Tony Popovic believes Australia’s 5-1 World Cup qualification demolition of Indonesia is proof that his Socceroos blueprint is beginning to fall into place.
After table-topping Japan claimed one of the two automatic berths from Group C with a 2-0 win over Bahrain, Popovic’s men will look to strengthen their own hopes of booking their ticket to next year’s tournament in North America with an away victory in China on Tuesday.
Australia will head to Hangzhou on a charter flight on Friday full of confidence – and with a healthy goal difference of plus-five – after Thursday’s win over Indonesia, which represented the most-impressive result and performance of the Popovic era.
The ex-Melbourne Victory manager had to learn on the go after he was thrust in to the job following Graham Arnold’s resignation prior to the October window.
In his first games in charge in October and November, Popovic drew three matches and secured one win as he shifted the Socceroos to a new-look 5-2-2-1 formation.
But the thrashing of Indonesia was the first time Popovic and his coaching staff have been given a proper lead-in time to an international window.
The result and the confidence in the Socceroos’ attacking style in particular were plain to see.
“I aim quite high, so I’d say they’re not where we want to be, but that’s not a negative, that’s a positive, they’ve taken strides forward,” Popovic said.
“We all want to get better, to try to improve the game style. How do we identify what is happening on the field quicker?
“That will happen with more games together, and unfortunately with a lot of injuries it’s hard to build that continuity.
“But what we are building is squad depth. I felt that this camp is the first time I felt in training and around the hotel that this group is now starting to build into what we’re trying to build.”
Dependable midfielder Jackson Irvine grabbed two goals and was crowned man of the match, but winger Nishan Velupillay was a close second.
The 23-year-old played for Popovic at Melbourne Victory and the easier option for a high-stakes qualifier would have been for the Socceroos manager to hand a starting spot to a more experienced hand.
But in his first start and just his fourth cap, Velupillay repaid the faith by scoring Australia’s second goal and playing a key hand in the first of Irvine’s brace.
Popovic celebrated Velupillay’s goal with a roar, perhaps vindicated by the fact his selection had paid off.
“It’s a special moment for the boys, isn’t it? Starting your first game, the pressure, a stadium that’s full. It doesn’t come bigger than that,” Popovic said.
“The young man’s handling it well. He scored and he has that talent and, hopefully, we will get him stronger so that he can maintain that level for longer periods.
“He got a little tired in the second half, but that’s part of the growth, you can’t just manufacture the minutes and the experience of playing in big games.
“That’s his first start and when he looks back, he should be really proud of that.”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/popovics-socceroos-project-begins-to-take-shape-c-18109284
