Up by one at the break and 3-0 by the time Chinese referee Hai Tan blew his final whistle, this was a walk in the park for a side primed to deliver.
It was a performance and result that, short of a catastrophe in the return leg on Thursday, should see them navigate a smooth passage to the second phase.
The context, of course, is that it was against limited opposition, so we needn’t get carried away for now. Many hurdles await.
Whereas other East Asian sides Japan, North Korea and South Korea were looking at tricky two-legged first round encounters against Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Jordan respectively, the Olyroos drew relatively modest opponents in Yemen.
Arriving in Australia only 48 hours before kick off, and with the second leg scheduled for Newcastle due to the political uprising back in Sana’a, it’s fair to say the Olyroos got the nice draw.
A measure of the problems back home is that BBC News dispatched a local crew to Bluetongue Stadium yesterday, not the cover the football, but the chat to the Yemeni players and delegation about the situation at home.
For these visitors, the game no doubt extends beyond the 180 minutes in Australia.
Therefore, the biggest challenge for Vidmar and his assistant Paul Okon, apart from getting the charges in shape physically and technically, was to ensure his men were in the right frame of mind, so that this wouldn’t become a banana-skin tie.
To that end, the planning was excellent. After impressing for a large part against Japan, the Olyroos polished off preparations by putting the cleaners through Singapore in the wet on Tuesday.
While they didn’t know a great deal about Abraham Mebratu and his men, Vidmar suspected the Yemeni strategy would be to defend in numbers and look to hit on the counter attack.
He was right.
Set out in a 3-5-1-1, which ostensibly became a 5-4-1 as the Olyroos dominated possession and territory, the Yemenis were in damage limitation mode from very early in the piece, barely getting out of their half in the first 30 minutes.
Even after Jason Hoffman nodded home the opener after 14 minutes, turning in a neat Sebastian Ryall dink to the back post after Matthew Jurman had challenged for a header, Yemen were content to contain.
Whenever the Olyroos did break into the box, there were often six or seven red shirts in the way.
By my measure, custodian Andrew Redmayne didn’t have a touch until the 26th minute, when he ventured out of his box to clear a through ball. For his first save of any substance he had to wait half an hour.
While there wasn’t much attacking intent from Yemen, in many ways they weren’t allowed to play.
Neat and tidy on the ball, always wanting to have it on the deck, Yemen met a physically superior Australian side that pressed high and early, aiming to win the ball back swiftly.
The best in this area in the first period were Mitch Nichols, Rocky Visconte, Hoffman and Isaka Cernak. From there they were able to spring forward swiftly, and with Matthew Foschini, Nichols and Cernak providing the width down the right, it was a great avenue for the Olyroos.
Later, when Aaron Mooy replaced Cernak at the break, and then Kofi Danning replaced Nichols, the right side of the Olyroos attack continued to be a productive area.
Indeed, with Hoffman also breaking into that channel at times, it turned out to be the source of their second, with the Melbourne Heart striker shaping a cross to the near post for the marauding Nichols to dink around the impressive goalkeeper Shukri Salem Abdullah.
Abdullah had earlier made a string of fine reflex saves, sharp down to his left and right, with Marko Jesic the unlucky striker on a couple of occasions.
On another day, the Newcastle Jets man, playing on the left of Vidmar’s 4-3-3 here, might have had a brace, or more, but this was to an afternoon out for his former Jets team-mate.
Catching the eye against Japan with one of his most productive performances, Hoffman proved too mobile and strong for the Yemeni defence, always moving, presenting and combining well with those around him.
In the first period there was some neat linkage with Cernak and Nichols.
In the second period Mooy took over from Cernak, combining beautifully with Nichols in a position we have hitherto not see him, high up on the right side of the attack.
When Mooy burst into the junior national set-up just before the 2009 U20s World Cup in Egypt, he was looked at as a central midfielder, and spent most of his World Cup minutes there under Jan Versleijen.
But here, like so many modern day midfielders, Mooy showed his adaptability, starting high but dropping off to create, or driving in behind to strike and hit the post.
Later, when Nichols was replaced by Kofi Danning, Mooy dropped into Nichols’ spot, allowing Danning to run amok.
With the fullbacks often pushing on (Aziz Behich bagging an assist for Hoffman deep in injury time), skipper Oliver Bozanic seamlessly pulling the strings from the anchor role, and with the two stoppers comfortable throughout, there wasn’t a poor Australian on the slippery pitch.
