And here’s your match report from Allianz Stadium:
Two-nil to Australia. They got what they came for, didn’t they? After a polished start from the home side, this match reached ‘cagey’ status fairly quickly and there it ultimately remained. It’s hard to say whether that was a reflection on the quality, tactics or a combination from both sides, but whatever the case Australia remain in strong contention for a birth in Russia.
Retaining Postecoglou’s controversial 3-4-3 (or is it 3-4-2-1?) system from last week, Australia set themselves to stretch their opposition, and it was clear early on that left winger Brad Smith would enjoy plenty of space and time on the ball. He looked incisive early, and it wasn’t long until Australia conjured their first chance. A corner from Troisi saw Jackson Irvine rise and head firmly to give Australia the lead, but the early goal served no indicator for what followed.
Through the brothers Abdulrahman, UAE brought themselves into the match. Their tactics appeared a carbon copy of Iraq’s a week earlier, as diagonal balls repeatedly tested Australia’s high back three. Meanwhile, Australia’s attack either broke down quickly or were stymied by profligacy in front of goal. Although Troisi was central to most of Australia’s forays, he will rue a number of chances where testing the keeper, at least, should have been expected.
Nails were bitten through half time but Australia started in far better fashion to the equivalent period last week. Smith, who was Australia’s most dangerous all night, started to find further freedom against a tiring UAE before a succession of corners led to another goal. Leckie rose to meet Troisi’s away swinger, and again the UAE might ask themselves whether better marking was available.
The goal settled the fraying nerves of the masses, who may now be comprehending the limits of Ange Postecoglou’s squad. The three points were absolutely necessary, but against a notionally weaker opponent on home soil most would have expected a smoother encounter. Perhaps the match will do well to temper the expectations of an increasingly expectant public, for whom World Cup appearances have quickly become the norm. Australia march on, albeit with a little more humility. They will do well to take the necessary three points in each of their next fixtures. Who knows, maybe a show down with the current fourth placed side in CONCACAF, the USA, might give us another story to salivate over for years to come.
Wherever you are around the world, thanks for joining me on the blog. Catch you next time.
Updated
FULLTIME: Australia 2 - 0 UAE
Australia have crawled, wrestled, and scraped their way to three valuable points in front of a sparse crowd and a substandard pitch. The goals came through Irvine (probably) and Leckie. None of it was pretty, but who cares? A fair few, actually. Back with a few thoughts soon.
90 min There’ll be three minutes of added time, as M Abdulrahman writhes around on the floor once more. The match is effectively done here, all spice has subsided. Australia work the ball forward through Amini and look like they’ll be bossing these final stages. Worryingly, Smith goes down on the left touch line but he’s up.
89 min Troisi finds Leckie from a corner again but he heads wide. He probably should have scored two from these, or is that too harsh?
Substitution Australia: Mustafa Amini replaces Mile Jedinak
87 min The ball bounces to Cahill, who’s about 35 metres from goal. He attempts the spectacular by trying to volley it with his left foot, but it trickles to the keeper. I suppose he’s earned that right.
Not played much football, not had the greatest season. Crowd loses it for Cahill #Legacy #AUSvUAE
— phil withall (@phil_withall) March 28, 2017
84 min Yellow card for Ahmed now, an immensely high boot on Troisi. They won’t stop conceding cards now. It’s wasting time, but is probably more indicative of their frustration. They’re spent.
82 min Yellow card for Milligan, who slams in to Abdulrahman. Then M Abdulrahman gets one himself for a late tackle. Then he gives one to Bailey Wright too for backchat. Three yellows in a minute.
Substitution: Kruse for Irvine. He’s been really impressive, Irvine. A great shift.
80 min Yellow card for Ahmed Barman for holding back Troisi. Substitution imminent for Australia too.
GOAL! Australia 2 - 0 UAE
Goal! Leckie rises to meet a Troisi corner and this time he makes no mistake. Again, you’d have to say that’s shocking marking from the visitors. Even so, it’s an impressive leap from Australia’s wide man. He nods it down and into the net, and you’d think that will do the job.
78 min Smith delivers in to the onrushing Irvine’s head - he makes great contact but it’s saved terrifically.
76 min Corner for Australia - both Cahill and Leckie are up for it and Leckie gets there, but he makes contact with his shoulder. It balloons over. Free header, really. The opportunities are mounting, as are their misses. Will they rue them?
