Hard decisions indeed. I’ll bid you farewell for now but Paul Williams has a match report on the way which will expand on the state of play between now and the World Cup. Fifty-six days to go.
Updated
Mitch Duke, who is currently playing in Japan for Fagiano Okayama, says “Graham Arnold has some hard decisions now”.
“I’m 31 now and this is my only opportunity to be on the plane to a World Cup and play a part,” he says. “That was my motivation. I feel like I did OK to win more opportunities and hopefully I get the final selection.”
Wonder what Arnold will take from those two matches. From two entirely different line-ups, he must decide which 26 players he takes to Qatar 2022.
Captain Mat Leckie is speaking with Network 10.
“Overall the playing group is a very inexperienced team in terms of caps,” he says. “But you see how much energy these young boys have, and we need them to perform at this level because they’re the type of players that are going to be the future for us.
“I’m sure he [Arnold] has got a lot of thinking to do over the next couple of months. I think this camp’s been great. A lot of new boys. And they’ve been very professional and showed that they want to be here.”
Full-time! New Zealand 0-2 Australia
90+3 mins Duke attempts one final assault but the referee blows his whistle and that is that for the two-match international series. Duke and Cummings had the goals at Eden Park and, despite that flat opening half, what we saw in the second was genuinely pleasing.
90+2 mins Just as I’ve written that Ben Old is in Australia’s danger zone and circling, looking to finish with a flourish, steal a consolation as stoppage-time ticks down. Deng makes the clearance.
91 mins Bell floats a free-kick from halfway towards an Australian third with numbers behind the ball. It’s the Kiwis now who can’t seem to fashion an opening. Redmayne is again trying to quieten his team. He releases the ball up field, Kuol finds Cummings in space and he dribbles down the left for another cutback and another decent chance.
88 mins Kuol makes another raid, down the left and with sublime ease. The substitutions have disrupted the All Whites, shaken up the rhythm of the match. Kuol is at the top of the box and shifts the ball wide for King who makes a cutback his teammates can’t finish. And now Kuol creates another chance out of nothing and has a shot in the goalmouth but at an acute angle. He takes a little too long to pull the trigger and Michael Boxall has it covered.
84 mins Tuiloma takes a free-kick at the halfway line and Australia wallop the ball down into the corner near the Kiwi goal. Leckie is on the run and his first touch is excellent but the ball is back and forth on the right flank and neither team can keep possession.
Goal! New Zealand 0-2 Australia
80 mins Can he score on debut? Yes he can. It’s emphatic, too, slightly to the right as Sail dives to the left. That was some passage of play, some goal-mouth scramble. This second half is so much more fun.
79 mins Everyone is everywhere in the midfield at the moment. Cummings makes his way into promising areas but NZ dart off on the counter courtesy of Grieve. And now Kuol is off. He’s on his own and with a fantastic turn of pace, without a hint of effort evades Storm Roux and taps the ball back in play before unleashing a delightful ball in that McGree gets to but it takes a deflection. Cummings has another crack and it smacks into Cacace’s hand before McGree has another go that rattles the inside of the crossbar and bobbles out. But the Socceroos have a penalty and Cummings will do the honours.
Updated
75 mins Applause as Reid takes his leave, in his final international appearance after a fruitful career. A tifo offers thanks. For some reason my enduring memory of him is of a visit to Wembley for West Ham’s 2012 Championship play-off final against Blackpool, which they won at the death.
73 mins Some decent chat from the Kiwi crowd behind Australia’s goal just as none other than Kuol. He is 18. He has not started an A-League match for Central Coast but scored four times off from nine substitute appearances. His eye-catching display against Barcelona has fuelled intense speculation about a move to Newcastle United, among other clubs, and this could be his chance to make himself a World Cup bolter.
70 mins Chance! NZ almost equalise as Delbridge, in possession, smacks the ball into Waine. It rebounds to Grieve, who shoots and almost scores. Tilio goes into the book for a crunching challenge on Waine, and it’s fair enough.
And here he is, the man you’ve all been waiting for. Jason Cummings. The Scotland-born forward known to himself as ‘Cumdog’.