All up, it was a thoroughly polished display, with progress to the next phase now looking a mere formality.
There, in September, the fun really begins, with Vidmar’s charges needing to finish top of a group of four to qualify for London automatically and avoid the repercharge round.
Olyroos formation (4-3-3) and player ratings
——————————-Andrew Redmayne (gk) 7————————–
————————————————————————————–
——————–Sebastian Ryall 7.5—-Matthew Jurman 7.5—————-
Matthew Foschini 8———————————————–Aziz Behich 8
—————————————————————————————
————————————Oliver Bozanic 7.5—————————–
——————–Mitch Nichols 8.5————-Rocky Visconte 8————-
—————————————————————————————
———-Isaka Cernak 7———————————-Marko Jesic 7———–
———————————–Jason Hoffman 8.5———————————Substitutes: Aaron Mooy 8.5 (Cernak 45’), Mustafa Amini 6 (Visconte 72’), Kofi Danning 7.5 (Nichols 79’).
Futbanous
Guest
Joeys win 2-1. Bit shaky first half,but second more composed. Still technically IMO behind the Africans,but compensated for by better structure overall.
Titus
Guest
Great win against a classy team. Started very nervously in the first half, but really came out in the second half to play. Tombides, the west ham youngster, looks really good. A good prospect for our striking ranks in the future. Makarounas looks good on the ball, creative passing, took a great goal and took up good positions. Izzo, the goalie, had a brilliant game, some amazing saves. Another good prospect. Teeboy Kamara looked pretty good when he came on, made a very good run for our second goal which was eventually put home by Tombides. 3 valuable points in a very tough group. Brazil next up. Great win guys!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
u17 FIFA WC in Mexico: Australia 2 : 1 Côte d'Ivoire Fantastic come-from-behind win by the young Aussies. Two excellent goals (actually, 3 excellent goals - the Côte d'Ivoire's finish was a beauty) and I'm pleased with the way the boys wanted to move the ball and play. However, their technique needs to improve and left them exposed and vulnerable too often. Perhaps, a lucky win ... but, I reckon we're owed a bit of luck at a WC! Bring on Brasil.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Nice article Tony and a good report in your usual unbiased aproach and refreshing lack of agendas against the FFA. Who says you have to be naive or a crawler to write good things about Australian Football. There are lots of positives out there, if people just take the time to notice them.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Just going through the results from the 1st leg qualifiers and, perhaps, this would have to be one the biggest upsets in the history of Asian Football ... Bahrain 0 : 1 Palestine! I'm just so happy for the people of that region. A draw at home and Palestine is through to the Group Stage of the qualification for London 2012! 18k people saw Iran beat Iraq in Iraq ... i reckon the Azadi Stadium will be pretty vocal for the return leg between these "traditional rivals"! http://footballpalestine.blogspot.com/2011/06/rapid-reaction-bahrain-0-1-palestine.html
Titus
Guest
So, U/17 World Cup kicks off tomorrow morning(Tuesday), for Australia, at 8.45. Up against the Ivory Coast and live on SBS. Will be good to get a look at the talent coming through, all of whom should have grown up pretty much under the new systems that are in place. Hope to see some really good technical abilities.
punter
Guest
Titus, yes I agree the side yesterday will change alot by the London Olympics, but there were some very good signs. While Yemen was a poor team, we played very well, we played better football than them, we did not just rely on our physical advantage. It was very refreshing to see us play like this.
punter
Guest
As mentioned earlier I was very impressed with Nichols, sitting up high near Holger, I particularly watched Nichols, his movement, his skill, his ability. I totally agree with you his shape & mobility was awesome, very impressed with his one touch football, he also had the skills to do something with the ball. I think if this guys keeps working, we will have a special player in our midst.
nordster
Guest
seems to depend on the opponent for Bozanic, i like that he can play a number of roles. I guess as he gets older he could handle a DM role in the A-League. Seems to have the brains for it which is the first hurdle ...
brendo51
Guest
Very disappointed this was televised in some form. Was looking forward to contrasting this match against the Japan match where basically the same team was sent out. Going to be very interesting to see how Nichols goes in the A-league this year, he really seems to have improved under Ange and this season will demonstrate whether he has the ability to go a lot further. I note that Tony says Jesic could have had a couple but like the Japan game it appears from his report that most of our attack again went down the right hand side. It seems to me that this Left Wing position has to be the biggest headache for Vidmar. I cannot see Jesic continuing there. I wonder if there will be changes for the next match or whether the same 11 will be sent out to help build up their teamwork.