74 min As we head toward 90 mins, UAE just seem to have dropped off slightly. Perhaps they’re waiting for Australia to (over) commit. They’ll need to push on soon, which could expose gaps in behind.
71 min Best chance of the second half falls to Australia. Leckie hauls the ball in on the right touchline and heads to the byline. It’s 3 on 3 with Cahill and Troisi in support. Leckie opts for the latter, rolling the ball into his path. Troisi strokes the ball over the bar under a small amount of pressure. That should have been on target. Wasteful stuff. Troisi punches the turf with impressive power.
Substitution Australia: Cahill for Juric
69 min Excellent turn from Leckie results in him being brought down about 40 yards from goal. It heralds the change, it will be Cahill for Juric.
67 min Irvine is on the end of another corner. It skews off to Wright whose shot is high and wide. Also, Cahill looks to be readying to come on.
Adrian has a response to Phil’s question earlier. “Hey Sam,” he says. “Just to touch on Phil’s comments, I understand it might be misplaced to blame the manager for the state of the players on offer however, he has been in charge of the squad since 2013, plenty of time to evolve our game. Yet we are expected to be patient with these results?”
I suppose the question is: how responsible is the national coach for the fundamental talent and skill of the players at his disposal? Genuine question.
63 min The whistle is being blown incessantly here. Offsides, fouls, backchat. The crowd eventually groans collectively as Australia concede a foul on the left touchline. Meanwhile Ryan nearly comes unstuck with a touch too many before finally clearing it. Anxiety is generally rising.
61 min Handball? The ball is rifled into the UAE area on the right hand side but it all happened a little quickly. The referee waves it away. Replays show contact with the hand but it’s all very innocuous. Depending on the result, we may hear more about that later.
60 min The Socceroos use Smith again on the left but his deep cross finds Leckie on the right touchline (it was very deep). Leckie does the same in reverse but it’s easily cleared. The crossing, while high in number, has been fairly benign. Rarely do Australia look like getting on the end of one.
58 min A good period for UAE here, just sharpening their movement in the middle. Having said that the fouls are starting to pile up and the niggle is rising. This was the period last match when Iraq started to dominate. Will that be the case here?
55 min The ball again finds space over Australia’s back three and it falls to M Abdulrahman. He makes great contact on the bouncing ball with his left foot but Ryan parries it away.
Substitution UAE: Khalil is off for Khamis Esmaeel
52 min Another corner for Troisi again fails to beat the first man. There are few things more frustrating. Meanwhile UAE have a change pending, that will be their second of the evening.
This from Mick (g’day Mick): “After all that palaver about the shocking state of the pitch in Tehran last week, this one looks to be of similar quality. It’s a depressingly familiar state of affairs in Australia. Imagine a whole World Cup on this kind of
surface if we’d won that bid? Actually, I’d rather not.”
Indeed. Particularly galling given Australia’s proclivity for playing the ball quickly on the floor.
50 min Troisi picks up the ball in midfield and drives straight at the heart of defence. He goes down under heavy contact but the referee waves play on. Replays show it was a decent decision, shoulder-to-shoulder contact was all she wrote. Troisi is very direct, isn’t he?
49 min A low corner from Troisi can’t beat the first man and the UAE launch a counter that breaks down.
47 min Irvine gets on the end of the corner and heads it across goal to two Australians at the back post but they can only find the keeper with outstretched foot. They look sharp, Australia.
46 min Australia’s attack focuses on the left edge straight, where Smith again looks lively in space. Again, he can’t find support in the middle. Leckie then wriggles through space on the right delivers a probing ball across goal but it’s out for a corner. That’s better from Leckie. Corner pending...
The players are back
Another tweet from the machine before we settle in for the next 45 minutes.
Great start Australia, but lucky to survive a period of silly errors in possession -- fortunately UAE couldn't capitalise. #AUSvUAE
— Ned Zelic (@NedZelic) March 28, 2017
This from the vault, referenced in Michael Lynch’s piece in the SMH recently. When Australian football influencers clash
It looks as though the pitch is fairly poor too
Once again @Socceroos having to play @FIFAWorldCup football on a pub game paddock. Not good enough. #AUSvUAE #RoadToRussia
— Francis Leach (@SaintFrankly) March 28, 2017
Couple of hot tweets to get you through the break.
