Australia put on a great performance against Ghana during the week in London, creating many chances, only to concede a clumsy goal on 74 minutes to leave the game all square at 1-1. Ghana scored when goal-keeper Schwarzer collided with Patrick Kisnorbo as he dived forward to catch a cross. The ball spilled out of his hands to the feet of Junior Agogo, leaving him with a simple tap-in.
It was an unfortunate incident with maybe Kisnorbo more to blame than Schwarzer with the ball coming in firmly inside the 6-yard box that is ordinarily the goal-keeper's domain. Also, the original marking from initial throw-in with Scott Chipperfield left a lot to be desired when he elected to anticipate the ball being returned to the thrower instead of marking sufficiently the original recipient.
Other than the mistake, Kisnorbo, making a return to the team after a two year exile, played very well. For those with short memories or for those that don't do the research (eg: Craig Foster), Kisnorbo was shunned from the national team set-up and any potential World Cup squad for refusing to play in the Olympic team for the 2004 Olympics. Suffice to say he has served his penalty and has cemented himself in the mind of the coach for further squad selections. Vince Grella played well in his inaugural role as captain, while Brett Emerton also led well - especially in the second half when injury forced Grella off early and younger and more inexperienced players were substituted on. Culina was strong in midfield, though, the guy is riddled with seeming one of the worst shots in the game. Any deliberate shot from range was hopelessly weak and straight to the goalie.
With the injury to Grella and the substitutes, Ghana did come into the game a bit. Even then, Australia still held slight control slight and had opportunities later to win the match with chances to Brett Holman and Ryan Griffiths going close.
Earlier, John Aloisi scored a 25th minute penalty after being brought down. There seemed minimal contact, but the Ghanaian defender did slide into the legs of Aloisi and made no contact with the ball, so a definite penalty. Ironically, the penalty came almost to the day (just two days out) of his penalty conversion in the shootout against Uruguay that sent Australia to the World Cup.
Coach Graham Arnold was ecstatic with the performance, while Vince Grella was captain for the night.
Arnold: "It was a friendly played in a wonderful spirit and was very competitive. There were two teams who made the last 16 of the World Cup, and they showed why they made the last 16 of the World Cup. "we're in a transitional period having lost four players who retired, so I'm over the moon that we have brought some new players in to the team. If you look at the players we had out injured, to put in a performance like that makes me very proud."
About Ghana's goal: "I thought Schwarzer held the ball and collided with Patrick Kisnorbo. That happens in football and these things always even themselves out. "We scored the goal and their keeper made some good saves but we needed the second to take control of the game. I knew if I didn't put out a team of 11 athletes tonight to match Ghana that we would get slaughtered."
On Grella's injury just after the break, which may have affected the result:
"He's my lynchpin. He starts all our play as well as breaking it up. The guys (Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka) who were out injured are all world-class players, but I'm over the moon with how the players who came in performed."
Australia: Mark Schwarzer (gk), Scott Chipperfield, Brett Emerton, Patrick Kisnorbo, Craig Moore (Michael Thwaite h/t), Vince Grella (c) (Kasey Wehrman 53’), Jason Culina, Luke Wilkshire (Brett Holman 76’), Mile Sterjovski, Mark Bresciano (Ryan Griffiths 78’), John Aloisi.
ARNOLD DELIGHTED WITH DRAW
COACH Graham Arnold praised his under-strength Socceroos for securing a 1-1 draw with
highly-regarded Ghana in an entertaining friendly today.
Only a defensive mix-up 16 minutes from time denied the Socceroos a deserved victory after
they had dominated the match in front of an impressive crowd of 14,379 at Loftus Road,
home of Queens Park Rangers.
"I'm over the moon,'' said Arnold.
"I just spoke to the players I'm so proud of them ... it was an outstanding
performance.
"Once again they've shown their commitment for the cause.''
Without their four biggest names - the injured Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill and
Tim Cahill - Arnold's team converted early pressure when John Aloisi scored the Socceroos'
goal from the penalty spot after 26 minutes.
Aloisi had been brought down by a crude challenge from defender Francis Dickoh and this
looked like being enough until the freak equaliser.
Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer seemed to have collected substitute Asaoah Gyan's
cross until he collided with rookie defender Patrick Kisnorbo as he fell to ground.
The ball spilled from his hands into the path of Junior Agogo, who made no mistake from
five metres to equalise.
