It was another improvement for the Socceroos, with an interesting tactical battle between Ange Postecoglou and Hugo Broos occurring throughout. A full-time score of 1-1 didn’t particularly suit either team, with positive results required against Chile and Germany respectively if either are to have any hope of progressing to the Semi-Finals.

Formations

Ange Postecoglou made two changes to the starting XI that began the match against Germany, with Robbie Kruse getting the nod ahead of Massimo Luongo, who performed poorly in the 3-2 loss against Die Mannschaft. Aaron Mooy returned to a deeper midfield role alongside Mark Milligan, in an effort to control possession in the same manner that was prevalent in the improved second half against Germany. Alex Gersbach, 20, who was a late injury replacement to Brad Smith, replaced Aziz Behich on the left wing, and Tomi Juric continued to lead the team going forward.

Former Club Brugge manager Hugo Broos named an unchanged team from Cameroon’s 2-0 defeat against world number four Chile, with the most capped player in the 11 being Vincent Aboubakar, who has appeared 59 times for his country at the age of just 25. France-based captain Benjamin Moukandjo started on the left-hand side of attack, with Collins Fai behind him at left-back. The highly technical Zambo Anguissa began the game at the base of midfield behind Siani and Djoum, but would take up a more advanced role as the match went on.

Formations and movement tendencies

Australia’s exploitation of the fifth line

The bulk of Australia’s most promising moments initiated in and around their fifth line of play, with Tommy Rogic and Robbie Kruse performing key roles during chance creation phases.

For the opening periods of the game, there was essentially a consistent 2v1 situation on the fifth line, as Rogic and Kruse were playing against the single pivot of Anguissa. On its own, this scenario presented Anguissa with three separate defensive decisions; to mark Rogic, to mark Kruse, or to mark the space in front of the back four.

Each decision obviously has a cost, that being the other two options are now free. For example, if the defender goes to Rogic, then Robbie Kruse is unmarked on the opposite side and the central channel is unmanned, thus creating space for Juric to drop into or a deeper midfield to advance. This dilemma caused Cameroon numerous headaches in the first half, as Australia looked to exploit the 2v1 situation as often as possible.

2v1 situation on the fifth line, favouring Australia