The hastily assembled A-League Socceroos gelled enough to pinch a 0-0 draw against Indonesia in Jakarta on Wednesday night and start Australia’s Asian Cup campaign on a positive note.
In an arm wrestle with few clear chances played on a difficult pitch, an Australian team featuring seven debutants battled manfully to take a point from their first Group B qualifier.
The squad had little preparation beforehand, and also were without coach Pim Verbeek on the sidelines as he serves a touchline suspension hanging over from South Korea’s 2007 Asian Cup campaign.
Despite being thrown together, the Socceroos looked solid defensively, but were disjointed and lacked cohesion in the final third – though they weren’t helped by a stark mix of grass lengths on the Gelora Bung Karno pitch.
Indonesia had perhaps the two best chances of the match, while Australia put the ball in the back of the net in the second half only to have the goal ruled offside.
The home side, ranked 144 in the world – 115 places below the Socceroos – gave the Australians a huge fright in the 35th minute when striker Talaohu Musafri shot just wide after the Socceroos lost possession in midfield.
Then striker Budi Sudarsono found himself in a great position on 62 minutes, but his close range header from a Musafri cross lacked power and failed to test thankful Socceroos keeper Eugene Galekovic.
Socceroos striker Archie Thompson nearly conjured a winner three minutes later – his long-range shot spilled by keeper Markus Horison and just falling short of substitute Matt Simon’s despairing boot.
Adelaide United midfielder Paul Reid went close in the 69th minute, bending a free-kick just wide of the post, before Central Coast’s Simon headed home a cross 14 minutes from time which was correctly ruled offside.
In a four-team group comprising the Socceroos, Indonesia, Kuwait and Oman, the top two sides qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup finals in Qatar.
The Socceroos will bring back their European-based stars for their next match – a World Cup qualifier against Japan in Yokohama on February 11.
Their next Asian Cup qualifier is against Kuwait in Canberra on March 5, when Australia are again likely to field an all-A-League outfit.
AAP gh/tb
Green n Gold 2010
Guest
Lets ship the Aleague to Holland....lol
Koala Bear
Guest
Midfielder, I thought the game was a great hit out for he HAL lads and showed a lot of potential for a team that was given no time at all to prepare .. Where the Indonesians were a season team and have been together for some time.. The midfielders were great and Craig Moore Captained the makeshift side to perfection... If we can get a good strike partnership going and when Culina returns soon this HAL Roos team can be quite useful .. The task is now to keep them operational and given every chance to blossom and grow.. To be the back stop for the O/S lads when they can't come home ... This is what Pimbo should have done a long time ago instead of throwing his arms up in the air and dismissed them from the outset... Of course they need more time to work together; but they were impressive considering the time they had to prepare.. None.. This sort of stuff will also strengthen the HAL over all as well ... ~~~~~~~~~ KB
Midfielder
Guest
Many things to say but will keep it brief.. IMO Vargas was our MOM .. but why Matty S & Billy C where not on from the start amazes me..TBH I tho Matty was off side. Given lack of preparation, Ind very good preparation, conditions, pitch and the fact they never realy looked like scoring says we are organised but our go forward was poor. We held shape in defense reasonably well but our shape in attack was very poor ... have to say when Danny A left we had more shape. Further if we are going to play with one player up front then the only person in the squad who can play that role was Dylan Mac and he never got on the park. Nightmare to se Arnold Out on the sidelines again. Very strange very little media in Australia a crowd of 88, 000 and all over the Ind media ... not sure of the answer but suspect there is more than a bit of disrepect to the Ind as if we had played England it would have been front page ? ? ? ? ?
Koala Bear
Guest
Vicentin, Corica an experience player that could have been included .. Travis Dodd was in the squad and may have been the answer, in the creative role.. He likes to burst through from deep positions with good ball control.. ~~~~~~~~ KB
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Vargas was pretty much the shining light (but let's be honest, the opposition made his job an easy one, as we did at the other end)
Vicentin
Guest
Millster - was it the same one I was watching where the commentator thought that the guy sitting next to Arnold was Pim Verbeek? He was still sure it was him at the end of the match. Agree the pitch looked like a rainforest. Crap pitch, oppressive conditions, Arnie on the bench - pretty good result all things considered. Allsop is crap, as is Archie, Jameson was poor (by his current standards) as was Pondlejak. Vargas was very impressive and seemed to have a good understanding with Moore. Thought they should have put Zullo on earlier - and was Minniecon available? Usual problems around lack of creativity in my opinion but I don't know if any local in the A-League was going to provide it apart from Corica and his old legs wouldn't have helped the cause in these conditions anyway.
True Tah
Guest
Maybe Albert Ross was right and there was an international between Australia and Indonesia before the game - at least it would explain the surface of the pitch.
Millster
Guest
I was watching on an internet stream with plenty of glitches in the picture as often occurs - and you could still see how shit the surface was. So that is my first comment. Second is that I agree Simon was not offside. Third this was a good example of the A-League's limitations which above all are in the front third. Fourth, I hope our clubs technical guys and scouts were watching and taking notes on a couple of the Indo wide midfielders who looked pretty handy and lively. Finally, what is it about this Asian comp. The results all across the continent seemed totally against form!
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Somewhere in between Wales and NZ sounds about right.
Finno
Guest
Joe FC we should be good enough to win, to rely on other results is a problem. Question for everyone......what ranking would you put on the A- League Socceroos? I think Socceroos would be 70 if the Kiwis are in the 80's Wales 60, Norway 59th
Joe FC
Guest
Finno Japan lost to Bahrain and Iran were held by Thailand so our result is far from a disaster. You underestimate the opposition. I thought our 1st half performance was solid enough falling away somewhat in the 2nd. Looking forward to the Canberra game because I can attend.
Koala Bear
Guest
I have just return home from the CRSL after watching the Roos play Indonesia... I was impressed with our lads.. one days preparation playing away in stifling conditions and we could have should have one ... But happy with the draw .. The midfield were well up to the task and defensively we were sound .. Craig More was as usual reliable and directed the lads perfectly at the back .. However the top third the team lacked understanding and Danny boy I can now see why the Melb Supporters are always on your back.. I don't think you are up to international standard lad ... Simmons looked dangerous but still needs a bit more technique in his game .. Nonetheless, a very useful striker for the future.. I think next year when we have Culina back home this team will grow even more with more games together can improve by up to 50% .. Overall extremely happy... ~~~~~~~~ KB
Albert Ross
Guest
This is a second-string side thrown together without much prep. Some of The Skippies looked very tired. The pitch was awful and both sides had problems dealing with it. Pym was sitting in the stands which cannot have helped. Simon's "goal" should have stood as he did not look offside. I realise that our AFL side would have thrashed the Indonesia AFL side if they had an equivalent Asian Cup fixture. but this will have to do,
Finno
Guest
This is the result I feared. We cannot afford to draw against these countries. Maybe the A- League is showing its real quality.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
In truth, I honestly doubt the A-Team would have done any better.
Dave
Guest
Not pretty with quality lacking in the attacking and creative departments but the result is not a disaster. Indo's looked better than ranking of 144 but also lacked attacking quality.