Kisnorbo - the only one of today's starters who didn't play in the World Cup despite coach
Graham Arnold's pre-match talk of the game being a showcase for young Aussie players -
performed well apart from this error.
"That kind of stuff comes from never playing together,'' said Arnold of the defensive
mistake.
"If it was Craig Moore and Lucas (Neill) in front of him (Schwarzer) , they know
exactly where Schwarz would be.
"These kind of things happen in football.''
Although Ghana stars Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah showed fleeting glimpses of their
quality, for the most part Australia's stand-in captain Vince Grella and Jason Culina ran
the game from the centre of midfield, while Brett Emerton provided much of the attacking
impetus from right back.
Ghana had goalkeeper Richard Kingson to thank for their deficit being just one goal going
into half-time as he pulled off an incredible stop when Craig Moore met Mark Bresciano's
corner with a fierce header.
The best Australian effort of the second half came from Emerton when after having his
attempted cross blocked, he fired in a half volley from a narrow angle that Kingson just
parried away at his near post.
Two substitutions had an effect on Ghana getting back into the game, Aussie skipper
Grella's departure through injury and the introduction of Gyan for the African side.
Youngsters Kasey Wehrman, Ryan Griffiths and Brett Holman all came on in the closing
stages for Australia, but despite impressing with their industry, they could not get the
goal to give the Socceroos the win they deserved.
"The second half we were a little bit disjointed but that comes down to making as
many subs as I made,'' said Arnold.
"We pretty much lost Vince Grella, that's how important he is to the new system I'm
trying to implement.
"But overall, over the moon. We've got four young boys that showed tonight they're
the future, they can handle the level and they are the kids that will have to step up for
the 2010 World Cup.''
With Australia already qualified, having little to play for, again with a mix-mash of players playing together as a unit for the first time and only two training sessions and oppressive 40 degree temperatures - even at the 8.30pm kick-off - Australia succumbed to a defiant Kuwaiti side in their Asian Cup qualifier early this morning with two quick fire goals early in the second half. With 10 days in camp together, Kuwait were much stronger and fitter, and should have had a penalty awarded after 8 minutes that would have cancelled out Australia's only decent attempt on goal - a sitter missed from two metres out by debutant Ryan Griffiths just three minutes before half time.
The opportunity came after Skoko, who really should have some game time at the World Cup with his excellent long passing game, played through Mile Sterjovski on the right, whose low cross could only see Griffiths smash it into the crossbar.
Then came the Kuwaiti goals, which could most be attributed to dreadful defending by Australia. Sterjovski, who played well, is clearly no defender in the pseudo right-back role that he played, and twice lacked the impetus to track runners. Equally, Ljubo Milicevic only reinforced the reasons for his omission from the World Cup squad with yet another disorganised display of defending as typified in his poor Confederations Cup performances last year.
There was one last chance right at the end for Australia to get on the scoresheet, but Aloisi could only shoot wide after a goal mouth scramble allowed him a close range shot from within the box. He also hit the bar and shot wide with some longer range half chances earlier in the game.
Australia's team was based entirely of overseas based players, and featured seven World Cup squad members, but were given little chance to form a cohesive unit with the limited training opportunities that were compromised with the need of extra drinks breaks. Their next match is at home against Bahrain in early October and a win there will guarantee top spot in the group, and therefore a better seeding for the Asian Cup finals next year.
Coach Graham Arnold was disappointed with the result, but proud of his team's effort in oppressive conditions.
"We definitely had chances to win the game," Arnold told reporters. "We had a great chance at 0-0 just before halftime, had that have gone in the result could have been totally different."
"We knew that we had to get a goal in the first half because of the conditions. The players were commenting how they were struggling in the heat, but you have to give credit to Kuwait, they were good tonight, they were very well organised and when they had their chances they took them."
Australia: Mark Schwarzer; Ljubo Milicevic, Michael Beauchamp, Scott Chipperfield; Jon McKain, Josip Skoko (c), Brett Holman, Luke Wilkshire (Scott McDonald 62’); Ahmad Elrich (Ryan Griffiths 30’), Mile Sterjovski, John Aloisi.
A team entirely of A-League players finally gelled in a good second-half performance to beat Kuwait 2-0 in Sydney and qualify for the Asian Championships next year. With Lebanon's withdrawal from the group due to the conflict in their homeland means that with just three teams left, Australia on 6 points cannot be dumped from finishing in the top two.
