Socceroos end their goal drought to give new boss Tony Popovic a winning start in front of almost 50,000 fans in Adelaide
Australia came from behind to beat China 3-1 on Thursday and resurrect their men’s Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign, ensuring Tony Popovic’s reign as coach got off to a winning start.
The Socceroos went into the game at Adelaide Oval after a shock 1-0 home loss to Bahrain and a scoreless draw in Indonesia last month left them in a perilous position in Asian Group C.
It led to the departure of coach Graham Arnold and Popovic being installed as his successor.
Goals from Lewis Miller, Craig Goodwin and debutant Nishan Velupillay did the damage after they went behind against the run of play in the 20th minute in front of 46,291 fans.
“We were calm, composed – even after we lost the first goal we stuck to the game plan, which was obviously something new,” Socceroos skipper Jackson Irvine said.
