If you had offered the Socceroos four points from the October international window and second place in their World Cup 2026 qualification group three months ago, they’d likely have had your arm off with the speed they’d try to shake on it. That’s at least once they’d gone through the motions of talking about how they go into every game trying to win.
If you’d asked them much the same three weeks ago, though advancing the prospect of securing a 3-1 win over China in Adelaide before emerging from Saitama with a 1-1 draw against a previously perfect Japan – results that would see them take hold of an automatic Asian qualification place in Group C – they’d probably have dropped the niceties.
Because as the dust begins to settle on the first two games of the Tony Popovic-era for Australia and bleary-eyed players embark on the long trek back to their clubs, it’s difficult to see – from a results perspective – how the past week could have realistically gone any better.
It was just over a month ago that the side was losing to Bahrain and drawing with Indonesia. It was only 23 days ago that Popovic was parachuted into his post following Graham Arnold’s shock resignation. By the time kick-off against a Japan outfit that had won 20 of their last 22 games arrived, the new coach had been afforded all of four training sessions with his full squad to start implementing the demands and requirements of his new system and 3-4-2-1 shape.
Then on the day of the game against Japan, a traffic accident on the road to Saitama Stadium meant the team spent more than two hours stuck on a bus. Their arrival less than an hour before kick-off prompted requests from both Football Australia and the Japanese Football Association for a delayed start that fell on the deaf ears of the Asian Football Confederation. “You end up just laughing,” Jackson Irvine said. “You’re just like ‘well, what can you do?’ You just got to deal with it.”
The #Socceroos have emerged for their pre-game warm-up, 28 minutes before scheduled kickoff. #JPNvAUS pic.twitter.com/4HwDFFqYEw
— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) October 15, 2024
Yet somehow, 90 minutes later and an own-goal apiece saw the two rivals share the spoils, the first time during this qualification period that the Samurai Blue had both conceded a goal and failed to win. It wasn’t quite the smash-and-grab to end all smash-and-grabs – that would have involved the Australians not giving up an equaliser and emerging with a first win on Japanese soil – but it was pretty close. The point was gleaned despite the Socceroos not putting a single shot on target and their lone attempt of any kind being a 20-yard header from Mitch Duke just 12 minutes in.
Thanks to a defensive rearguard that overcame the depth of Japan’s possessional and territorial domination to largely prevent the Samurai Blue from creating much in the way of clear-cut chances – Hajime Moriyasu’s side only had three shots on target of their own – a precious point was taken.
In the hours that followed across the continent, China’s Wang Dalei-inspired win over Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia’s draw with Bahrain in Jeddah – Bahraini keeper Ebrahim Lutfalla saving Salem Al-Dawsari’s 20th-minute penalty to put Roberto Mancini’s job further in jeopardy – ensured that the Socceroos hung on to the critical second-placed status in Group C they had secured with last week’s win over China.
Popovic, and the rest of Australian football, can now take a breath and begin to prepare for the November window, when the Green Falcons will head to Melbourne. The Socceroos will then travel to Bahrain seeking atonement for their 1-0 defeat on the Gold Coast last month. Take the maximum six points from those games and not only will Popovic be credited with having salvaged a campaign that looked to be teetering after its opening two games, but his side will have taken a significant step towards a top-two finish in the group and automatic progression to the 2026 World Cup from this phase of qualification.
Given that he will have to name his squad for those games in around two weeks, Popovic won’t have the sample size to see who has heeded his demands for elite standards by then. The Socceroos new coach will also have limited time with his entire squad before they take the field once more. At the same time, Mancini (if he’s still employed at that point), will likely know that his job rests upon getting a result at AAMI Park.
Improvements in possession will need to be found after it took until the second half against China for the Australians to find their gear, and much of the defensive prowess subsequently shown against Japan was only became crucial because of consistent turnovers in the face of the Samurai Blue’s press.
But after this international window, it feels like a foundation just as much mental as it is tactical has been laid by the new coach. Urgent results have been found, players are buying into his demands on and off the park, and destiny is properly back in the Socceroos’ hands.