The greater interest in the game was the general performance of the team, especially under new temporary coach Graham Arnold, who was promoted from his assistant role under previous coach Guus Hiddink. Understandably, with only a few days training for a bunch of players that had never played together before, the team lacked cohesion in the first half, but soon found their footing to control most of the remainder of the game. Kuwait could barely scramble two decent efforts on goal for the entire game.
Adelaides' Travis Dodd was the obvious standout with his pace and energy through the game, and was rewarded with the opening goal after a cut-back by David Carney. Mark Milligan, who with Archie Thompson were the only players that featured in World Cup squad in the team, excelled in his move from traditional right-back to his newly acquainted defensive midfield role.
While Kuwait were hardly the greatest test on the planet, signs look good for an all-local team needing to do the business for when the international players cannot make it.
The next game is in Kuwait on September 6 and will probably feature a combination of local and overseas based players, while a double celebration match occasion will be in order during October's international window that will see the World Cup stars back for an international against Paraguay and the final Asian Cup qualifier, the game against Bahrain.
Mission accomplished. Although for more than 75 minutes, the 32,622-strong crowd at Aussie Stadium were left wondering just whether the Socceroos team of A-League stars could overcome lowly-ranked Kuwait in the Asian Cup qualifier.
In the end, Australia opened the post-Guus Hiddink era with a scrappy 2-0 win over the Middle Eastern nation's team of amateurs to become the first team to qualify for the 2007 Asian Cup.
It took a 76th-minute strike from Adelaide United's Travis Dodd, one of three debutants in a vastly inexperienced line-up, to finally put the home side in front, before substitute striker Sasho Petrovski sealed victory with a second in the 87th minute.
The result gave interim coach Graham Arnold a winning start in charge of the national team after being handed the reins from Hiddink following the World Cup.
But while many may have expected the Socceroos to claim a far easier victory on Wednesday night, despite being without all their European-based stars, Arnold was by no means surprised by how hard his team had to scrap for victory.
"It was what I anticipated, I said it was going to be a difficult game ... I was pretty much certain (Kuwait) would sit back and block, and try to make it as difficult as possible for us and they did a good job on that," Arnold said, who before the match conceded he would have settled for a 1-0 win.
"But with limited time (training together) you rely on individual brilliance at times in the attacking part of the field. And I was pretty certain at some stage (the goal) would come."
"Overall I'm very happy with the fact the players kept their patience, the players kept their structure. We didn't play stupid."
Arnold credited skipper Kevin Muscat as the source behind Australia's composure.
The coach admitted the 33-year-old, whose last game for the Socceroos was during the ill-fated 2005 Confederations Cup campaign, was reluctant to come back to the national team after more than a year's absence. But in the end, Arnold's arm-twisting paid off handsomely.
"Muscat in the middle of the defence was outstanding, he organised the side for me, and that's why I brought him back," Arnold said.
Arnold also paid high praise to Mark Milligan - one of just two players from Wednesday night's game who was part of the Socceroos' 23-man World Cup squad - whom the coach said was 'top shelf' in playing a holding midfield role.
Sydney FC's David Carney also impressed, and, after bringing the crowd to life with two long-range shots during the first half, set up the game-breaking goal.
Carney did well to run down a misdirected Alvin Ceccoli pass before the by-line, and then laid back a perfect ball for a charging Dodd to fire home.
Dodd was again prominent in Australia's second, making a fine run into the box before having his shot blocked by keeper Nawaf Al Khadi, the rebound falling to the feet of Petrovski who gladly claimed the spoils.
The Socceroos, though, struggled for fluency for much of the match, although it was perhaps not entirely unexpected given the players are still in the throws of the A-League pre-season and the squad had only a week to form combinations.
The win secured Australia a place at the 2007 Asian Cup in South East Asia next July with still two qualifiers to play.
The Socceroos' European-based stars are expected to be available for their next match away to Kuwait on September 6, with Arnold expecting to field a combined A-League and European-based side against Bahrain on October 11.
