Some might not have you believe it, but the most pressing story to come from Australia’s 1-0 win over Indonesia on Wednesday night was not the emergence of Tommy Oar on the international scene. Oar stole the headlines, but a more pertinent issue remains: the Socceroos’ inability to turn its domination into more than a solitary strike.
22 shots to one tells a story.
Yes, Australia got the win. Yes, it achieved qualification to the Asian Cup. But that sort of profligacy in front of goal will receive short shrift come June’s World Cup.
It’s not quite a crisis but, 98 days out from South Africa, it is worrying. Nor can you put the Socceroos’ errant shooting down to its largely A-League contingent, either.
While the goals do seem a little easier at full strength, Australia has averaged just over a goal a game since the 0-0 draw with Indonesia late last January.
During that time, the Socceroos have faced Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Oman (twice) as well as the Indonesians – all ranked notably lower than Verbeek’s side.
Australia has had the benefit of a full-strength side on several occasions but, even allowing for tricky away ties and non-FIFA sanctioned dates, the question must be raised: if the Socceroos can’t find the back of the net against Asia’s minnows, how does it expect to emerge from a World Cup group featuring Germany, Serbia and Ghana?
The man who led the line on Wednesday, Josh Kennedy, appears the only striker (bar sometime-forward Harry Kewell) with his ticket stamped to South Africa.
His radar was off against the Indonesians on Wednesday, but Kennedy got his head to just about everything Oar, Scott Jamieson and Shannon Cole sent in.
He’s a worker; brave, honest and not without his own Bambi-esque skill. But when the scraps fell from Kennedy’s forehead against Indonesia, who was there?
Therein lies a problem.
Because while all the talk pre-game was of Verbeek’s 4-3-3 formation, it was really more of a 4-5-1.
And it’s not like Australia doesn’t possess some striking talent.
Scott McDonald springs immediately to mind. Scoring for fun for Celtic for the past few seasons, he hasn’t opened his account for the Socceroos in 15 appearances.
Recently, he has found himself marginalised by the rigidness of Verbeek’s formation. He didn’t even make the squad for his country against Oman late last year.
Many fans are crying out for Kennedy and McDonald to get a decent chance to establish some sort of partnership.
Similarly, it’s hard not to see Australia being more potent even with someone like the internationally unproven Nikita Rukavytsa alongside Kennedy.
The former Perth speedster is scoring for Belgium outfit KSV Roeselare, and must be handed opportunities in the lead-up to South Africa.
Some will point to Australia’s sturdiness in defence and discipline in midfield throughout the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, and they have a point.
But games are won on goals, and Australia has not scored enough for some time
Robbie Slater spoke of the foremost importance of results during Wednesday’s win. Grinding them out in Asia might be enough.
South Africa will be a different story.
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