Australia claimed a 2-0 victory in their World Cup qualifier, but another dysfunctional performance made it a tough night at the office.
Five minutes into Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier, Keanu Baccus nicked the ball off Lebanon’s Bassel Jradi, surged forward and delivered a speculative cross from the right. It curled in off the post for his first international goal - a happy accident on his old home ground. The former Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder seized his moment, hamming it up in front of the crowd with his hands cupping his ears.Happy days.
There was also a speculative thump forward from near the halfway line by Harry Souttar, which happened to put Adam Taggart through clear on goal, only he wasn’t able to conjure a shot.Those moments aside, they struggled to construct much in attack, despite Graham Arnold’s deployment of two strikers, Yengi and Taggart, and complete domination of possession. But the change in shape did not solve their ongoing problems in the final third, which go much deeper than positions on a whiteboard.
Mercifully, there are now eight direct World Cup qualification spots, up from four, due to the 2026 tournament’s expansion to 48 teams - but on current evidence, it still might be a battle.That’s not to say there weren’t highlights. Deployed out of position at left-back in Aziz Behich’s absence, Kye Rowles also scored his maiden goal in international football, a messy lash from the second phase of a corner kick nine minutes into the second half, which put the result beyond any doubt.
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