Familar challenges - and faces - to test Olyroos in Indonesia clash
After commencing their AFC U23 Championships with a 0-0 draw against Jordan, the Olyroos will confront familiar challenges against an Indonesian side loaded with familiar, senior faces on Thursday.
Australia’s U23s got a lesson in the challenges that await them on the road to Paris in their opening AFC U23 Championship fixture against Jordan, some familiar and some new. But ahead of their second group stage fixture against Indonesia, their coach Tony Vidmar believes they’ll be better for the experience.
The Olyroos had a frustrating day at the office in their first-ever meeting with the U23 side of The Chivalrous Ones on Monday, as they were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw in which clear-cut chances were few and far between.
Just as Vidmar predicted pre-game, the Jordanians were content to sit back and give their Australian rivals the ball throughout the contest as they looked to play in transition – the Olyroos seeing 71% of the ball across the 90. However, forewarned wasn’t forearmed, as despite their territorial and possession dominance only two of their 13 shots were sent on the target towards the Jordanian goal, the same number that their rivals managed in just three attempts.
Additionally, it was Patrick Beach who was forced to work harder than his counterpart Ahmad Al-Juaidi when shots were sent towards their net, with the Olyroos custodian producing a series of top-draw saves.
Of course, struggling to break down and create clear chances against a low black is hardly an atypical conundrum for Australian national teams, regardless of their age or gender, nor is it for other Asian powerhouses – South Korea possessing 73% but just three shots on target against the United Arab Emirates in their opening fixture, one they escaped with a 1-0 win after a 94th-minute strike from Gimcheon Sangmu attacker Lee Young-jun.
This was on show at the senior Asian Cup months prior, a tournament wherein the proverbial big five of Asia – Australia, Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran – all struggled to fashion consistently purposeful and incisive possession against perceived lesser foes. And it remains a challenge going forward, for senior coaches and junior ones such as Vidmar alike.
“We knew our three group games were all going to be difficult in some form,” reflected Vidmar. “Jordan was very well organised. They had their game plan of really sitting deep, allowing us to have the ball and then trying to hit us in transition.
“We're very pleased with how we dealt with that. And then sometimes that can be a real test for players, concentration-wise. We were happy with how they dealt with that.
“It was the first game of the tournament, and you want to have a good start. But a lot of pleasing things have come out of it, which we probably haven't done in previous games.
“We defended really well, we didn't concede. We created chances -- not as many as we would have wanted. -- but had a few of those opportunities that we didn't take. On other days, they go in so. Overall, it was a pleasing start and a platform to build on.”
Continuing on the senior Asian Cup parallels, the Olyroos clash with Indonesia will come just over two months after their senior equivalents met in the Round of 16 in Doha as well, a game in which Indonesia took it to their foes – belying pre-game expectations of a low block with a high-pressing, high intensity opening the Socceroos did not look comfortable against – before ultimately running out of legs in the final 15 minutes and losing 4-0.
Former Korean international and one-time Brisbane Roar representative Shin Tae-yong was on the touchline that day, as he will be on Thursday evening in his dual role as senior and U23 boss of Garuda Muda. Indeed, highlighted by attacker Marselino Ferdinan and defender Justin Hubner – on loan at Cerezo Osaka from Wolverhampton – 14 members of his squad at this tournament have been capped at a senior level, part of Shin’s efforts to reinvigorate the senior’s side ranks with rising talent and healthy use of Indonesia’s diaspora.
Ferdinan, Hubner, striker Rafael Struick, and goalkeeper Ernando Ari all started against the Socceroos back in late January but another, Utrecht prospect Ivar Jenner, will be absent on Thursday after he and Ramadhan Sananta were sent off in their nation’s opening 2-0 defeat to Qatar amidst a refereeing performance Shin labelled a “comedy show and highly exaggerated.”
Australia, meanwhile, will have a full squad to choose from; late arrival Jacob Italiano is now up to speed and available if required.
“They've worked with this group of players for some time,” said Vidmar. “It's international football, there's no easy games. We have to be really well organised again, [to] expect Indonesia to really press us high. We're aware of the quality that they have going forward.
“We've looked at many of their games, both with their 23s and their seniors, so it gives us an idea of what to expect. But they could do something completely different. And that's what we have to be aware of. They could spring a few changes, they're missing a couple of players who were sent off in the Qatar game.
“But there's a good chance that they will stick to a similar formation and style of playing. I don't see that changing. We've got to be prepared for it and ready to come out and work and fight you know. These cliches, you've got to, you've got to compete and then the quality at the end is what we're banking to win us the game.”
But while there may be an air of familiarity permeating much of this fixture, there’s one dynamic at this tournament that Vidmar admits his side possesses very little exposure to: the dark arts.
Especially in the wake of their skipper Danial Afaneh being sent off in the 82nd minute, the Jordanian players gave a textbook example of timewasting – or shithousery, to be blunter – in their opening fixture, denying the Olyroos any semblance of rhythm and killing any nascent builds in momentum.
As long as the referee allows it, it will forever be a viable tactic in these kinds of games – it’s ultimately the responsibility of the one with the whistle to control these things – and while it’s unlikely Indonesia will deploy a similar approach, Vidmar admitted it’s something of a new experience for some of his players that they will need to adapt to.
“That's, that's a challenge that we have,” he said. “We don't get that in our domestic competition. So for a number of players, it's a new thing. And I think the more that happens, it frustrates them.
“We've said to the players that it's part of the game that we can't influence. The referees have to make their call on whatever it is. Just focus on what we have to do.
“They will have that game plan where they will take time out, delay it and that kind of upsets your rhythm of how you want to play. And that's a big learning step for these players. They've experienced that, it'd be great to experience it more for him.”