It was meant to instil some much-needed confidence and cohesion in the Socceroos ahead of next Wednesday’s World Cup playoff with the UAE.
But Australia’s final warm-up match against Jordan ahead of the do-or-die qualifying showdown delivered a brutal reality check for the struggling Socceroos, despite finishing in a fortuitous 2-1 victory.
Fielding a new-look Socceroos side including debutant Kye Rowles at centre-back and Jason Davidson returning for the first time since 2015, the problems that led Australia to win just one of their seven previous matches again rose to the forefront.
The Socceroos were either devoid of vision or creativity or technically incapable of executing. Tame in possession, Australia appeared wholly unable to put Jordan’s defence under any serious pressure, nor progress the ball from deep areas up the field.
Having conceded early on the back of some poor defending – and lucky to avoid conceding an obvious penalty – both of the Socceroos’ goals (to Bailey Wright and Awer Mabil) came from set pieces, as Australia failed to create any real chances in attack.
In a word, it was the epitome of the Socceroos’ woes in recent months – if not the summation of the side’s constraints over a decade or more.
The Socceroos must defeat UAE next week to earn a one-off qualifying match against Peru, with the winner of that fixture to earn a spot in Group D at the 2022 World Cup, joining France, Denmark and Tunisia.
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After a choppy first quarter of an hour, the Socceroos fell behind in the 17th minute to a long-range Jordanian thunderbolt.
After a sweeping move down the right flank, the ball was cut back from the edge of the box by Ahmed Samir to an onrushing Musa Al-Taamari, who unleashed a vicious drive into the back of the net. Australian gloveman Mat Ryan was left with no chance – and left remonstrating with his defenders for failing to even attempt to close down the shot.
With the Socceroos guilty of giving up possession far too frequently, Jordan capitalised by targeting the spaces left behind by attack-minded Australian left back Jason Davidson.
There had been warning signs of Jordan’s danger in transition even in the first five minutes of the match – but Australia failed to heed those warnings and increase their defensive urgency against a team unafraid of shooting from long range.
The Socceroos repeatedly struggled to progress the ball up the pitch, with the defenders and defensive midfielders Aaron Mooy and Kenneth Dougall shut down – often in Australia’s half – and unable to find their attacking corps.
Tensions began to boil over – as they did the last time both teams faced off – as Al-Taamari and fullback Jason Davidson’s running battle became increasingly physical.
And the Socceroos were extremely fortunate to avoid giving away a penalty when Bailey Wright clearly fouled a Jordanian player in the 38th minute.
But with no VAR in use for the friendly, Wright – in his first Socceroos appearance since 2019 – got away with it. “Thank God there’s no VAR because that’s a stone cold penalty,” Bruce Djite declared at half-time on Channel 10.
Mere seconds after the penalty incident, Wright went from zero to hero when he headed home from the back post after being left unmarked on a Craig Goodwin free kick.
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“It’s just not working,” Adelaide United great Bruce Djite declared on Channel 10 at halftime in a scathing assessment of the lacklustre Socceroos.
Davidson was dragged off after a concerning first half performance, replaced by Aziz Behich on his 50th international appearance. Needing to inject a spark into the midfield, Jackson Irvine replaced Kenny Dougall.
That saw Aaron Mooy handed almost complete control over the Socceroos’ offence and ball-playing duties, which paid off as Australia began to assert some dominance in the opening 15 minutes of the second half thanks to faster ball movement.
But it was another set piece that offered the Socceroos their best opportunity early in the second half, when Aaron Mooy struck the post with an unstoppable free-kick.
But the Socceroos were given a huge reprieve on the hour mark when Jordan beat a disjointed offside trap with a long ball to Yazan Al-Naimat, whose chip when one-on-one with Ryan was dragged left of the open goal.
Mooy was substituted soon afterwards for Denis Genreau, having played over 60 minutes in his first match for club and country since January.
Then the Socceroos once again turned to set pieces to break the deadlock.
From a corner in the 68th minute, Bailey Wright’s original headed attempt was well saved. But Nicholas D’Agostino – in his first full Socceroos start – headed back towards goal, with winger Awer Mabil reacting quickest to lash it into the roof of the net.
It was Mabil’s seventh international goal from 26 appearances and his first since October, having struggled for form in the green and gold.
Jamie Maclaren and Ajdin Hrustic replaced D’Agostino and Riley McGree with just over a quarter of an hour to play. Their arrival seemed to unsettle the growing momentum of the Socceroos’, with Jordan clawing back into the match against the faltering Australians.
Late in the piece, Marco Tilio arrived off the bench and quickly made an impact, combining with Genreau who turned neatly and attempted to curl a shot into the far corner. But that 88th-minute attempt, well saved in the end, was perhaps the best opportunity from open play in the match.
A Jordanian stoppage-time free kick from wide was narrowly overhit beyond an unmarked attacker at the back post as a scrappy final few minutes concluded the match.
BRUTAL TRUTH BEHIND ARNIE CLAIM
Before the match, coach Graham Arnold revealed to Channel 10 that he had told his players: “Today, I don’t have a starting line-up (against UAE) in my brain.”
He might have hoped those words showed the depth in the national team camp, hoped that today’s line-up delivered a performance worthy of starting with Australia’s World Cup dreams on the line.
Instead, it indicated something wholly different – that after years of developing a squad worthy of competing in a fifth-consecutive World Cup, Arnold does not know his best team because there is no cohesive XI that has proven itself capable of beating meaningful opposition. Sure, Tom Rogic is absent for undisclosed personal reasons and towering defender Harry Souttar has been missing for months as he continues to recover from a heartwrenching ACL.
But from the A-League Men’s to Europe, there are Australians regularly performing at a solid level for their clubs. But there is a failure to get the best out of them in the green and gold.
SOCCEROOS TEAM
Central Coast Mariners back Kye Rowles – the only left-footed central defender in the squad – was handed his debut in a new-look starting line-up for Australia.
Aaron Mooy started on his 50th international cap in his first competitive match since January.
Jason Davidson was playing for the first time since January 2015, and Bailey Wright for the first time since 2019.
Australia starting XI (4-2-3-1): Ryan – Karacic, Wright, Rowles, Davidson – Dougall, Mooy, McGree – Mabil, D’Agostino, Goodwin.
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