I miss Kewell and Viduka and Culina and Grella and Bresciano and Emerton.#AUSvUAE
— Dan Turner (@Big_DT23) March 28, 2017
Halftime: Australia 1 - 0 UAE
A fairly middling sort of encounter so far. Neither team asserted themselves to be deserving of any real advantage, yet Australia find themselves in front. It was a corner delivered with real pace and swing into Jackson Irvine, whose only competition for the ball was via his team mate Matthew Leckie. Irvine won that aerial duel, hammering the ball into the shoulder of a UAE defender before the ball crossed the line.
Despite early dominance, the goal didn’t prove instructive. As with the Iraq encounter days earlier, the opposition soon found their footing - through similar tactics too, it should be said. Their talisman, spirit animal, best player, Omar Abdulrahman, has troubled Australia on a number of occasions, and again one wouldn’t be surprised were the UAE able to find their way back into this qualifier.
A quick look through the angry echo chamber of Twitter reveals a flummoxed Australian public, who are possibly cottoning on to a squad that may lack the prestige of teams gone by. There is solid criticism for a lack of attacking cutting edge, ruthlessness in front of goal and a pretty bypass-able midfield. Underperformance or just Australia’s level?
If UAE do find a way back, that will be the key question. But as it stands, it’s Australia by one with Tim Cahill in the wings. A huge half of football for both sides coming up.
45+1 min A bit of carry-on before an Australian corner on half-time. Mabkhout pushes Juric in front of the referee. Juric looks displeased. It builds fractional suspense before the last kick of the half. It comes to nothing as the referee spots a pushing foul and calls half-time. Some thoughts to follow.
44 min Another corner to Australia, delivered by Troisi. It’s cleared initially by the UAE but is chipped back in. It bounces to the incoming Troisi who shoots wildly over. Probably needed to control it and re-deliver, but, as they say in Australian sporting cliches: good intent.
42 min Now Smith is brought into the game and opens UAE up. He gets to the byline and rolls the ball into the path of Milligan. He just fractionally overruns it, which in-turn leaves the ball stuck underneath him. He scoops a left footed shot on the edge of the area but it’s powerless and straight into the waiting keeper’s arms.
40 min An exquisite turn in midfield allows Abdulrahman to lift his head and split the back three but Khalil is fractionally offside. He didn’t need to be, either.
Substitution UAE Mohammed Abdulrahman is on for Tariq Ahmed.
38 min A slalom run from James Troisi sees him fire high and wide. He picked the ball up just in front of half way and connected with Juric. The ball was rolled back into his path but he couldn’t control the shot.
36 min Patient build up from Australia on the edge of the final third, pinging the ball between the middle and the right. Has Smith wronged Jedinak at some stage? The Aussie skipper looks out to him, considers him, and goes right.
34 min A simple ball down the right line finds Irvine who turns swiftly to create some space. It comes to nought as his low cross cannons into the first defender, then Troisi incurs the foul in a bid to destroy a possible counter.
33 min Now Australia adopts the long ball. Jedinak, standing in a quasi-quarterback position, lobs over the top in an attempt to find Juric, but it’s to no avail - bouncing straight to UAE’s keeper. That’s not the first time they’ve ignored Smith on the left, who’s still in space. Perhaps they’re trying to mix it up?
31 min Ryan runs about 25 metres to shepherd the ball out of play. Was hairy for a millisecond there, but that might say more about me. He was always in control.
28 min Nice distribution from Ryan leads to quick delivery forward to Juric. He’s fouled, Australia move it on quickly but lose possession themselves, conceding a foul along the way. TV commentator notes that it’s a little stop-start. He’s right. The attack is getting a little ponderous too. A function of tactics or fatigue?
Note: people seem to be crediting the goal to Jackson Irvine. There was a pretty significant deflection from the defender. I’m holding fire.
25 min Corner to Australia, cleared this time by the UAE. They’re soon on the attack themselves before a through ball is collected by Ryan.
Updated
22 min Despite Australia’s dominant start, the match seems to be taking a similar rhythm to the Iraq match. UAE look threatening with the ball, particularly through Abdulrahman. As I type he finds himself on the end of another ball over the top, but Sainsbury jockeys him for a goal kick.
Loving Abdulrahman's passing but for real, does anyone know if Carlos Valderamma ever visited UAE on a "goodwill" trip. #AUSvUAE
— Roy Ward (@rpjward) March 28, 2017
19 min A diagonal ball in behind the Australian back three has them scrambling again. Luckily for Australia, Mabkhout dithered slightly and the attack breaks down. They’re armwrestling their way into this game.
