Tom Rogic stunner helps Socceroos past Syria and into the Asian Cup knockout stages

Volley agreed that the ref was poor and 2 howlers to boot. But similar bad decisions are made in the WC and Euros. Those competitions are littered with absolute howlers. 3 yellows and you're off anyone? Not sure why you have to disparage the whole comp because of a bad refereeing display? Do you think the WC is a Mickey Mouse comp too?

Agree with you about Luongo. His work rate and defensive capabilities are higher than Mooys but for a central midfielder he seems to go missing for long periods. Needs to get on the ball more and dictate things like Mooy does.

Teams won't play like Jordan anymore in the knockout phases. Counter attack maybe yes, but the likes of Japan, Iran etc won't sit back against us. It'll be more open as both teams will think they can win all the way through our fixtures in knockout phase.

Yep ! He just butchered the match defining decisions, but got lucky with two massive errors cancelling each other out !

This match was really not a challenging match to officiate which is the point but the howlers are below the standard of what is expected.

Perhaps FIFA should re-evaluate his credentials then. The Syrian player tripped over his own team mate and is awarded a penalty. However a clear handball by Milligan in clear sight was not punished. 2 very obvious howlers in a confed tournament.

Yes regarding Japan.

I actually thought the ref was good apart from the two penalty decisions and a couple of dives by Syrian players.

Agree. Really developing nicely. I would change the headline on the article to read "Mabil stunner helps Australia past Syria". Rogic played better again than previously and scored a good goal, but with Syria pushing forward it resulted in him having an unusual amount of time and space to line up his goal. - It is rare you get that much time to line up a strike in international football.

The big difference in this game to the first two is Syria came out and pressed, that gave Australia more opportunity to play their style succesfully. Its also revealed some other vulnerabilities. Whereas the first game Jordan really parked the bus, and Palestine to a lesser extent. McLaren was a total dud, he finally got quite a few good opportunities, and fluffed them. The only thing I can give him credit for is he is very diligent in following in shots in case the keeper makes a mistake. Obviously needs every tap in he can get. He didn't really work hard enough,pressure with intensity or throw himself into contests to make up for all his other shortfalls. Giannou looked very good, I would question his fitness , as a sub he went well but then the final minutes he started to looked tired in particular looked like a tired touch at the end. If he runs out of juice as a sub then question him as a starter. Rogic had his best game, there was the space finally for him to operate in, the through ball to McLaren was his best work.Fluffed a few things. The question if another side plays like Jordan, is he going to change his tactics or force it and cause turnovers. Ikonomidis again had his best game, for the same reasons, I also thought his work rate and pressing was good.He could have set up Giannou for a tap in after some good lead in work but fluffed it. Mabil maybe because he likes to come at defenders didnt do as well as the first two games in general play but at least he didn't take the corners. He made up for it with the great goal. The two fullbacks showed great motors and good attacking play,the only issue is behich is easily pushed aside physically in particular the aerial contests. Irvine was amongst the best, showed great movement and involvement. Luongo on the other hand was not proactive, and needs to be a lot more movement and be more diligent in covering for the suspect defense. The quality of his play was good enough. The area that was really exposed is the central defenders and the goal keeper. DeGenek he just lets the opposition receive the ball, he is useless in the air, ground defending is no good either, his pass suspect under pressure. I wouldn;t have him in the squad, Jurman can at least off size and strength in the air. Milligan is not the player he used to be, he is physically diminished though his distribution was good, is you say put him back in the midfield, you have to remember he was not being pressed in the first two games. Matt Ryan is showing the effects of being in the EPL with one of the lesser teams, his play is getting worse I dont know what he was trying to do weak clearances or attempted passes but he kept giving it directly to a Syrian player well in his half. With the pressing you can see the return of the desperado ball where you pass to fullback under pressure. If they want to play this style then bring in Bouzanis, he might be risky but his distribution was incredible. Then aerially Matt Ryan first drops the ball when he should have caught it, to set up the second cross which he was a meter away from the cross but backed off to allow Degenk and Milligan non aerial threat to give a free header. And then the header was not particularly strong but he dropped it. The referee I think gave the penalty as a square up, it looked like a dive after the bloke brushed his own player maybe thinking it was an Australian. Syrian dive squad did a lot of midfield diving and this ref threshold for fouls was low outside of the area while reluctant to call penalties I think he realised he let Milligan get away with a clear handball.