Australia 2 (Travis Dodd 75’, Sasho Petrovski 86’) defeated Kuwait 0
Australian line-up: Clint Bolton, Michael Valkanis, Kevin Muscat (c), Jade North, Alvin Ceccoli, Mark Milligan, Steve Corica (Matthew McKay 90’), Travis Dodd, David Carney, Archie Thompson (Alex Brosque 69’), Joel Griffiths (Sasho Petrovski 56’).
They were the words of coach Gus Hiddink after Australia's 3-1 win last night in Ulm, Germany. A shock early goal by Liechtenstein was probably what the team needed to test itself. If the mood of the fans and media are any indication, including that of myself, it was always likely the team would take a less concentrative approach to the game, especially coming off a high pressure against the Dutch. More can be read into that game and that of the one against Greece, even if it would have been preferable had the team produced a far more clinical display as what was expected. They may have under-estimated Liechtenstein somewhat, who despite their lowly ranking, are actually only within 10 places of New Zealand on the Fifa rankings and returned 8 points in their last World Cup qualifying campaign that included a 2-2 draw at home and 1-0 loss away to Portugal.
Still, plaudits are in order for the fact the team actually did win the match, albeit with two goals in the last 15 minutes and creating countless other opportunities. What was unnerving was the ease that Liechtenstein were breaking through the Australian defence. While their goal was actually an own goal off the head of Lucas Neill from a free kick, Liechtenstein created several good chances themselves and could quite easily have taken the lead early in the second half.
It was not until the introduction of tall striker Joshua Kennedy for his debut that Australia really livened up. He was creating instant havoc with his height, touches and runs, and rewarded his shock selection into the squad with go-ahead goal with a nice header. John Aloisi chimed in with a header himself 8 minutes later to wrap up the match.
The other pleasing aspect of the match was Harry Kewell's return. He played the first 60 minutes, and while his touch looked a bit shaky on occasion, did some nice things to suggest he'll be ready for the opening World Cup match against Japan. Where he starts the game or is used off the bench, only Hiddink knows.
AUSTRALIA survived a huge pre-World Cup scare from tiny Liechtenstein this morning, scoring twice in the final 15 minutes to post a 3-1 win in Ulm.
Substitute Joshua Kennedy scored in the 75th minute with a header to break a 1-1 deadlock and John Aloisi put the issue beyond doubt with Australia's third goal just seven minutes from time.
What was expected to be an easy kill for Australia against a team ranked well outside the world's top 100 was anything but.
The Socceroos had to fight back from a goal down, going behind after defender Lucas Neill sent a header into his own goal in the eighth minute.
Striker Mile Sterjovski got the Socceroos back on level terms after 20 minutes but Guus Hiddink's men could not find a way past their plucky opponent, despite several chances.
Liechtenstein, with a population of just 33,000, also had its chances particularly in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
The largely unimpressive performance will give Australia plenty to think about before its World Cup opener against Japan on Monday.
One of the few bright spots was the impressive performance from Harry Kewell who played for an hour before being substituted.
In the dying minutes, Hiddink also sent on Mark Milligan, as well as training extras Neil Kilkenny and Kristian Sarkies for their international debuts. Coach Hiddink wasn't surprised his team lacked sharpness just three days after its 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in Rotterdam.
"It is normal that we don't play as well as we did over there. There was a bit of a lack of concentration and we cannot afford to make those types of mistakes,'' he said.
The Dutchman felt his men steadily improved as the match wore on.
"Well after that sloppy period in the beginning, we started to build up a little more pace in the second half especially with some changes on the left side and we went somewhat better," he said.
Hiddink was heartened by Kewell's return from a groin injury but felt the Liverpool star must continue to improve before the Japan clash.
"We planned to play him (for) an hour so he can practice again tomorrow and the day after.
"I hope, bit by bit, he recovers his strength because you need to be fit," Hiddink said.
"He did a rather good job but still has to find another 20 to 30 per cent more strength."
Australia 3 (Sterjovski 20', Kennedy 75', Aloisi 83') - Liechtenstein 1 (Neill og 8')
Australia: Zeljko Kalac (gk); Lucas Neill, Craig Moore (Michael Beauchamp 76’) , Tony Popovic, Brett Emerton, Stan Lazaridis (Archie Thompson 67’), Tim Cahill (Mark Milligan 84’), Josip Skoko (Neil Kilkenny 84’), Harry Kewell (Joshua Kennedy 58’), John Aloisi, Mile Sterjovski (Kristian Sarkies 84’).