🐶🧢'd
— Socceroos (@Socceroos) September 25, 2022
It's official. #NZLvAUS #GiveIt100 pic.twitter.com/jbQ7u8f3ye
67 mins Strain goes straight in for Cacace and eventually blown for a foul, just before a loooong ball is dealt with by Redmayne. Redders is copping words from Alex Greive, who has just been subbed on for Just.
64 mins Genreau’s pass is picked off by Garbett and Deng has to track back to intervene. But the Socceroos maintain their high line and it’s keeping the All Whites at bay. The subs are coming! Ryan Strain, Cam Devlin and Jason Cummings are ready and waiting for their triple international debut. Genreau, Atkinson and Duke take their leave.
60 mins The Socceroos have their tails up now. Tilio is making himself readily available, suddenly more akin to the real Tilio. He engages in a one-two with Duke before McGree swishes wide to Leckie.
57 mins Tilio finds Metcalfe behind him and they gradually shift the ball back to the defensive line, ready for the next attack. King wants a part of this one and races off on the overlap for a half-chance.
Goal! New Zealand 0-1 Australia
54 mins This is much better from Australia. More intent. Wonder what Arnold said at the break. Joel King has the ball on the left flank and Connor Metcalfe is quick to it. A pinpoint cross is beautifully met by Duke’s head. It is Duke’s eighth international goal and it gives his side the advantage they need.
52 mins Genreau is scampering forward again, this way and that, evading Bell who mixes up his feet. Just picks up a pass but the Socceroos regain possession. McGree pushes the ball to Tilio with his left foot and the latter, at the top of the box, barrels it towards goal in a much more convincing fashion than that first-half shot.
Second half, let's go!
48 mins New Zealand get started straight away on the first attack of the second 45. When will the first substitutions be made? Who will they be? Genreau has a free-kick and he takes it with his replaced boots. It floats in and is spat back out and Australia recycle until Sail gathers the ball.
That was … interesting. A couple of bright spots for Australia but errors abound and profligacy like what we just witnessed will do the team no favours against World Cup group-stage opponents like France and Denmark. Moments must be capitalised upon, chances taken. If this friendly is a training-ground run for younger players then let’s see Garang Kuol get a chance off the bench in not too long.
Half-time! New Zealand 0-0 Australia
45+1 mins That was an inexplicable miss. Tilio is a talented player and he won’t be happy with that as both teams head to the sheds as square at the break.
45 mins Metcalfe does a bright bit of work in the middle with an intercept before heading the ball down towards Duke, who races to the right of the area. He could shoot himself but instead tees up Tilio closer to the penalty spot. He has to bury this from here. But he fluffs his line and oh that’s difficult to watch. There will be one minute of added time.
43 mins Wayne has been up and about, and a through ball nearly falls neatly for him in the area only to be cleared in the nick of time. But Just is the man who could decide this match. And he has a chance on a plate here as the ball falls to him in front of goal. He takes a shot and sends it well over the crossbar. Redmayne is giving his teammates the signal to calm down.
39 mins As it stands, says Andy Harper on commentary, the All Whites are better prepared for the World Cup than the Socceroos, and they are not the ones who have qualified. The midfield have struggled to make their mark and they’re defending to get to half-time without conceding.
35 mins Wood has made an early exit with an injury sustained in an earlier tackle, in a blow to the Newcastle United forward. Ben Wayne takes his place, and slips during a challenge in chase of a lofted All Whites ball in the Socceroos’ half.
Updated
33 mins This is a challenge for Australia. Aside from Leckie’s early half-chance the traffic has mostly been one-way. The visitors are finding themselves forced to retreat in order to move forward but space is at a minimum. Genreau, Duke, Leckie, are all stopped in their tracks just as Genreau takes a seat to assess hit boot, which appears to have been torn in half (or thereabouts).
29 mins They shift the ball around for a wee before a whopping long ball across field has Matthew Garbett in chase. Deng times his tackle perfectly. It’s a big one, though, and Garbett hits the turf with some force.
26 mins Atkinson is back on the field, which is relieving for the Hearts defender not too far from the start of the Scottish Premiership season. Denis Genreau and Connor Metcalfe are covering some metres in the midfield trying to cut off NZ’s supply. Australia have a throw-in but Marco Tilio is promptly shut down by Reid and Marko Stamenic has possession.
