Socceroos Havana Good Time In Melbourne
The Socceroos opened their Asian Cup campaign with an impressive 4-1 over a plucky Kuwait.
The home team entered the game as heavy favourites and despite some early nerves grabbed the three points, and picked up some important goal difference. James Troisi’s 91st minute goal proved icing on the cake as his hard work during the match was finally rewarded.
Massimo Luongo was the stand out player for Ange Postecoglu’s team, and showed the rest of Asia he is one of the players to watch during the tournament. His man of the match performance gave Australian fans a much-needed taste of what Swindon Town had been seeing all season. Luongo provided a spark in the first half after some kamikaze defending from another set piece saw Australia fall behind, and sent many Australian fans thinking the much dreaded “what if we fail on home turf”. Luongo was instrumental in the first Socceroos goal, scored by none other than ‘Super’ Timmy Cahill. A well judged floating headed in the 43rd minute from Luongo saw the Socceroos take a 2-1 lead into the half time break, to a much relieved crowd at Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium.
The second half provided fans with some testing moments with keeper Mat Ryan called into action far too many times for the liking of Socceroos fans. The Belgium based keeper showed why he is highly regarded amongst the footballing world with many great saves and his typical pinpoint ball distribution. Ryan was backed up by some solid defending from Western Sydney’s Matthew Spiranovic who proved a tower at the back.
Robbie Kruse received plenty of attention when on the ball and his fine play was finally rewarded with Uzbekistan referee Ravshan Irmatov pointing to the penalty spot in the 61st minute. Captain Mile Jedinak calmly slotted home the penalty and from then the win looked assured. Maty Ryan was forced to make a fingertip save against the crossbar in the 70th minute but from then on it was smooth sailing for the home team.
Mark Bresciano received a ten minute cameo that might’ve been his Melbourne Socceroos farewell if the team doesn’t finish top of Group A.
The 4-1 result was probably harsh on Kuwait but many Socceroos fans who got caught up in a typical January downpour in Melbourne went home happy. The result proved to many that you don’t always have to beat the world’s best nations to get football on the front pages and many doubters recounting their thoughts. Whilst tonight’s result is only the first step in our Asian Cup campaign it was a very important one.
Many fans will only now start learning how important hosting the Asian Cup is to football in Australia. We must now embrace the remainder of the tournament and support the Socceroos in their bid to create history. If you have a spare evening over the next month get to your nearest venue and enjoy Asia’s footballing centrepiece.
Final Result – Australia 4 (Cahill 32′, Luongo 43′, Jeninak 61′ (P), Troisi 91 defeated Kuwait 1 (Hussain Fadhel 18′)
Crowd – 25,231
Referee – Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) performed very well in the opener, expect to see him again at the pointy end of the Cup.
FTS Man of the Match – Massimo Luongo
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