A brave Australia side have gone down to a strong Chile team in their World Cup opener in Cuiaba.
It was a stoic performance for much of the contest from the men in gold, but in the end the quality of Chile shone through. The Socceroos were aggressive and willing, but the lack of touch, both in passing and finishing, let the Socceroos down.
On the other hand, Chile got the ball into good areas more consistently, and made the best of their chances, netting three goals.
The Socceroos were put on the back foot early. Despite an impressive opening 10 minutes, Chilean wizard Alexis Sanchez capitalised on the Socceroos’ inability to clear in the 12th minute, firing a shot between Mat Ryan and a number of Australian defenders for the opening goal.
>> Socceroos 1-3 Chile: Five moments that mattered
>> Highlights, live blog: Socceroos vs Chile
>> Spain vs Netherlands highlights
It was a sloppy piece of defending from the ‘Roos, but a reminder of how clinical Chile could be in front of goal.
As if they needed more reminding, Sanchez was again involved as Chile took a 2-0 lead just two minutes later, with midfielder Jorge Valdivia clinical from the top of the box.
There was talk of going to bed for many Aussies, with another rout (Spain earlier went down to the Netherlands 5-1. Repeat that, 5-1!) looking like it was on the cards.
But the Socceroos settled with the main man Tim Cahill leaping over the Chilean defender to claw one back before the break.
With a tally of four, the veteran Aussie striker has now scored more goals in the World Cup than Ballon d’Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo combined.
In what was truly a game of two halves for Australia they largely held their own in the second stanza before Chile’s Jean Beausejour put the final nail in the coffin in the 90th minute.
Cahill looked to have headed home the Socceroos’ equaliser in the 53rd minute but was rightfully ruled offside.
Centreback Alex Wilkinson made a crucial clearance off the line to deny Eduardo Vargas a goal.
Mark Bresciano, who in the opening half looked to be struggling to keep up with Chile’s high intensity play, was back in the game after the break putting gloveman Claudio Bravo to work with a stinging shot.
The chances kept coming for Australia with leftback Jason Davidson, in his best game for Australia, crossing the ball to the waiting Cahill who headed just over.
Looking to exploit the Chile’s high defensive line with pace Postecoglou brought on winger Ben Halloran for Oar and James Troisi for Bresciano.
But it was Mathew Leckie impressed with his busting runs down the right and tough tackles.
After an impressive second half from Australia, who had Chile on the back foot, substitute Beausejour struck again for the South Americans in the 90th minute for the 3-1 result.
With AAP
Knightblues
Roar Guru
Does anyone else think the ref only wanted to get out of that stadium alive?
Greg
Guest
Great response Kasey. Manila - it's a sports website, no politics please. If you want to whinge about the govt then go to the SMH site
Kasey
Guest
@Magila cutty...As embarrassing as misspelling the word embarrassing? When *you* had access to a spell-check. An obvious and embarrassing gaffe from our PM, the ironic thing is that he actually used Mile's correct birth name. Born Michael John Jedinak, he goes by the Croatian shortened form 'Mile' #whoknew? I guess Tony did;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Jedinak
TheVolley
Guest
If we got the tying goal we were in a real chance to win. The only problem we had in the match was our very slow start in the 1st half. If we had started better we probably would not have gone down 2 goals in the 1st 15minutes. A good lesson to learn in any competition. Still a very good 2nd half performance. I bet there were many very nervous Chilean fans thorough the 2nd half.
magila cutty
Guest
Disgusted with Abbott, after embarressing us (again) by refering to Canada as Canadia through the week he gets the NT captains name wrong?! He gets very upset when he thinks people are using his name incorrectly (mR abbit) but will play down his own gaffe. He certainly is not the supository of all knowledge, he is embarressing and our eternal shame.
Johnny Boy Jnr
Guest
Gee you can really see the difference between top players and the likes of Bresciano. He seems to take forever to line up a shot and rarely does in scoring position. If Cahill had another classy striker up front that May have closed the gap
Knightblues
Roar Guru
Nerves got the aussies at the start and Chile took full advantage of this, Aussies went good for most of the game after that. Could have been 2 all result, Aussies just have to be ready and relaxed at the start of the game, not later on. If Aussies had more confidence and trust in each other in Football they would make the final 16 at least every time.
matt on the ball
Guest
All good signs for the Asian Cup ..Chile a hell of a side, but youngs found what they needed different team in the second 1/2 ..... After Cahill & Bresh lead the way
Kasey
Guest
Defeated but certainly not disgraced. Very proud of the effort of 'Mike' and the lads;) Despite the result Ange stayed true to his word and produced one of the most enjoyable Socceroos performances in years. The potential of this young team is immense...I can't wait to watch this team mature and improve over the next decade:)