Australia labour to victory against Bahrain

 
Mike Tuckerman Columnist

By , 11 Jun 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

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Australia's Mile Sterjovski scissor kicks to set up Australia's 2nd goal by David Carney during their World Cup Asian qualifying match against Bahrain in Sydney on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Australia defeated Bahrain 2-0. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Australia's Mile Sterjovski scissor kicks to set up Australia's 2nd goal by David Carney during their World Cup Asian qualifying match against Bahrain in Sydney on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Australia defeated Bahrain 2-0. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

If the ability to grind out victories is the hallmark of a great football team, then the Socceroos should win the World Cup with ease. Once again Pim Verbeek’s team turned in a workman like performance as they laboured to a 2-0 victory on a bitterly cold evening at ANZ Stadium in Sydney overnight.

The positives just about outweighed the negatives: some decent performances from former Sydney FC duo David Carney and Mark Milligan – the latter of whom recovered from a fairly nervy start – a full length run-out for Harry Kewell and another clean sheet for stand-in captain Mark Schwarzer.

But despite the victory, Socceroos fans won’t be able to shake that nagging feeling that the team could have done so much more.

Watching Scott McDonald try and get his name on the scoresheet in the second half was like an exercise in sadomasochistic torture.

At one stage the Celtic striker appeared determined to go it alone as he embarked on a mazy run to slalom through the Bahrain defence, only for McDonald to step on the ball at the crucial moment with an unmarked Kewell to his left.

The diminutive striker had earlier missed a glorious opportunity on twenty-five minutes to open his account for the Socceroos, ballooning a volley over the crossbar when he had ample time to steady himself in front of goal.

He’d been played in by the extravagantly coiffured Brett Holman, who despite the questionable hair-do turned in one of his better performances in a Socceroos jersey.

Once again it was Mark Schwarzer who stole the headlines with another clean sheet, although Verbeek will be pleased with both Mile Sterjovski and David Carney for ultimately boosting Australia’s goal tally.

The Socceroos never really clicked into gear against a willing but technically limited opponent.

The game was played at a fairly leisurely pace throughout, and the lack of intensity wasn’t helped by the dearth of atmosphere inside the cavernous ANZ Stadium – or Stadium Australia to give it it’s FIFA-preferred moniker.

Football Federation Australia were caught between a rock and a hard place when it came to scheduling this fixture.

The Socceroos dream run through the qualifiers ensured they had already booked their place at the World Cup finals going into this match, making it a dead rubber for the home team.

While that’s a best-case scenario that the FFA will no doubt have envisaged, many fans would have missed out if the Socceroos still had something to play for and the match was scheduled at the far smaller Sydney Football Stadium.

Personally I’d have preferred to see the game played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, but with the Socceroos roadshow a lucrative cash cow these days, it comes as no real surprise that the final two qualifiers were booked for the country’s largest two cities.

A big crowd is expected to turn out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next week, and Australia can seal top spot in the group by taking a point off the Blue Samurai.

They’ll hope to take all three, of course, but a repeat of some of the individual errors that crept in at the back could see Mark Schwarzer’s long run of clean sheets broken.

Japan will be desperate to try and knock the Socceroos off the top of the standings, but their 1-1 draw at home to Qatar means they must beat Australia to do so.

Even a win over Takeshi Okada’s men may not be enough to silence Pim Verbeek’s critics – with the laconic Dutchman blasted by the tabloid press for his decision to enforce a media ban on his players.

That won’t bother the results-oriented Verbeek, and nor will his team’s performance against Bahrain following what was ultimately a comfortable win.

Socceroos fans hoping for a spectacle in Melbourne could be disappointed, however, if the performance in Sydney is anything to go by.

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