combination of great keeping from Schwarzer, poor composure in one-on-one situations from Mahmoud and Mohammed and the early intervention of a cross bar meant that Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos are still yet to concede in his time in charge.
Sandwiched in between the scares at other end though was some of the best football the Socceroos have played since the World Cup...Harry Kewell played like that most motivated of footballers – one without a contract – and produced his best performance at any level for a long time capped off with a clinical headed finish. Scott McDonald had a good game alongside him but really needs a goal to boost his confidence at this level...Grella and Culina had solid games in the guts, Bresciano was busy just ahead of them and Carney and Emerton were strong on the flanks going forward but in defence sometimes allow their men space to run inside which increases the pressure on the heart of the defence. The period of play after the goal produce some fantastic possession football for the Socceroos culminating with the creation of the chance that so nearly saw Kewell double his tally at the end of the a flowing move. That would have put the game out of reach but it didn’t and then with Verbeek withdrawing some of the key threats to Iraq in Bresciano and Kewell he handed back the initiative to the Iraqis for the last 15 minutes and they took advantage and created enough chances to win the game in the remaining minutes.
The recent retirements of Moore, Popovic and Vidmar have left the Socceroos short of good old fashioned stoppers....those under rated players whose main task is to stop the opposition getting space where they can hurt you, nullifying the physical threat of attacking players like Mahmoud and providing a threat from set pieces at the other end. Rarely do the Socceroos pose much of a threat from attacking set pieces in the air without the presence of Josh Kennedy and Tim Cahill. Of the four at the back two are converted wide midfielders and one of the centrebacks is converted full back and at times when faced with a mobile and fluid attacking threat as they will be throughout this Asian qualification process they were left wanting a few too many times for comfort yesterday.
As it is the Socceroos stand on top of the group but we shouldn’t forget that without the heroics of Schwarzer in Kunming and now Brisbane they could easily be bottom and facing the prospect of their World Cup campaign being over before it had really begun.
They should make the second stage from here with one win from their final 3 games likely to be enough to secure qualification. However, the Socceroos will learn a lot more about the size of their task in their two game trip to the middle East where their defensive frailties will be tested again without the benefit of a large home crowd and a comfortable Aussie autumn evening kick off time.
There were a lot of positives to take from last night’s performance but let’s hope "lucky" Pim's heeding the warnings signs too.
