San Diego: If you’re looking at Australia’s pre-World Cup form and you’re just focusing on the result, you’re doing it wrong.
That’s, at least, what coach Tony Popovich wants you to think. He says he got everything from the Socceroos’ 1-1 draw against Switzerland in what he described as an “exercise” in preparation – and not a true measure of where they sit a week out from their first game of the tournament against Turkey.
Fans who returned home on Sunday morning (AEST) would have preferred to see a more complete performance from the Socceroos, but that wasn’t what it was about.
For Popovich and his coaching staff, it was another brick in the wall they’re trying to build with a squad of mostly World Cup first timers. Another training session ahead of next weekend’s World Cup opener against Turkey (albeit against the world’s No. 19-ranked team).
It was a dress rehearsal, but only in a logistical sense. Australia and Switzerland both play a game at the World Cup starting at noon local time – for the Socceroos, it’s their second match against the USA in Group D – so they agreed to treat the friendly at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium as a dry run, to see if there were any glitches in their routine that needed to be ironed out.
But this was no football dress rehearsal. Popovic could have fielded his first-choice XI and asked Turkey to run the game plan a week earlier if he wanted to.
Instead, he made seven changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Mexico last week, named the youngest line-up he has ever had in the job – with an average age of just 24.6, a year short of the previous record – and without the reassuring voice of captain Matty Ryan to marshal them from the back or Jackson Field, or Jackson to the Lions.
It was about trying out untested combinations, needing to boost the match fitness of some players – including the two latest arrivals in the camp to make their debuts, goalscorer Teti Yang and Italian ‘recruit’ Cristian Volpato – and putting others in situations where they weren’t good enough, all against a battle-hardened opponent.
“If you just look at their team sheet and see where all their players are playing, and just count how many games they’ve played this year, it’s a big number compared to what we have and their experience,” Popovic said of the Swiss, who are captained by Premier League stalwart Granit Xhaka.
“If we don’t play these games, if we don’t expose our players to it, we don’t develop, we don’t get better. That’s why we did it. Until the players are exposed to it… you can’t just tell them about it, they have to go through it.
“We were happy with the practice of both games. We saw improvement in the second half from players who don’t have this level of experience. We saw more confidence in the second half from players who haven’t played at this level. We didn’t have any injuries. We scored very well. Overall, we are happy.
“Everything we wanted out of the game, we got … we’re ready for next week.”
Popovich has spoken about the lack of “maturity” in his team. This way you generate it in real time.
The question is whether they’re mature enough to wait for them in Vancouver next weekend – and only those with access to a time machine will be able to answer that right now.
But you won’t need to know if the Socceroos descend on Turkey in the same timid fashion they did against Switzerland and Mexico a week ago.
For much of the first half, they were played off the park by a team that looked capable of scoring every time they got forward. Xhaka’s sublime ball for Dan Andouye’s 14th-minute goal was far from the only moment when Australia’s defense was torn apart – and had it not been for goalkeeper Patrick Beach’s bravery in his second cap, or the tenacity of defender Harry Suter, the loss would have been far greater.
Facing more dominant opposition, when things aren’t going quite right for them, these Socceroos go into their shells too often, too early, which affects all aspects of their game.
“It was hard to keep your finger on the pulse,” Suter said.
“We were a little bit off it. I just think we need to be a little more aggressive at times when we go and press.”
Is Sutra worried about this developing pattern?
“No, not really,” he said. “That’s also a sign of a good team, that you can change something and then it works.”
In fact, this time Australia made the opening goal count by conceding a goal of their own.
Yangi’s 56th-minute tap-in highlighted how dangerous the Socceroos can be when they believe in themselves and play more freely, converting Cameron Burgess’ terrific long pass to set up and also highlight the left-footer’s advantages in the backline.
A spirited performance from Nestri Irankanda, who forced Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Koble to tiptoe to block a trademark long-range shot, gave Popovic more food for thought as to whether he should start against Turkey, or if his rare talents are better deployed off the bench against tiring legs.
“I think he had a tough first half,” Popovich said.
“Sometimes he’s too deep and he’s too high. But we had three new players in front of us, which didn’t help him to understand when to run forward, when to sit, when to put in the pocket. In the second half, like the team, he did better, and we know he has those moments.”