Updated
16 min Wright fouls Abdulrahman in a perfect spot for the left-footer to fire on goal. He does with a fierceness that caused this correspondent to audibly gasp. It had power, it dipped, but Ryan was equal to it. A fine save. Abdulrahman is the danger for Australia.
“Evening Sam,” says friend of the show, Phil. “Just wondering if I’m alone in thinking that the recent outbreak of criticism for Ange Postecoglou is slightly misplaced. He is a fine manager using a squad of players that are, arguably, less talented than those of the recent past, playing against teams deemed weak but that have evolved significantly. Needs some perspective.
Oh, and Mooy isn’t the answer to everything.”
Nothing further to add to that.
Note: there was significant internal criticism after Iraq about Australia’s inability to win headers. Sainsbury has won each contest so far tonight.
13 min Repeat touches for Smith, who’s found himself with acres on the left on a few occasions now. He can’t find Juric but good signs.
11 min UAE enjoy their best spell in possession, working the ball around the middle third. Australia remain untroubled.
10 min Australia had a number of attacking forays against Iraq, as they do here, but the difference is Iraq attacked back. Here, the back three looks far sturdier.
7 min More electricity around the area from Australia again. A quick interchange at the top of the box sees Juric fire across goal. Leckie is there but with such an acute angle hits the side netting.
GOAL! Australia 1 - 0 UAE (O.G.)
A fierce delivery in from a corner sees Irvine rise unmarked, heading powerfully toward the near post. It strikes a UAE defender before bobbling over the line. Where was the marking? Perfect start for the home side.
5 min Ali Mabkhout almost reaches a through ball but Ryan claims it. He looks dangerous, the UAE front man.
“Good morning Sam,” Adrian writes. “A big home game for Australia today, surly nothing more than the 3 points will see the man responsible for retiring 90% of the squad that got Australia into the last world cup, come undone. Australia employing Australian managers, what are your thoughts?”
I really like Postecoglou’s philosophy and I often find myself watching his interview with Foster and Murray in 2006 for kicks.
1 min UAE kick off and go long immediately, a possible sign of things to come? Australia clean up and UAE drop into their half fairly quickly. As I type Australia has retained possession for a whole minute, before an attack breaks down via Leckie. Sparse crowd, disappointingly.
Anthems are done, we’re about to start
Apologies for the minimal build up there, a few technical issues. We’re nearly underway.
Australia’s team is in
A raft of changes from the team that drew with Iraq. Kruse notably slips to the bench, Ryan comes back in for Langerak, and the ‘roos are without Mooy and Luongo for the first time in a while. A fair amount of attacking penetration lost there. Will be interesting to see how the replacements fair.
In this morning's papers: Ange said: "I got smashed... I compromised my beliefs. Never again, mate." Tonight, we're going out hard. #AUSvUAE pic.twitter.com/T0bF5Iju7M
— Caltex Socceroos (@Socceroos) March 28, 2017
Preamble
Afternoon, morning, evening all and welcome to this feast of live blogging ahead of Australia’s must-win tie with the United Arab Emirates. For Australia, the sense of urgency is so high that that must win has now gained italicised status, at least in these quarters. The truth isn’t quite so intense, because we haven’t introduced the term ‘mathematically’ into the Socceroos World Cup qualification lexicon just yet. Nevertheless, with three home matches on trot and a fixture against a team sitting beneath Australia on the table, anything less than the entire, fullsome three points will be seen as a huge failure.
Speaking of which, even though I’m in London I can hear the dogwhistling suggesting that coach Postecoglou should introduce a layer of circumspection to his all-out attack. If a dogwhistle isn’t quite the right metaphor, then perhaps high flying vultures are - for they are just starting to circle after a leaky backline and four successive draws leaves Australia teetering here.
The UAE are no mugs either. Sitting just a point beneath the home side, they’ve already recorded an impressive victory away to Japan, and come into this tie even more *mathematically* desperate than Australia to keep their hopes alive.
It sets a hell of a stage for an intriguing fixture. Team news and line ups next. As ever, you can funnel me your thoughts and fears via sam.perry.freelance@guardian.co.uk or on Twitter: @sjjperry
Updated
Sam will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a look at Nick Miller’s global view of this week’s qualifiers:
