Australia's striker Luke Wilkshire, left, fights for the ball with Kuwait's player B. Almotawa. The match ended with a 2-2 draw. AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari
If any fringe player pushed his case for inclusion in Pim Verbeek’s 23 man World Cup squad in appalling conditions in Kuwait City yesterday morning (our time), it was Nurnberg wide-man Dario Vidosic.
Make no mistake, this was a difficult game against very good opposition, played on a terrible surface.
The Socceroos went to the Middle East early and had an excellent preparation, geared around playing possession-based football.
But with all the resources in the world, why didn’t anyone know anything about the state of the pitch till 24 hours prior? A question that needs to be asked.
Given all that, and the fact Verbeek’s team featured seven A-Leaguers and three Europeans who haven’t had a game for over a month (Luke Wilkshire, Nick Carle and Vidosic), the Socceroos did very well to earn a share of the points.
It leaves them in a good position to qualify for Qatar. A draw against Indonesia in Brisbane in March will do, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted.
While Indonesia only have three points, and no chance of progressing, the fact they have drawn three of their five games, lost the other two by only one goal, and held the Socceroos to a scoreless draw a year ago, suggests they are no easy-beats.
Hopefully the surface at Suncorp will be better than the one dished up here.
It made for a scrappy affair, gripping though it was thanks to some constant shifts in momentum.
The Socceroos bossed the early proceedings, bagging two early strikes after reacting first to the fall of the ball at a pair of set pieces.
Scrappy, but effective, the goals summed up life under Verbeek.
It was a fantasy five minutes, calming the nerves and giving the midfield duo of Wilkshire and Mile Jedinak the confidence to go about their job of running the game.
Jedinak, in particular was at his destructive best, and the Kuwaitis couldn’t live with him for the first half hour or so.
But Kuwait manager Goran Tufegdzic played an early card, bringing on an extra attacker in Hamad Al Enezi to partner Yousef Nasser and the little gem, Bader Al Mutwa.
Suddenly the Kuwaitis started going long, and early.
The plan was clear and two-fold; to bypass Jedinak and Wilkshire, and try and expose the Socceroos defence through the pace of Al Enezi and Al Mutwa.
Tufegdzic targeted both the centre of defence, where Simon Colosimo and Craig Moore made errors to allow Al Enezi in for the first, and both Socceroos fullbacks, Dean Heffernan and Matthew Kemp, who are inexperienced at this level.
It is an area I had alluded to as a Socceroos weakness on Wednesday, and the Kuwaitis were bright enough to identify it and, even better, exploit it.
For the second goal, Al Mutwa took up a position in behind Dean Heffernan, got on the end of another long ball, ducked inside and teed up a delightful diagonal ball in behind Kemp. Nasser pounced.
Eugene Galekovic was slow to react for both goals.
The Socceroos were shaky, and the early part of the second period promised more.
Fortunately they were able to survive some dicey moments, and gradually exerted control over the second half, without every really threatening in the front third.
Vidosic caught the eye, taming the tricky surface with some good dribbling and movement infield, but the rest of the front third will be disappointed about an opportunity missed, and will spend endless nights wondering whether Verbeek will given them another one.
Archie Thompson tried as hard as he ever has in green and gold, but was often left isolated and unsure about his touch.
Carle kept receiving the ball with his back to goal and a Kuwaiti midfielder applying the heat from behind, but was never able to turn and face the goal, and I can’t remember one moment when he combined decisively with Thompson or his wide men.
Instead, he seemed content to get the ball, control it under difficult circumstances, and release it backwards. It is hard to remember such a conservative Carle performance.
On the positive front, he did win and provide the set piece that lead to Heffernan’s goal, and at least showed he could control the ball consistently on this surface.
Meanwhile, Mile Sterjovski was anonymous.
Given the surface and Thompson’s isolation from the rest of the team, it was a mystery was why Bruce Djite, a robust striker, wasn’t introduced earlier than two minutes into stoppage time.
The other ongoing worry for Verbeek is the recent form of Moore, who has much on his mind, admitting he is yet to sign any release from the Brisbane Roar.
A point keeps the Asian Cup dream alive, but there remains much to ponder in the upcoming months.
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