Share this @internewscast.com
Underneath Wembley’s imposing arch, Graham Arnold could have been forgiven for succumbing to the grandeur of the occasion: Australia’s first game at Wembley Stadium, the home of football.
Instead, he took a leaf out of the textbook of his friend, predecessor and former rival, Ange Postecoglou.
‘To have an occasion at Wembley, where the Socceroos have never played before, is going to be extra special,’ he said in his programme notes.
That bullish, never-say-die approach has seen Postecoglou endear himself to the Tottenham faithful, winning back-to-back Premier League Manager of the Month awards in the process.
Here, across town in North West London, Arnold’s underdogs displayed the Aussie battler spirit that has been glaringly missing from their counterparts in rugby union and cricket in a brave 1-0 loss.
Trent Alexander-Arnold of England battles for possession with Harry Souttar of Australia in their clash at Wembley
James Maddison of England runs with the ball from Ryan Strain of Australia in a real match of Davis versus Goliath
England’s Conor Gallagher competes for the ball with Socceroo Craig Goodwin in a tense clash
Postecoglou, watching on from the plush seating at England’s national arena, would have resonated with plenty of qualities in this robust Australian performance.
Yes, it lacked the panache and swashbuckling, free-flowing football the Melbournian has implemented at Celtic and Spurs, but that is to be expected of a team without a recognised Premier League star and a combined value of £24.4m.
St Mirren’s Ryan Strain, for example, was given the unenviable task of keeping Manchester City’s £100m man, Jack Grealish, quiet.
But the Socceroos were organised, tenacious and brave. They had the better of the first half opportunities and exposed weaknesses in this second-string England side. Keanu Baccus and Mitch Duke went inches from putting the underdogs ahead and Strain ought to have hit the back of the net when his tame right-footed strike was cleared off the line by Lewis Dunk.
Of course, England were always going to create openings and Ollie Watkins fluffed his lines on two occasions – failing to get a toe on a wonderful Conor Gallagher cross before striking the base of the post when put through by James Maddison.
Yet, by and large, England were unable to penetrate Australia’s titanium defence, led by Harry Souttar – Leicester’s £15m colossus – at the back. This was without doubt his best performance since making that high-profile switch to the East Midlands last January.
And the Socceroos were given their flowers at the half time break.
‘It has been the perfect start,’ Harry Kewell enthused. ‘Well organised and compact, making it very difficult for England to play balls through. The one thing I am liking is that we are reacting to any loose balls and have been able to break on them. That is where we are getting a couple of chances.’
Socceroos boss Graham Arnold embraces his players after their strong showing at Wembley. He has been outspoken about the lack of funding from the Australian Government
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other politicians have shown superficial support, but the Socceroos still do not have a training base in Australia
Tottenham manager and former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou still has a huge influence on the team and his scarf was on sale beside the Aussie one at Wembley
Joe Cole echoed the Socceroos legend’s thoughts. ‘Australia have been outstanding at picking holes,’ he said. ‘On the break Australia have been outstanding.’
Unsurprisingly, England’s quality came to bear in the second half, with Watkins making no mistake from point-blank range to score the winning goal and deny the Socceroos a repeat of their famous victory in east London 20 years ago, when they beat the Three Lions 3-1.
But with the cricketers toiling in India and the Wallabies already on their way home from France, this was a timely reminder of a changing of the guard Down Under.
Arnold made yet another plea ahead of Friday’s match for the game to receive the same much-needed funding the underperforming cricketers and rugby players are beneficiaries of.
‘We see the Prime Minister and the government, they love coming out to watch the Matildas and the Socceroos with their scarves on, but they must lose them when they go home,’ he despaired.
‘We don’t have a home of football. When the Socceroos come to Sydney to train, we have to train on a rugby league field where they remove the posts and put a soccer post up, that’s the truth. And we are the highest participation sport at grassroots.’
Perhaps, watching this performance from Down Under, the powers that be will finally pay attention.
