A tougher task, a more technical opponent, a rough away trip in difficult conditions...and a complete blow out of a scoreline. See how the Socceroos rated in their 7-1 thrashing of Chinese Taipei.
The Taiwanese are a tricky outfit. They were nabbed from the South Asian minnow wasteland and the wrong-side of the FIFA 150 rankings by former Fremantle City winger, Gary White.
It's nice to see Australia's football roots - however tenuous - weave and splinter their way through even the most unlikely of Asian soil, but fortunately for the Aussies this development springboard didn't come back to bite us.
Bar a wake-up call in the form of a precision Taipei header on the 20th minute mark, the Aussies had to deal with a little bark but barely any bite. So considering this match was effectively a Socceroos showcase, who put their best foot forward?
Socceroos ratings
Mat Ryan - 7
The one real chance the Taiwanese manufactured, they dispatched ruthlessly. Ryan was surprised, Rhyan Grant was dumfounded, but Chen Yi-Wei looked cool as ice, as if he tucks away deadly headers every weekend and not once every 57 caps.
Not much else to judge Ryan by really, other than the anger in his reaction and the fact the next time the ball came past Wei, Grant took more notice.
Rhyan Grant - 7
It's unfair to judge Grant by one moment of sloppiness considering he'd been excellent up until that point. His choice moment resulted in Australia's first goal, where Grant swung in a delicious cross for Adam Taggart to lap up, right in their keeper's face.
He was at fault for the Taiwan goal but a livewire for the rest of the first half until fading somewhat in the second half when Hrustic came on and stole the spotlight on the road.
Milos Degenek - 7
He's loving life back in Belgrade and it's to forget he's only 25 because he looks like a natural leader and, well, a little weathered.
We will temper this rating a little by pointing out that Degenek, like almost every Socceroo on the pitch, was bamboozled at least once by a trio of Taipei's Messi-wannabees. At times, it looked as if there were a few Taiwanese more interested in their YouTube highlight reels than finding teammates, but given the scoreline, you can hardly blame them.
Despite conceding, there was a noticeable shift in how comfortable the Socceroos looked maintaining possession in their defensive third with Degenek in the squad over Bailey Wright, which is interesting considering Wright had a decent shift against Nepal.
Most encouraging though, is simply that Degenek looks spritely. He calmly interceped tidy balls from the Taiwanese midfield all night, the sort that would have caused the Aussies problems if Degenek's head was somewhere in the Balkans, forlornly nostalgic about Splavs, Raki and Champions League football.
Harry Souttar - 7
We're not sure if it's a good or a bad thing that after a single cap we all sat back and thought 'Yep, we know what he does.'
The big lad did exactly what we expected. Headers? Check. Holding off attackers with his left hand? Double check. Running? Mmm...
Say what we like about him, he's got three or four goals in two appearances. At this rate he'll outdo Mark Viduka. He didn't run much either.
Brad Smith - 7
Because Arnie clearly reads these ratings (how else would he pick his squad?) he would have noticed our rant after the Nepal match about how Behich's crossing is glitched and stuck in some weird time-loop.
It might seem ridiculous to pin a transformation on a Seattle Sounders' fullback but Smith's inclusion re-energised the Socceroos in that opening stanza. He cut inside brilliantly and brought a sense of unpredictability that's been sorely lacking from the Socceroos in wide positions.
He was loaned out from Bournemouth because of a few nervy, erratic first touches that left a yawning chasm between him and the rest of the silky smooth mid-table brigade and he faded from the Socceroos radar while Behich went on his 21-match run.
But any Liverpool fan can tell you that when he's confident, he's damn exciting. And when he's partnered with Awer Mabil, the question then becomes: how much excitement can Arnie take?
Related Articles
Socceroos midfielder embraces move to England
Cardiff City snap up sought-after Socceroos starlet
