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.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Not sure why coaches include players in squads with no intention of playing them. Great second half resurgence by the Socceroos meant it was all over with 15 minutes to go. maybe a chance to try some of the fringe players like Partalu? The result was great and means we are top seed in Asia and the next round round of qualifiers and liley to get a better draw. Looking forward to the draw next Fri.
georgemladenov
Roar Rookie
I am absolutely elated that at long last, we have discovered the link between defensive and attacking midfield - MARK BRESCIANO! He was absolutely immense overnight and the answer to the missing link! Jedinak and Valeri get rightfully accused of being 'too similar' players, which is true. They are both destroyering anchormen. Milligan isn't good enough, he will just slot out for Valeri or Jedinak, but with Bresc next to either of them, our national team looks much better for it. The Spira at left back experiment failed and Im glad it did at a stage where it did not cost us vital qualifying points. North with that insipid performance will hopefully never play for the national team again. I too am of the opinion that Paartalu would have done a better job that Milligan. Everyone else was superp! And an enormous congratulations to Archie! At first I was skeptical - 'too old', 'poor form'. He was included because of his positive influence and ability to change the game and boy did he do that in spades! The crowd just exploded and lifted the boys to that quickfire treble! WELL DONE!
pete4
Guest
I thought we lacked balance throughout the game. North and Spiranovic are central defenders and shouldn't be played out wide. Milligan was another shock selection for mine. On the flip side Brosque and Bresciano were very good and Archie provided the spark for us to come home with a wet sail