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You can almost set your watch to it. And the Socceroos can only hope the referee does too, and account for it via added time.
The Socceroos know exactly what to expect in their World Cup qualifying clash with Bahrain on Wednesday morning (AEDT) in Riffa. The problem is that they knew what to expect the last time they met, two months ago on the Gold Coast, in the shocking 1-0 defeat that ultimately set the table for Graham Arnold’s decision to step down as head coach of the national team. And they still got sucked in by their time-wasting antics.
Harry Souttar exchanges words with Bahrain players last September.Credit: Getty Images
“It still stings a lot,” said defender Harry Souttar, who conceded the own goal in the 89th minute that sealed just the second defeat for Australia in a live World Cup qualifier on home soil since 1981.
“After, we could hear them celebrating, and that probably annoyed us the most. We absolutely owe them a performance.”
Read the full story here.
The shocks continue. In the match which began late last night, Indonesia produced a stunning 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in Jakarta, with two goals from Marselino Ferdinan securing arguably their finest victory in their footballing history. It’s really that big.
Now Group C looks like this:
Just one point separates second from bottom. This is a huge opportunity for the Socceroos to take pole position.
So here’s how the Socceroos will line up. Once again, Tony Popovic has shown he is unafraid to make changes or to blood young or inexperienced players if he thinks it’s the right thing to do:
There are surprises from front to back, here.
Captain Maty Ryan is back in goals, replacing Joe Gauci for his first cap under Tony Popovic. Hayden Matthews, the 20-year-old Sydney FC defender, will start instead of Jason Geria. His teammate Anthony Caceres gets the nod in midfield over Aiden O’Neill. Aziz Behich replaces Jordy Bos out wide on the left. Craig Goodwin returns from suspension and comes in for Ajdin Hrustic in one of the inverted winger roles. And up front, it’s Kusini Yengi who is at striker, with Mitch Duke squeezed onto the bench.
Huge, huge calls. And suddenly that bench is looking very strong.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of this morning’s critical World Cup qualifier between the Socceroos and Bahrain. I’m Vince Rugari, and I’m two coffees deep. Put one on yourself if you haven’t already. You will need it. Kick-off is at 5.15am.
This is probably going to be another tough watch. That’s usually the way for the Socceroos. This stage of the campaign began with a confronting 1-0 defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast back in September – a result which, together with the 0-0 draw that followed in Jakarta against Indonesia, prompted coach Graham Arnold to do some soul-searching and hand in his resignation.
The Tony Popovic era has so far yielded a 3-1 win over China in Adelaide, a highly creditable 1-1 draw on the road with runaway Group C leaders Japan, and a 0-0 stalemate at home against Saudi Arabia, their main rivals for second spot and the direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup that comes with it.
In reality, the Socceroos probably need to win their next three games to seal it. So three points are an absolute must here.
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