In 18 days, the Socceroos have achieved what took them the previous 19 months – find 10 goalscorers.
Australia’s spread of scorers at the Asian Cup is even more remarkable given the past reliance on Tim Cahill.
Entering the cup, Cahill had scored eight of 12 goals in Ange Postecoglou’s dozen games as coach.
In the cup, 10 Socceroos have scored 12 goals, including three to Cahill – the only multiple scorer.
“We never really thought that it was about just Timmy scoring goals,” Postecoglou said.
“We knew if we played our style of football, we would get players in positions to score.”
And they have come from everywhere.
Defenders Trent Sainsbury and Jason Davidson scored in Tuesday night’s 2-0 semi-final against United Arab Emirates – their first goals for their country.
Midfielder Massimo Luongo has also logged his first goal for the Socceroos; evergreen Matt McKay and Mark Milligan have banked rare goals.
The Australians have scored more than any other nation – Japan is next best with eight.
To put the Socceroos’ scoring spree in context: before the cup, it took 19 months for them to find 10 different scorers, a stretch dating back to June 2013.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Wiki was updated in December saying that Uzbekistan are playing it. No reference though....
britesparke
Roar Rookie
With Luongo there are options, probably not as good. Same with Cahill. Ange is working on building a squad where all positions are covered adequately with a rotation policy in mind.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Hot on the heels of the 2019 Asian Cup held in UAE or Iran........could be bit of an ask if we've also played in the World Cup in Russia.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The better question is what would we do if Luongo copped an injury. He's had a hand in 5 of the 12 goals scored to date.
britesparke
Roar Rookie
You might laugh but without Cahill's two goals in the China game we simply would not be playing in a final such is our reliance on his genius. Need more options up front and Ange can see this!
britesparke
Roar Rookie
Whilst I can understand that Tim Cahill's role is exactly that- score goals and set them up, we all witnessed what happens when we rest a player in a tournament ( anyone ? Korea vs Australia recently) or dare I say it, get a serious injury! What then ? Ange is doing exactly what he is supposed to do - blood in new players (Juric et al). Do we still wheel out Cahill when he is sixty? Hopefully he will be coaching the Socceroos by then.
Knoxy
Guest
I think the criticism of relying on Cahill is also to do with the fact that he isn't getting any younger. If he were 25 instead of 35 I don't think people would be concerned.
pete4
Guest
Interesting if true... @OzFootbalGossip: There's a rumour that 2 Asian sides, Uzbekistan & Australia, have been approached to discuss the invitational spot for the 2019 Copa America
ciudadmarron
Guest
I think the people with any nouse who were saying that we were relying on Cahill were referring to the one-dimensional hit it into the mixer and hope timmy gets there approach. As opposed to a more varied approach and use of him - other goals have been down to teams being drawn to him as well don't forget.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Yeah I have a good laugh at people who say "we only have one guy scoring our goals".
Uncle Junior
Guest
I've never understood the concern and criticism about relying on Tim Cahill scoring goals for Australia. Cahill plays as our No.9 and, in football, the role of the No.9 is to score goals, or at least set them up. So Cahill scoring goals is what he is paid to do. Just like Maty Ryan is paid to stop goals. Do we care if Maty stops most of the goals rather than the defenders? Australia was struggling to score goals in recent years and that is a problem. But, if Australia scores twice every match and Timmy scores them both, why should we worry? In relation to Timmy's three goals in the Asian Cup, let's not forget he didn't do it on his own. Luongo's wonderful run provided the cut back for his first; Franjic's smart header back into the box provided the assist for his bicycle kick; and Davidson's inch-perfect cross set up his third. It's not like Timmy ran the whole length of the field and finished on his own - like Messi and Ronaldo often do for their clubs.
Gazmon
Guest
I understand the statistical side of it all, but most teams (club or country) will have a player that takes the bulk of the goals.
britesparke
Roar Rookie
As good as terrific Tim Cahill is, our reliance on him to score is very unhealthy. Ange has done the right thing in his rebuilding of this team and the results are showing.