Childhood fans of the venerable Fifa Series (making its debut in Sydney) will not remember the Socceroos 1-0 win over Cameroon as a classic of the genre. It will go down as a game decided when Jordan Bos’ quick wits in the 85th minute allowed him to seize upon a Paul Okon-Engstler pass that went through Ajdin Hrustić, and fire home, sparing the latter’s blushes for a penalty missed in the 70th minute.
Maybe with the benefit of hindsight it will be seen as the launching point for a successful World Cup campaign, with the win snapping a three-game losing run for Tony Popovic’s side that begun against the United States last October, as well as netting their first goal since that defeat in Colorado. Perhaps there will be something about how snazzy the new kits the Australians debuted looked in action, or that the fixture marked the starting debut of an 18-year-old Lucas Herrington – the youngest defender to do so since Brett Woods in 1981.
Playing in their penultimate home fixture before they head to North America for the World Cup, the Socceroos had generally failed to trouble Cameroon goalkeeper Devis Epassy on what was a degrading pitch at Accor Stadium before Bos struck. The first save the Epassy had to make was denying Hrustić from the spot with 20 minutes to go. Nestory Irankunda, after coming off the bench at half-time, would then flash danger in the 80th and 81st minute, forcing the Indomitable Lions’ keeper into a sharp save with the former, before the Socceroos wingback delivered the goods.
Nonetheless, on the balance of the second stanza, in which the Australians had 65% of possession and outshot the Africans six to one, and were able to get better numbers into the box. It will give the side some level of momentum heading into next Tuesday’s meeting with Curaçao, who lost to China 2-0 at the same venue earlier in the day. And that’s important as, heading into the last 20 minutes, the tale of Australia’s game had centred less on the chances they created and more so fleeting moments that only needed errors or momentary lapses in judgment to stymie their ambitions, or run into a last-minute intervention from the Cameroonians.
“We just looked a little bit anxious in the first half,” said Popovic. “I thought we created some good openings, didn’t really finish off the chances. We were never really troubled defensively, but it was just a little more stretched than what we would have liked. And then in the second half, in attack and defence, we were very solid: more compact, more aggressive, and the players felt a lot more comfortable.”
Plenty of this lift had to do with the introduction of Irankunda and Awer Mabil, who were both inserted at half-time and added a notable increase in zip to the Australian attack. Before his two chances, it was Irankunda that Italiano overshot with a cross, and Oliver Kamdem brought down Aiden O’Neill in pursuit of the second phase to hand the Socceroos their spot kick.
“It’s something that I can do,” said Irankunda. “Obviously, we had to regroup in the second half and go again with more energy. And I felt like I brought the energy, and I felt like the rest of the boys backed me, and they came and gave the energy as well.”
Another positive for the Socceroos was the clean sheet, and the sharp contrast to the control or quality of chances they had surrendered in two previous hit outs against Venezuela and Colombia last November. Nominally, Cameroon would end the opening stanza with six shots to one, but none of these attempts came close to quickening the pulse of Maty Ryan in the Socceroos goal; their best chance likely an 18th-minute Christian Kofane header sent directly at the Australian keeper.
Much of this had to do with the confident display put forward by Herrington, alongside regular starters Alessandro Circati and Jason Geria, in the defence. The trio remained compact and assured throughout the contest, clogging up the avenues towards Ryan and largely forcing Cameroon to speculatively launch efforts from outside their penalty area. This enabled Bos and Italiano, both of whom impressed, more licence to roam and provide much-needed width to attacks.
“I’ve been very impressed with the young man,” Popovic said of Herrington. “I wanted to see what he was like in this environment. And when I saw him train, I thought, ‘yes, he’s 18, so you can find an excuse not to play him if you want’, but I thought, ‘let him go out there’.”
Coming into the contest, Popovic had flagged where much of the work his side had been undertaking heading into the game had centred. This is still clearly a work in progress, with the coach likely to be frank with his side that more needs to be done before they face either Turkey or Kosovo in Vancouver in their opening game of the World Cup. But thanks to Bos and Irankunda, there’s a bit of momentum there. And that anvil remains in place.
“Momentum is key for any team in football,” said Riley McGree. “To get the win today was exactly what we wanted and what we needed; going forward, we can take a lot of confidence from that.”
