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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

Villa Dan said:
I was really hoping when Hrustic come back will give us that creativity, but it hasn't.
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I thought Hrustic did give us creativity. It was the only time it looked like we actually wanted to play football. My only criticism is that tepid shot on goal. I hope the injury isn't serious, he'll be a loss.
 
Quicky said:
I thought Hrustic did give us creativity. It was the only time it looked like we actually wanted to play football. My only criticism is that tepid shot on goal. I hope the injury isn't serious, he'll be a loss.
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He played awfully (our worst) for the first 25-30 minutes then seemed ok after the couple of large breaks in play. Replaced at half time and Popovic made the point that he was not injured.
 
RIMB said:
Put McGree, Borello and Irankunda as the front three and you would see a totally different game. Add Caceres as a starter for midfield creation (which he is very good at) since Popa put him in the squad and we will get some actual constructed attacks that have a dangerous conclusion.

Borello was one of the few attackers who could get in behind like he did. Start him and surround him with players who can pass and he would be creating chances as long as he was out there.

I don't want a Duke player to apply pressure and win the ball back - I want a goal scorer first and foremost. Pointless Duke doing something 'great' and getting the ball when nothing comes of it because we don't have an actual striker on the field.

Our chances were wasted all night. Miss hits, scuffed shots - I do not remember their keeper actually having to make a serious save.

Not the worst performance - and not an Arnie ball game. We tried to play attacking football but were not good enough at it for it to become real, sustained pressure. The Saudi defenders were extremely resilient, regardless of us getting a few opportunities to create a chance (most teams get opportunities and shots - we have opportunities to create chances and we usually stuff them up before we get to the shot part).

We do not appear to have a common intent when we play. Lots of players running into the same space and confusion in the tight moments.

A bit of a worry bringing the ball out when Gauci had the ball at this feet in open play and the camera shot showed 8 players, including Gauci, all standing flat footed. No movement by any of them. No drive, no purpose, no intent, no energy.

We could have done better even with the squad Popa picked - but he did not play his game winners all together. And bringing Behich on to kill the game off? Nooooooooooo!

Hope Mono enjoyed the ballet FFS.
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I think Borello can press equally as well if not better than Duke, so I don’t agree with playing Duke because of his supposed work rate and pressing. I don’t necessarily think Borello is the best choice for the striker role, but he is better than Duke. He is more mobile and, I think, more likely to get on the end of a chance.
 
Quicky said:
This.

I'd like to see this team:

-----------------------Gauci------------------------
----Geria---Souttar---Burgess---Bos---
---------------Luongo---Balard----------------
----------------------McGree---------------------
-------Irankunda------------Goodwin-------
-----------------------Toure------------------------
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you mean the same Toure guy in U23 team that missed the Paris Olympics.

He's NOT the answer. Dont expect him to score the winner. In that campaign australia couldnt score a single goal for a whole tournament.
 
We are in danger now the away game in saudi arabia they should have Al Dawsari back.
 
I am hoping, but not expecting China to do Australia a big favour and snag a draw against Bahrain

After tonight Australia is fast running out of any margin for error and will need to be ruthless near goals over the next 5 games or we will fall short of direct qualification in this stage.
 
Let's be real we are punching well above our weight in terms talent optimisation, I think Popa is trying to get us playing a different way but clearly they need more time to get there but overall we just lack the quality to go to the next level.
We still should qualify for the World Cup so im not too alarmed but I feel this is how far we can go unless we can over-perform again like we did at the last World Cup where we jagged a couple of wins out of the group stage but if the quality of players doesn't go up a notch not much is going to improve.

Also Saudi Arabia are a good side, they were missing a few key players but it's clear they have clear style of play and played some football especially in the first half and maybe they were unlucky not to go ahead which looked like interference rather than offside given the Saudi player didn't touch the ball.

Injuries look to be a concern as well but it was good to see a player like Anthony Caceres finally get a go, one of the best technicians in the country that got overlooked for too long because our football system is so obsessed with speed and athleticism that we overlook some of the best technicians that could make a difference we got to look beyond this if we want to progress further forward.
 
358 passes to 491. 2 shots on target. We're not getting the ball nor doing much with it.
 
Villa Dan said:
I was really hoping when Hrustic come back will give us that creativity, but it hasn't.
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he plays in Serie B which isnt the highest standard as well, the question is why cant we develop more creative players? We need alot more.
 
mkxx said:
you mean the same Toure guy in U23 team that missed the Paris Olympics.

He's NOT the answer. Dont expect him to score the winner. In that campaign australia couldnt score a single goal for a whole tournament.
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I don't think you're aware of the inroads he's made a club level. He's classy now and has potential. We've got to get him playing.
 
First 30 mins was hard to watch. We struggled against the full press, and all game struggled with the high line. Geria didn't fill me with confidence. We only a couple of times managed the diagonal pass to split their defense. Deadball play looked uncoordinated, corners unthreatening.
 
Barca4life said:
he plays in Serie B which isnt the highest standard as well, the question is why cant we develop more creative players? We need alot more.
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I heard saudi has 32 pro clubs compared to our 11. Not all of our clubs dont have underage teams down to u6s and those that do only just started producing them, we havent had a h and a nyl since the nsl, our participation rate is too low to produce a football culture where every kid is playing either with other kids, each other or with their parents. Things add up I guess
 
JS96 said:
I don't think you're aware of the inroads he's made a club level. He's classy now and has potential. We've got to get him playing.
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Yeah judging someone for one campaign where the whole team struggled is very harsh given his improvement in club land
 
grazorblade said:
I heard saudi has 32 pro clubs compared to our 11. Not all of our clubs dont have underage teams down to u6s and those that do only just started producing them, we havent had a h and a nyl since the nsl, our participation rate is too low to produce a football culture where every kid is playing either with other kids, each other or with their parents. Things add up I guess
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FA/APL have got alot to answer for sure but also we need a different approach to our football, why Saudi Arabia can play through pressure better than us? We created some chances but off by mistakes rather than playing through teams.
 
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Australia 1.21
Saudi 0.06

One that got away despite our difficulties on the ball

For context 1.21 is our best this round of quals i believe? I think china we had around 0.9
 
Barca4life said:
FA/APL have got alot to answer for sure but also we need a different approach to our football, why Saudi Arabia can play through pressure better than us? We created some chances but off by mistakes rather than playing through teams.
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its a simple answer but we need better players to play through pressure better which means more clubs, more participants more everything
 
If Velupillay and Hrustic are out, we should call Toure, Iredale or Irankunda over. Maybe even Luongo. If we can fly Iredle all the way to Indonesia after Yengi's suspension then surely we should be on the phone tonight if we know the condition of those two.
 
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