I probably watch every game Awer Mabil played for Adelaide United right up until he left. I never would have predicted this, well done young man!

Have to agree with all your points. The wingers have been very good & does take the pressure off Rogic. So much was expected from Luongo after AC 2015, but despite having the obvious ability, has struggled to stamp his dominance & improve for both his club & country career. Definitely Giannou instead of Macca.

"Finally Asian Cup will the known as Mickey Mouse Cup is they keep dishing up referees like the one we had." The ref was from Mexico. He got the job because he's been accredited by FIFA as a referee of international standard.

Wasn’t a great performance but came away with the points. A draw was probably a fairer result, Syria outplayed us in parts and their first half pressure had us making mistake after mistake. Yes the ref was poor but was poor for both teams. Behich had a shocker I thought, Ryan was average, Maclaren again no impact (how did he miss that header?) , Luongo ineffective and caught out of position constantly. On the plus side Mabil continues to improve every game. Ikonomidis was good, Irvine was good. Rogic was good in the second half (very average in the 1 st half). I agree with a lot of the posters above, start Giannou Apostolos instead of Maclaren and I think its time for Luongo to be moved to the bench. Milligan back to midfield. So we play the loser out of the Japan v Uzbekistan match and a draw means we play Japan? Is that correct?

Agree, Irvine has been playing very well. Disappointed with Luongo, he hasnt stamped is claim to that holding mid spot like I thought he would however we all know his ability so fingers crossed! If Leckie were to come back, I'd still prefer to see him off the bench in one of the wing roles at the later part of the game against tiring defences. And personally, I'd start with Giannou instead of Macca. Giannou leads the line like a traditional No. 9 while Macca seems largely anonymous all game. Our defence still scares the living sh&$ out of me though. Seem to concede from nothing way too often.

Good result. Should silence - at least for a few days - the people who ridiculed & criticised the same players & same coach a week ago. The squad is improving each match, which is exactly what is required in tournaments.

Some observations. Irvine Jackson and Loungo pairing is midfield leaves our midfield/defence exposed. Miligan has to be in midfield if Mooy is not playing. Someone needs to boss the midfield. Mclaren is a poacher but Giannou brings more to the game with his ability to go out wide and hold the ball and/or carry the ball. I'd prefer to see Giannou start. When Leckie comes back, Arnold will have a bigger selection head-ache. Don't want to see Ikonomidis or Mabil sit on the bench. They are the best thing to have happened to Socceroos in a long time! These guys draw opposition players to themselves and allow Rogic to operate with more space. That's what Rogic needs. Also so glad to see us pinging the ball from one side to another at the right time. I also like that we try ball over the top sometimes just to vary it up. Gone are the super restrictive and predictable Ange era. So far I like what I see in Arnold's tactics but there is a lot of improvement still needed which I hope will come in time. Finally Asian Cup will the known as Mickey Mouse Cup is they keep dishing up referees like the one we had.

Let's give Arnold credit for recognising the difference they made in that loss to Jordan and sticking with them (extending this from players you mention to Jackson Irvine here) and not being obstinate and sticking with tried and tested such as what we saw in latter stages with Ange and entirely during World Cup with BVM. If Leckie is fit, he should start up front and leave Mabil and Ikonomidis there.

Look at that, we play wingers who have some ability and form in Ikonomidis and Mabil, and it takes the pressure off Rogic while giving him the chance to link up with them! Who would have thought!

Very relieved to get past Syria and move into the knockout stages. It will be either Uzbekistan or Japan in the round of 16. Mabil and Ikonomidis have been a revelation. With Kruse coming off the bench, and Leckie most likely to be used up front, it does signal a changing of the guard with our wingers. While Arzani, Boyle and Borello are still to come back.