Despite a nervous and tentative first half hour to the game that saw Australia concede an early courtesy of a "Ruud" wakening by Holland's Ruud van Nistelrooy, Australia handled the sustained Dutch pressure very well to gain a respectable 1-1 draw. This came after playing the last half hour with 10 men after Luke Wilkshire received a second yellow card and was sent off following a crude tackle and goal-keeper Mark Schwarzer made 5 excellent saves during the match.
Signs were not good early with constant loss of possession, wayward passing, being caught out of a position and uncharacteristically being easily barged off the ball. To make matters worse, a blatant handball by Vince Grella in the penalty box was missed by the referee, which would have made things much more interesting had the team been 2-0 down at half time.
Suffice to say, while Holland had far better opportunities to score, Australia were creating chances of their own. The most notable being a header to Mark Viduka from a Scott Chipperfield cross just before half time. Open in front of goal, the header was amazingly saved by Van der Sar. While Viduka did little wrong, he really should have scored. In hitting it downwards, it bounced a little to close to him instead of right on the goal-line, causing it to lose pace and bounce up just enough in front of Van der Sar to get a hand to it.
Viduka redeemed himself by winning a penalty early in the second half after some nice interchange from, in what seems to be Australia's specialty in recent times, a thrown-in. Unfortunately he let himself down again, casting doubt over his penalty-taking role with Australia, by lackadaisically hitting it onto the cross bar. The resulting play saw it bounce into the back of the grounded Van der Sar, then onto the post, back out past a despairing Van der Sar trying to gather it, smashed into the body of Van der Sar by a Dutch defender as Viduka tried to get second attempt at it, for it to finally bounce out to the opportunistic Tim Cahill. He ended the calamity by smashing it into the corner of the net.
From there, Australia had a couple of long range attempts on goal, while Holland's best effort was in the dying minutes when a direct free kick was smashed into the post.
After the match, coach Gus Hiddink was very pleased with the performance - especially in the way the team kept their shape and stuck it out. Make no mistake, the Dutch forward line of Van Persie, Van Nistelrooy and Robben is fearsome, yet they were generally well contained by Australia. Many of the Dutch raids - including that of the resulting goal - were caused by Australian mistakes. Also, the team was coming of a week of hard training and had excuses looking a little lethargic on the pitch.
The only real concern seems to be Vince Grella. He's fast becoming a huge defensive liability. Not so much in general play that most experts will say is outstanding, but his moments of the madness. First there was the handball, but on one or two other times he hopelessly mis-read the ball or coughed possession too easily in incredibly dangerous areas. You add that to the situation late in the Uruguay game in Sydney that saw a long ball bounce over his head for Uruguay to have his best chance, and there'd be no World Cup here to speak of. It's just something that needs to be tightened up and not be so careless.
Australia's next match is against Liechtenstein on early Thursday morning Australian time. It will be used as a tune-up for the players and to give some game time to fringe players and those recovering from injury.
Speaking of tune-up games, New Zealand played Brazil on the same day as this game and returned a 4-0 loss to the world champions. When consider Brazil's opening goal was just before half time and they scored two in the last 5 minutes, it was quite a satisfactory result. Australia's other group opponents have returned interesting results. Japan has beaten Malta 1-0 and drawn 2-2 with Germany in their last two matches, while Croatia has lost to Poland 1-0 and drawn with Iran 2-2 in theirs.
The results don't really provide any real pointers to Australia's destiny, only that they have as equal chance as qualifying for the second round as does Croatia and Japan. That's exactly where they would want to be at this moment.
The Socceroos have held the Netherlands to a 1-1 draw in a dramatic friendly international in Rotterdam.
Australia fought back from a goal down, then was reduced to 10 men for the final 30 minutes after midfielder Luke Wilkshire was given a second yellow card for a nasty challenge on Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
In a bruising and physical encounter, the Dutch led 1-0 after just 10 minutes when Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy hammered home - a deserved lead after the Oranje dominated the opening 45 minutes.
But in Australia's most important pre-World Cup hitout, the Socceroos stunned the 50,000-plus crowd at the De Kuip Stadium by equalising through substitute Tim Cahill in the 52nd minute.
Skipper Mark Viduka had earned a penalty when pulled down in the box, but blasted his spot-kick attempt against the bar, only for Cahill to be in the right place at the right time to bang home the rebound.