23 mins After that little be may already be looking at a bit of stoppage-time in this first half. The All Whites are having fun on the break thus far, and this foray ends with the ball at the feet of Just, who whips a speculative cross into the box. There are numbers in there to turn this into a goal but Redmayne is on it like I was on the Mars Bars yesterday and he’s smothered the ball with his body before Wood can get a touch.
19 mins Atkinson has hit the deck after a challenge on Elijah Just, one of the standouts in Thursday’s first friendly. Trainers are on the pitch checking out his knee and help him to the sideline, where he runs off from a jog. It is less than 24 hours since the All Blacks humiliated the Wallabies on this very same pitch and, although it appears in pretty decent nick considering, the Network 10 coverage is pointing out a few potentially problematic divets.
15 mins Riley McGree is injected himself into the contest with ease. He is on the move through a very busy midfield and looks as if he’s about to take a stab at goal. He is the scorpion king, after all. He can hit them from distance. He winds back the right leg as his teammates stream forward but his shot is straight into the gloves of Oliver Sail.
12 mins We’re getting a reminder of the delicate skill of Liberato Cacace, who tees up Chris Wood at the left byline. That time it is dealt with easily but the Italy-based former Wellington Phoenix star steers the ball back himself, teasing Atkinson before attempting a cross not met by any other men in white.
10 mins Atkinson finds Leckie, who attempts with varying degrees of success to evade his marker. NZ have different ideas though. Payne is doing well early to keep the ball in play when needed but Australia utilising the right side.
6 mins The All Whites outmuscled Australia on Thursday, a night marking the Socceroos’ centenary. They will attempt to do so again here, but nice early signs from the green and gold (and a turquoise Redmayne). Leckie is dispossessed but retrieves the ball and dribbles it into the box, passing back for McGree who shifts it further back to the midfield. A reset.
Peep! First half is under way
3 mins I did say we were close to kick-off, did I not? I just mentioned Redmayne, and he has made a swashbuckling run off his line to collect the ball and start a new phase of attack. Delbridge is on the move. A lot of change in possession in the opening exchanges.
For context on the youth of this Socceroos XI, eight of them were at the Tokyo Olympics – an under-23 tournament.
This guy, though, has been around a while …
Andrew Redmayne is the starting goalkeeper.
I just mentioned the senior Australian players who have already departed. Here they are in full:
Aziz Behich, Ajdin Hrustic, Jackson Irvine, Fran Karacic, Awer Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, Aaron Mooy, Mathew Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, Adam Taggart.
This could be a disaster or a lovely surprise. Regardless, a few younger chaps will be playing for a ticket to Qatar come November.
The All Whites, meanwhile, have made only a couple of changes in their first home match in nearly five (5) years.
The big inclusion is of the retiring Winston Reid, who will captain the team for his send-off, the former West Ham defender leading the All Whites out against the very same team he made his debut. Albeit, this is not quite the World Cup send-off he might have imagined but Costa Rica put paid to that. Bill Tuiloma, who plays for Portland Timbers in the MLS, also gets the nod.
Here is how we start at @edenparknz against the @Socceroos #NZLvAUS 🇳🇿🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/AvWZ7xoC1u
— New Zealand Football (@NZ_Football) September 25, 2022
Your humble blogger has been diverted with other work matters today and kick-off is already creeping up. But let’s take a brief look at the line-ups because there have been CHANGES. Particularly to Australia’s starting line-up. Eleven, to be exact, with most of the senior players returning to their clubs. Let’s treat this as a test of depth, then. Coach Graham Arnold has given Harrison Delbridge a debut alongside Thomas Deng in central defence, flanked by Nathaniel Atkinson and Joel King. Mat Leckie will captain from the win while Mitch Duke leads the line.
STARTING XI 🗒
— Socceroos (@Socceroos) September 25, 2022
1⃣1⃣ changes and 1⃣ debut in our starting side for this afternoon's Trans-Tasman clash in Auckland 💪
We name a mix of youth & experience, with six potential debutants amongst the substitutes 👀
Watch live on Channel 10 from 1pm AEST!#NZLvAUS #GiveIt100 pic.twitter.com/ErxPCBICZJ
Preamble
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of this, the Socceroos’ final match (so far as we know) before the World Cup. Three days ago in Brisbane, Awer Mabil scored the only goal against the All Whites in an otherwise unconvincing performance. What can they show supporters in the rematch across the ditch in Auckland?
