Top spot in Group A was there for the taking as Australia faced South Korea in Brisbane. The Socceroos played well and were able to control the match for most of it. Unfortunately an all too familiar lapse in concentration and a lack of communication allowed South Korea to construct a simple play that led to the only goal of the match, the final score ending 0-1. South Korea defended extremely well and were able to frustrate Australia by disrupting the flow of the game. By finishing second, the Socceroos now have a tougher route to the final starting with China in the quarter final and potentially a semi final against favourites Japan. Here are three points to take away from the match against South Korea...
1. We've come a long way but there's still a long way to go
If a few months ago I told you that we would be able to completely control a match against one of the top teams in Asia using our second string side you would have laughed at me. The fact is, that is exactly what happened against South Korea. The Socceroos were able to show that we've come a long way since Ange took charge of the team, we have become competitive technically and tactically against various Asian opposition. The credit has to be given to the hard work from the players and Ange Postecoglou's clear ideas. Australia is fast becoming a footballing force again, at least in the Asian confederation. However, our main goal of being the top team in Asia still seems distant, especially after this result. Japan, South Korea, Iran, UAE and possibly China all look superior to the current Australian team, specifically in individual skill. The players need to keep working hard and try to bridge the gap in skill with passion, physicality and hunger to win our first major trophy at home.
2. The squad has good depth
One of the main things that the Australian squad has been criticised about in recent times has been our lack of depth. It's well known that to have a strong team, especially in international tournaments, you need good players on the bench that can come on and make an impact. Whether you agree or not with Ange's starting lineup against South Korea, the truth is that we were able to match the opposition and control the game using largely a second string side. There were a lot of changes for this match, particularly up front, and we were still able to play good football, generate plenty of goal scoring chances and give ourselves the opportunity to win the match. The rotation of players and the consistently high quality of play in the group stage confirmed that we finally have good depth in the squad and the pool of players to choose from is more extent now. Hopefully it will continue to improve in the next few years as we head towards the next World Cup.
3. Need to get the simple things right before trying the difficult
The Socceroos performed well against South Korea and on another day could have won the match if the finishing was more clinical. One thing however that still plagues the Australian players is the tendency to try difficult things on the pitch then not being able to do the simple things. We try to construct intricate passing moves when a few minutes later we can't hit a simple five metre pass or we try to back heel it to another player when we can't hit a simple cross into the box. I'm all for exciting, attacking football but we also need to choose the right time to try the outrageous or to keep it simple. Against South Korea, the Socceroos were guilty of overdoing and overworking each play. It nearly came off a few times where we nearly scored but against good opposition that are hard to break down we need to also be able to mix it up and play more direct at times, especially towards the end of the match when we were chasing the result. I'm really admiring the way that Australia is trying to play football but a lot of the time the players are frustrating to watch when they try a more risky pass, a back heel one-two or when their crosses can't make it past the first marker.
Top performers: Mathew Ryan, Matthew Spiranovic, Massimo Luongo
Poor performers: Ivan Franjic, Matt McKay, James Troisi
#AUSvKOR
#AC2015
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