Midfielder
Guest
Futbanous When we talk about a football ability ... there are two important aspects to Technique; first is touch as you have said the second is shape and positing ... Nichols excelled in holding his shape and being in the right position most of the time... this helps those around him because if your centre holds together yoy can shape yourself around them..
Futbanous
Guest
Didnt see the game ,but by reports on here & generally Mitch Nichols played well. His one touch play was mentioned. Just a point on this. It seems to be the unquestionable truth in modern football that the younger a player develops the technical skills the better senior professional they will be. My own thoughts from experience in another era tells me this has some merit ,but is not always 100% gospel. Have watched Mitch from day one at the Roar, under Frankie his heavy touch(not alone in this at the time) let him down at times & many promising moves broke down because of it. Ange gets hold of him,he becomes a one touch maestro. I dont believe that we have to produce Messi clones at the age of 7 to create a one touch style of football. They are an X factor, icing on the cake. I remember Craig Johnston saying that the reason for Liverpools high success rate in the eighties was because of inter passing drills in a small space.
cruyff turn
Roar Rookie
Could probably play that pure 4-3-3 because the opposition was weak. Whether we can do that against the stronger nations I don't know. Not detracting from the performance, though. It was very encouraging. One other thing that should be noted is Vidmar's development as a coach. At Adelaide, he was often seen as being defensive and cautious, but now he has a duty or a mandate to deliver pro-active football, and his team seems to be evolving nicely. What's more, I expect this team to get better once some of the younger, better options become available.
cruyff turn
Roar Rookie
I agree with you Titus about Ryall, Hoffmann and the others you mentioned. They'll most probably be cut from the final squad to make way for younger, better alternatives . Sad but likely. Also don't forget we still have Luke DeVere to call upon.
cruyff turn
Roar Rookie
Interesting about Bozanic. While I knew he was technically quite sound, I didn't know he could play that DM position so well. Could be a pointer for Graham Arnold next season? Nichols has come on in leaps and bounds since last year, and is playing the football we knew he was capable of, so well done to him. Vidmar must have taken a lot from this game.
Titus
Guest
Punter---I was there also and I thought Nicholls and Cernak were good. I would definitely play those two. I would probably replace Visconte, Hoffman, Jesic and Ryall. Its a tough call I know, because these guys are playing well. Antonis and Amini would still be bench options, but I would just like to have that ability to open the game up when we need to. The team plays well together and I particularly like Nicholls and Cernak in attack. Bozanic controlling the transition and Behich and Foschini making good runs from the back. But I still think we are going to need a more threatening attack and a few more creative option in the middle. I also think Kantarovski will give us a bit better distribution from the back. We got stuck passing it around the back at times and made a few major slipups, a better team could really put the pressure on and make us pay. Just my thoughts anyway, and could be unrealistic. Oh yeah, thought Mooy looked very good also.
Midfielder
Guest
Tony I was at the game... hughly impressed by Bozanic & Nichols could not spilt them but they both had huge games in the centre of the park .... with Cernak (gee he was good) and Behich not far behind... Danning when he came on was just brilliant ... Musty was average I tho .... Hoffman scored two goals and set up one ... but I still think he had an average game .... Tho Yeman had the best of the first 10 minutes .... from then on it was one way traffic... GA has an interesting choice ... Bozanic IMO played the DM role as good as I have seen it played by an Australian player ... he plays LM for the Mariners .... but gee he looked good and like all good DM's he was everywhere... Gotta say I this because i appreciate a player who can see danger and make sure nothing comes of it... First half both the left back and LM go down the line and lose the ball ... Nichols was watching the play from his CM position and just tracked back a little.. we lost the ball and Nichols screamed back to a Left Defensive position and killed the play ... very very impressed by his reading of the game and ability to impose pressure on the attacking side .... Overall a very good display...
StrikerX
Guest
Probably the purest expression of the 4 - 3 - 3 system I have seen from an Australian team. Particularly pleasing to see the midfield triangle "inverted" with Australia playing just Bozanic as the lone holding midfielder. Against this opposition this was an eminently sensible call and something we rarely see from Australian national teams.
punter
Guest
I was there yesterday Titus & Mitch Nichols played very well at AM. He plays brilliant 1 touch football, Mooy looked good too when he came on.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Some of the u20's will probably feature in September once the u20 World Cup is over. At least that is my assumption.