Why the scoreless draw in Santa Clara was a historic result for Australia’s World Cup campaign
Santa Clara: Non-believers in Australia see football’s low scoring rate compared to other rules of football as a fatal flaw. The defense was presented with the following play: Santa Clara deadlock; biscuits in the Bay Area; The sweetest scoreless draw in the Socceroos’ World Cup history.
Millions of Australians stopped working on Friday, abandoned their responsibilities and gathered around the nearest screen to watch Australia take on Paraguay. Entertaining them was never part of the agreement; they will just feel Something.
And that feeling you’re feeling right now: release; the realization that next week we will be doing it all again in the first qualifying round of the greatest thing in world sport; that’s the whole point.
Of course, a goal would be nice to help ease the nerves – and a confidence-boosting win would also do wonders for the Socceroos’ mental state as they approach the knockout stages.
But in the end the chief warriors got what they wanted.
The Socceroos took one point; It was the minimum number of points needed to secure second place and enough to face Group G’s second-place team in Dallas next week. They also have, let’s say, a performance that gives them something to build on. Paraguay did not lose, meaning they still have a good chance of joining them in the round of 32.
And everyone who returned home — plus all the gold shirts in the crowd of 68,827 at Levi’s Stadium — also got what they wanted: a reason to party.
The Socceroos have made it past the first hurdle for the third time in Australia’s World Cup history. Don’t take this lightly.
Even coach Tony Popovic did his part and added a few party compliments to the team sheet. He made six changes to the team the United States left behind in Seattle last week and did what much of the country encouraged him to do: start Nestory Irankunda, Cristian Volpato and Connor Metcalfe together and find a way to unlock Jordan Bos, the beast in the cage.
For a man widely seen as a defensive-minded coach, this was a clear expression of aggression from Popovic.
It almost worked.
From the first whistle the Socceroos looked better than they did against the USA. They were stronger in the duels, won most of the second balls, and managed to assert themselves physically in the contest rather than becoming monsters. It was a good platform to start with.
Bos has (rightly) been described as a young, Australian version of Gareth Bale – but he actually grew up idolising Dutch winger Arjen Robben. Robben played on the right and had only one move: to cut inside with his dominant left foot and wreak havoc. Everyone knew what he would do; The hard part was stopping him.
Here Bos had the opportunity to realize his dreams of imitating Robben.
Bos, who replaced the injured Jacob Italiano on the right wing, took aggressive positions and combined with Volpato, the other left-footer in front of him. It was so advanced that the Socceroos were playing with their back four when in possession, with Alessandro Circati sliding to protect the right flank.
Most of Australia’s attacks in the first half came from the right side and they tried to take advantage of the chaos this duo would create. All the best chances have been captured or created by one of them; but implementation was never fully realized.
There wasn’t much to worry about back there. Initially, Paraguay appeared to target Lucas Herrington with long balls, but abandoned that strategy as it became clear that the 18-year-old, the youngest player in Socceroos history to become a World Cup starter, just wasn’t getting tired.
The South Americans did not get their first shot on goal until the 50th minute. Not that they weren’t trying to attack, but they weren’t exactly going out of their way to do so. For them, the draw worked out quite well, and this was made abundantly clear in every instance of a time-wasting little joke, in every fit of cramp that seemed perfectly designed to waste time.
They made Australia sweat a few times towards the end but actually took on Paraguay.
Ultimately, the Socceroos dominated this game in a way that Türkiye star Hakan Çalhanoğlu, who gave no credit to Australia in the opening game, could understand. Bos never stopped attacking the right, putting in a tireless shift that deserved more rewards. But as the match progressed, the action died down and it seemed to be mutually agreed that the status quo suited everyone.
Here we are. The knockout phase has begun. Enjoy the feeling, forget the rest and bring someone from Belgium, Egypt or Iran. Australia lives to fight another day.
