Australia are a “lay-up” as former American footballer Mike Grella stated. I wouldn’t go that far but to his credit, this World Cup performance was not something for us to write home about.
The first half reeked of amateur football as we consistently struggled to complete our passes and hold possession, often freely giving away possession to the USA. This match was the polar opposite to the Turkey match.
The two goals we conceded were avoidable; Burgess was unlucky and our defence was poor with Freeman’s goal.
We started playing well just before the second hydration break, but it was simply too little too late.
I hate saying that a referee is ‘rigged’ as when your team is losing every decision can seem malicious, but there were some interesting calls from him in my opinion. Seeing the referee on the ground needing his legs stretched was for me the perfect way to describe the match from the perspective of the Socceroos; utterly disappointing.
This may be the beginning of the end for Australia at the 2026 World Cup as Paraguay will be a difficult opponent, especially if we play like we did today. Still, there is hope.
Volpato and Irankunda provided us with an injection of pace and flair that provided Australia with chances at goal, though these opportunities were ultimately rendered as lacklustre. Perhaps if the duo were playing together earlier then fortunes would have changed, but who knows? At least from what I saw (before the referee decided to conduct some time wasting himself, of course), we seemed to be wearing out the US defence.
If we play with the same intensity and force as we did in the second half of today’s game, perhaps we can upset Paraguay and find a way into the round of 32. I wouldn’t hold my breath though.
Leave a Reply