Clear in purpose, adaptable in execution; Socceroos ready for China test
As they prepare for the tough task of breaking down China in front of 70k partisan home fans, Socceroo leadership is confident they have all the necessary tools to get the job done.
HANGZHOU, China -- The basic structure of the Socceroos’ and China's FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday evening isn't too difficult to guess. Looking to take another step towards automatic qualification for 2026, the Australians will likely have most of the ball and be tasked with finding a way to break down and see off an opponent that, with their hopes of qualification increasingly perilous, will defend doggedly, aggressively look to force turnovers, and try to prove lethal in transition.
That's not certain, of course, but with Branko Ivanković's side yet to have more than 43% of the ball in any of their third phase Asian qualifiers to date -- that home 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia the only time they've broken the 40% mark -- it feels a pretty safe bet.
It's a familiar puzzle for the Socceroos in Asian competition, one that they've struggled to solve for much of their recent history. And the above summation is something of a simplification of the actual challenges associated with a low block, with each opponent invariably going to set up, press, and transition in their unique ways. In the first game between these two nations in Adelaide last October, it took a set-piece header from Lewis Miller on the stroke of halftime to finally break down the visitor's resistance after they had stunned Australia through Wenneng Xie on the counter just 20 minutes in. Craig Goodwin subsequently grabbed a go-ahead goal in his hometown in the 53rd minute and Nishan Velupillay, on debut, finally killed the game off in the 92nd.
"A lot of the messaging is around that," Goodwin told JDL Media. "When we do the analysis of the different oppositions, the talk from [the coaching staff] is: 'This is the similarities that we see within their game, these are the patterns that they do, these are the common things that happen.' But in any different game, they can change. So we have to be adaptable. We have to read the game.
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"We're given our way of playing and different solutions. But at the end of the day, it's up to us to be able to be on the pitch, feel the game, and make the right decisions. It is a big focus and something that we've been very good at so far. But it's about building on that as well, because we may find a different style of game against China this time.
"I expect them to come out fast, as Indonesia did [in the 5-1 loss last Thursday]. They'll probably look at their match against us to say 'We came out quick. We caused them problems. We got the early goal' and then try to adjust off that. But for us, we have to be able again to adapt to those situations, read the play, be clever, and be smart. We've gone through some of those experiences already in this campaign, and hopefully, we can build off that."
Indeed, coming off the back of a clinical 5-1 win over Indonesia -- Australia's 56% shot conversion rate in that game their third-highest since Opta began collecting the data in 2015 -- there's a belief within the group that they'll be ready to do what they need to unlock China's defence and come away with a vital three points.
"The last five games have been perfect example of how I think every game has been so different," Jackson Irvine told JDL Media. "When you look at China in Adelaide to Japan away, to Saudi Arabia, compared to Bahrain, compared to Indonesia -- the way we've been pressed, the way those games have all played out, have been completely different. We've not been asked to play one specific way all the way through.
"But you've got that core and that structure, you have a baseline of what you want to do, the principles that lie within that, you should be able to then adapt within games to face whatever comes your way; whether it's a deeper block, whether it's a higher press, whether you have to control the ball for longer games, or, like in Japan, you have to defend deeper for certain moments.
"That is always been one of the strengths of this Socceroos team, not just now but over my time in this team, it's that adaptability, that ability to gauge and feel within games, what a game needs. And I think again on Tuesday night, that will be key because I think we'll be asked different questions, very different questions, to what we were asked in Sydney."
Slow starts, in particular, have been something of a focus for Australia heading into Tuesday's contest. Not only did the Chinese land an early blow on the Socceroos in their previous meeting but it was just last week that Indonesia stunned the hosts by jumping on them straight from the kickoff; Jay Idzes forcing Maty Ryan into a spectacular save with a header in just the fifth minute of the contest and Kevin Diks smashed a penalty off the post just three minutes later.
The Socceroos would answer back with a penalty of their own from Martin Boyle soon afterwards but, as Tim Garuda boss Patrick Kluivert observed post-game, if either of those two chances goes in, the game's complexion completely shifts.
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"It's about preparing the players, knowing that and making them aware of it being something that we need to improve on, definitely," Socceroos assistant Hayden Foxe told JDL Media.
"Then you're doing exercises to trigger them, their responses. We make them aware of the opposition. We're in China, we know they're going to be physical. We know that they're going to come. We know that they're going to be supported by 70,000 people.
"But you embrace that. We have to embrace that and enjoy that and use that to our strengths."
The other elephant in the room for Australia has nothing to do with the actual game itself, but what it could mean in the broader context of qualifying. While chickens can't be counted before they hatch, Saudi Arabia needing to travel to face an undefeated Samurai Blue in Saitama gives the Socceroos a golden chance to go four points clear in second place of Group C come the end of the day. And with just the two automatic qualification slots on offer from the group and Japan and a trip to face the Saudis on tap for June's final window of the group stage, that could be big.
How each player will respond — all 25 members of the squad are fully fit for the contest, per Foxe — will be unique to them, with Foxe saying one of the key messages from the coaching staff will be to keep the group relaxed and remind them that they're highly talented professionals. For the veterans in the group, the assistant coach also observed that plenty will have experienced high-pressure environments they can harken back to, be it for the national team or in Cup games, relegation battles, or derbies with their clubs.
"Particularly the more senior players that have been involved in a couple of these campaigns before, we definitely embrace [the pressure]," Irvine reflected. "We've been a part of games like this before and I think it's important to recognise that, sometimes, in those games, you get the best out of players -- when you see the big picture.
"But at the same time, you don't want to overload that pressure because there are still two more games afterwards. It's not a make or break; there's still chances after. But in the context of the group, every game is important in the way that the group is laid out. But we all understand that going into the June window with the games that a win on Tuesday puts us in a much more positive position."
Header Image: Football Australia/Socceroos