A superb second half resurgence by some of the A-League’s leading names saw Australia storm home to a 4-2 victory, destroying Saudi Arabia’s hopes of progressing to the next round of World Cup qualification.
There were a few eyebrow-raising selections, in a particular the selection of Mark Bresciano in a more deep-lying midfield role, but that turned out to be another Holger Osieck masterstroke.
The former Parma and Palermo man, who was for so long the lynchpin of the Australian midfield, made a sparkling return to the national team with a sublime performance, providing the assists for both the first and last goals.
That’s not to say it was all rosy for Australia.
The Socceroos conceded two goals to a decidedly average Saudi Arabia team who completely dominated the first half, when Australia seemed all too content too hoof long balls to Harry Kewell and Alex Brosque.
That said, it could have all been so much brighter for the home side had Kewell not been marginally offside when tapping home from close range in the opening minutes.
Lucas Neill being robbed of his first international goal was a bit cruel, but let’s focus on the positives of the performance.
There was heavy involvement from A-League stars past and present, with Kewell and Emerton grabbing a goal each and former Golden Boot winner Alex Brosque getting a brace. Brosque and Emerton each claimed an assist.
As happy as I am about the resurgence of Bresh, I can’t help but feel Erik Paartalu deserved a chance. Although, his fellow A-Leaguer Mark Milligan did get a start and played quite well in the centre of midfield, it was the Roar man I was most curious to see in the green and gold.
The second half performance was fantastic – and the entrance of Archie Thompson injected new life into the Socceroos attack. The last thing I ever want to do is give credit to anyone that is/was associated with Melbourne Victory, but he (and Kewell) turned the game on its head.
What was probably the most pleasing aspect for me was that of the 14 players that took the field for Australia tonight, nine were either former or current members of the A-League fraternity. I’m aware that this was a squad bereft of Europeans, but it was still great to finally see the fruits of the A-League’s labour, as a sparkling performance beamed brightly to over 24,000 fans in Melbourne.
And a few million across Asia, I would assume.
We’re on our way to the next round in fine style and we will be leaving Saudi Arabia in the dust behind us, as they will be left to rue the missed chance just before Harry Kewell’s equaliser. Instead, it’s Oman that will join us in the next week’s final round draw, along with six other West Asian representatives.
Only Australia, Japan and South Korea will represent the eastern side of the AFC.
Full respect has to be given to the Melbourne sporting public, who turned out in full force despite the moved kick-off time and the pouring rain.
Oh, and the new jerseys looked absolutely fantastic. With the return of Brett Holman, Luke Wilkshire, Josh Kennedy, Matt McKay and others, it’s hard not to be excited about the next few years of the Socceroos. Hopefully coach Osieck can guide us safely to Brazil, without a heart-stopping playoff or any sort of tricky, must-win away trip on the final match day.
And maybe Lucas Neill can finally get his first goal.
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Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
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