Pivotal to Australia's survival was goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who pulled off several outstanding saves to keep his side in the match - the best a diving full-length stop late in the first half from a Wesley Sneijder long-range shot.
He also made three brilliant saves in the opening 15 minutes of the second half to surely give himself the inside running for a starting role in Australia's World Cup opener against Japan on June 12 in Kaiserslautern.
After hanging on so courageously, there was a final nervous moment for the Aussies in the 90th minute when Robin van Persie thundered a free-kick against the post.
But it bounced away and the Socceroos emerged with a draw Guus Hiddink was thrilled with, against a side rated among the World Cup favourites.
"The achievement gives us confidence, but there's nothing guaranteed (when the World Cup comes around)," said Hiddink, coaching against the country of his birth for the first time.
"In general, we worked very hard and we kept our opponent under control."
The Socceroos head to Germany to their World Cup training camp at Friedrichruhe, near Stuttgart, where they will be based throughout the group stage of the tournament.
They play one more pre-World Cup friendly - against Liechtenstein in Ulm on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEST).
Netherlands 1 (Van Nistelrooy 9') - Australia 1 (Cahill 52')
Australia: Mark Schwarzer (gk); Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Mark Viduka (c), Vince Grella, Scott Chipperfield, Mile Sterjovski, Luke Wilkshire, Marco Bresciano
Netherlands: Edwin van der Sar (c &gk); Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Phillip Cocu, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, Jan Kromkamp, Andre Ooijer, Robin van Persie, Mark van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder
In the end, it was only Josip Skoko's stunning 16th minute strike that separated the two teams in a scoreline that proved somewhat flattering for Greece in the international friendly in front of 95,103 people at the MCG last night. As a serious World Cup hit-out, it proved a bit of letdown, with the Greeks seemingly already in holiday mode after a long season. Only during the first half of the second half did Greece offer any significant sustained pressure to truly worry Australia. While European Championships hero Charisteas in the early minutes of the game provided them with the very first crack at goal in the game, they did little else until after the break. Then one or two other chances safely went over the bar without testing goal-keeper Zelko Kalac. In fact, Kalac's only real work was coming out for a few crosses - in such a haphazard way that will only confirm in Australia's coach Gus Hiddink's mind to stick with Mark Schwarzer for the World Cup.
The most positive aspect out of the match was that Australia performed without several first choice regulars. Skoko not only scored the goal, he dominated the midfield and created many opportunities with his precise long passing. Mile Sterjovski, the surprise call-up to the squad and fulfilling the injured Harry Kewell's role in this game, was a constant danger with his speed and well-timed runs. Only his final efforts proved slightly disappointing, whether that be shots on goal, ball control or crosses. A short cross to Viduka went behind his back, an angled shot on goal would have been better served to be lobbed over as a cross, while a header later in the game just went wide. Early in the game, he tripped over the ball after being put through. While all were tough situations and the less-than-perfect state of the pitch after a weekend of 3 AFL games had some impact, come the World Cup, it is opportunities that will need to be taken.
On the negative side, the less said about Brett Emerton the better. Again, with his constant running into dead-ends (with and without the ball) and poor passing decisions, seems totally lost on the pitch. It culminated with a return pass to a player, who, after cutting it back to Emerton, was in an offside position.
Being at the game, the atmosphere was quite amazing for a mere "friendly" international. It was great to farewell the boys - especially with the MCG being the site of the infamous Iran game. It's doubtful the pain of that game will ever be forgotten, but Thursday night went a long way bury the demons of the "'G".
Sunday week sees the team take the Netherlands in Rotterdam. That will truly provide an indication of where the team is at. With it being Hiddink's home nation, it will be almost be a case of the student take on the teacher.
Australia 1 (Skoko 15’) - Greece 0
Qantas Socceroos: Zeljko Kalac (gk); Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Jason Culina, Brett
Emerton, Josip Skoko (Luke Wilkshire 60'), Mark Viduka (Archie Thompson 60'), Vince
Grella, Scott Chipperfield (Tony Popovic 50'), Mile Sterjovski (Stan Lazaridis 74'), Marco
Bresciano
Cautions: Nil
Referee: Mike Riley (England)
Skoko strike sinks Greece - AAP
The World Cup-bound Socceroos farewelled Australia with a victory full of poise and
promise over European champion Greece at the MCG on Thursday night.
