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Four second-half goals helped the Socceroos to a resounding 5-1 win over Curacao in their final home game before the World Cup.
Coach Tony Popovic has named another experimental squad as he stress-tests more candidates for the World Cup squad; but this squad generally struggled against teams in the Caribbean and needed to be rescued by an injection of first-choice talent from the bench.
When Popovic made a quadruple substitution, bringing on potential World Cup starters Riley McGree, Nestory Irankunda and Jordan Bos, the scores were locked at 1-1 and they got to work within minutes.
The first two combined to score Alessandro Circati’s header in the 68th minute – his first goal for Australia – and just three minutes later Bos used his non-preferred right foot to slot past Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room to put the hosts 3-1 ahead at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
Irankunda then put the result beyond doubt with two strikes in four minutes, using his clever dribbling skills to score the first goal (which he celebrated by wearing a white sequined glove in tribute to Michael Jackson), then using his speed and precision to score the second.
The substitutions and barrage of goals reinforced a truth too obvious to be described as a lesson for Popovic: the Socceroos are very good when their best players are on the field, not so good when they are off.
The result, in a way, was a bit harsh for Curacao, ranked 81st in the world, who proved more than a handful for the Socceroos in the first hour of the match.
The visitors equalized 10 minutes after half-time when Gervane Kastaneer’s header beat Circati and opened Australia’s defensive half. Arjany Martha caught the ball, beat his player Kye Rowles and slid the ball under Maty Ryan; Curacao was perhaps unlucky as they left with a single goal.
But the same argument could apply to the Socceroos, who took the lead midway through the first half through Awer Mabil’s first international goal in two years; This was a direct result of Ajdin Hrustic’s pressure on Curacao captain Leandro Bacuna, who turned the ball past the corner flag for Kai Trewin to flick the ball towards Mabil through Deni Juric.
Mabil was unlucky not to score, firing a volley straight into the woodwork from Hrustic’s cross just before the break.
These moments aside, the Socceroos generally lacked fluency and attacking prowess with the ball; until Popovic vacated the bench and let his big guns take over.
In the end, Curacao beat the home team in possession – they had 54 per cent – and also had four shots on Australia’s six goals.
Even dangerous parts of the game could be informative for Popovic when evaluating his 26-man World Cup squad. Trewin’s trial at right-back may have opened up another glass-breaking option in Australia’s troubled position; Question marks remain over the effectiveness of the central midfield combination of Aiden O’Neill-Connor Metcalfe, which Popovic insisted on in both ‘FIFA Series’ matches.
