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Socceroos vs Bangladesh highlights: World Cup Qualifier scores, blog

3rd September, 2015
Kickoff: 9pm (AEST)
Venue: Perth Oval, Perth
Head-to-head: First meeting
TV: Live, Fox Sports 3, on delay SBS1 from 10pm (AEST)
Betting: Australia $1.01, draw $17, Bangladesh $51
Massimo Luongo helped QPR to a controversial win. (AFP PHOTO/GLYN KIRK)
Roar Guru
3rd September, 2015
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18643 Reads

Fulltime: Australia 5-0 Bangladesh

Cakewalk, piece of cake – pick your sweet superlative as Australia dominated Bangladesh 5-0 from Perth.

Goals to Mathew Leckie, Tom Rogic, Nathan Burns and Aaron Mooy sealed the result, with the major damage coming in the first half, as Australia put on three in the first 20 minutes.

Only a spirited defensive effort from the Tigers in the second half spared them further embarrassment, but not before Mooy scored the goal of the match from outside the penalty area past hapless goalkeeper Shahidul Alam.

One may question the value of such a one-sided performance ahead of a crunch trip to Tajikistan on Tuesday for Matchday 3, but Australia did the job they were charged with.

Match preview
The Socceroos return to the west coast for the first time in a decade, as the 2018 AFC World Cup qualifiers continue from Perth where Australia meet Bangladesh. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 8:45pm (AEST).

A meeting of might versus minnow – that is the reality for the Bangladesh football team. At their zenith, the Bengal Tigers were ranked 110, compared to Australia’s lowest ever ranking of 102.

While the Socceroos currently sit at a lowly 61st, that is still towering above Bangladesh’s current standing of 170.

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Does that all add up to Socceroos’ dominance? It didn’t against Kyrgyzstan.

Bangladesh should take heart from their fellow Group B competitors, who dominated against the Socceroos in Bishkek in June. All bar the result went Kyrgyzstan’s way, in a game where Australia impressed few of their fans, and even fewer of the Bishkek faithful.

Yet ahead of a sizably tougher challenge next week against Tajikistan in Dushanbe, a home meeting against Bangladesh should serve as a soft landing for the Socceroos, even if the visitors park the bus for 90-plus minutes.

Ange Postecoglou has decisions to make, as captain Mile Jedinak, and forwards Robbie Kruse and Tomi Juric are missing. Postecoglou’s focus will be to adopt an all-out attacking formation against a likely defensive Bangladesh, while not being exposed to any counterattacking threat.

With this in mind, Postecoglou may choose to start both Tim Cahill and Mathew Leckie as a front two, with resurgent Celtic forward Tom Rogic in behind. Alternatively, the pacier option of Tommy Oar could be considered to break the defence.

Australia will enjoy the return of Massimo Luongo following his absence in Kyrgyzstan, while Mark Milligan is likely to deputise in Jedinak’s holding midfield role. At the back will stand Mat Ryan, fresh from his groundbreaking move to Valencia in Spain.

Bangladesh’s coach Lodewijk de Kruif has gone to painstaking effort to assure his squad is fully professional, even if he has also pledged to play as many bodies as deep as possible. Entirely based in the local Bangladesh Premier League, the Bengal Tigers will hope for a better performance than the last time they faced an Asian heavyweight, losing 8-1 to Japan in 1993.

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The main threat will arrive from 27-year-old Jahid Hasan Ameli, who will win his 62nd cap in Perth, and has 15 goals to show for his international career. It is otherwise a sufficiently experienced side, with five of their number having won more than 20 caps.

Their likeliest hope of any points is to park three in their central midfield, with two behind protecting a back four, and Ameli the sole attacking option. It sounds obvious, but no one from Dhaka or Chittagong will bemoan a boring 0-0 draw with the Asian champions.

On this count, Australia are overwhelming favourites, and so long as they can breach the Bangladesh defence, should count on three points before their arduous journey to Dushanbe.

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