A stunning Josip Skoko strike gave the Socceroos a 1-0 win - the quality of the goal
matching the quality of the Australian performance, especially in the first half.
Greece managed just one serious attempt on goal for the entire game as a confident
Socceroos side thrilled a record 95,103 crowd with fluid, attacking football.
Australia took a deserved lead after just 16 minutes when midfielder Skoko unleashed a
left-foot volley from the edge of the penalty area.
Man-of-the-match Skoko, Jason Culina and Vince Grella ran the midfield as the home side
bossed the European champion throughout.
Fatigue, self-preservation and several substitutions helped created a less disciplined
second-half performance from the Socceroos as they prepare for only their second
appearance at a World Cup finals next month.
The win was the first of Australia's three lead-up matches prior to its World Cup opener
against Japan on June 12.
And there was plenty to boost their confidence of the Socceroos being able to cause an
upset.
But Skoko - who was substituted after an hour - said there was plenty more work to do.
"It was a good performance if you also take into consideration how hard we've been
working the past three days in training," Skoko said.
"I think there's a lot of work to do still, but we showed tonight we're well on the
way."
The Wigan midfielder's goal provided the match's highlight as he netted a stunner from a
well-worked Marco Bresciano corner.
The Socceroos could have also had a penalty late in the first half when referee Mike Riley
was the only person in the stadium to miss a blatant shirt tug by Greek centre-back
Sotirios Kyrgiagos on Australian skipper Mark Viduka.
Greece lifted its game in the second half, after making four substitutions, including
bringing on regular skipper Theo Zagorakis.
But it still couldn't penetrate Australia's defence, even after the Socceroos made four
substitutions of their own.
Coach Guus Hiddink sprung a selection surprise prior to kick-off, dropping goalkeeper Mark
Schwarzer - the hero of the two Uruguay playoff wins - to the bench for AC Milan keeper
Zeljko Kalac.
Kalac had little to do, forced into action only twice in the match.
The Socceroos leave Australia on Friday for a pre-World Cup training camp in the
Netherlands.
They play two more friendlies prior to their tournament opener against Japan - tackling
the Netherlands in Rotterdam on June 4 and Liechtenstein in Ulm, Germany, on June 7.
Socceroos full of confidence - AAP
The Socceroos jet off to Europe with the European champion's scalp and a boost of
confidence ahead of next month's World Cup finals.
They farewelled Australia with an impressive 1-0 victory over Greece at the MCG on
Thursday night, a stunning Josip Skoko strike proving the decider.
Australia dominated throughout, the Greeks showing little to excite the large Hellenic
support among the 95,103 crowd - a record attendance for a home Socceroos international.
But coach Guus Hiddink declared himself only "70 per cent happy" with the result
against the Euro 2004 champion and warned Australia would need to produce a similar effort
for 90 minutes to conjure the upsets it will need in Germany to advance beyond the group
stage.
"In the first part of the second half, we did not have the same control we did in the
first half," Hiddink said.
"We still need to work a lot. When you compete at World Cup level, you must maintain
control for the whole of the game."
"Overall it was good and I don't want to be pessimistic but I am always looking at
what we can improve."
The Socceroos fly out of Melbourne on Friday afternoon for the Netherlands and another
training camp ahead of their next warm-up game against the Dutch in Rotterdam on June 4.
Liverpool star Harry Kewell, who did not travel to Australia because of a groin injury, is
set to link up with his teammates in the Netherlands.
Swiss-based attacking midfielder Mile Sterjovski stepped in for Kewell against Greece and
impressed.
But Hiddink would not say who would be Kewell's replacement if he was not fit to play
Japan in the World Cup opener.
"We'll see each other in Holland and we'll see how it goes. I don't have any doubts
about the player who will be his substitute if he is not fit," he said.
"I didn't play Harry Kewell in the second game against Uruguay from the start because
he was in the same position with his physical condition - coming back from an
injury."
"It might be possible he is a part of the game (against Japan), not from the
start."
"It's difficult not having played a full game and then coming into an important game
with two or three days' full training."
"But it's too early to judge now."
Other injury concerns John Aloisi (foot), Tim Cahill (knee) and Joshua Kennedy (Achilles)
are expected to be fit for selection against the Dutch.
Australia's World Cup opener is against Japan on June 12 after a final warm-up against
Liechtenstein on June 7.