An improved Socceroos have gone down 2-1 to Japan in an international friendly match in Osaka on Tuesday night.
With a confident performance in the first half, a defensive lapse in the second half let Japan into the match. The hosts scored a second through some creative brilliance close to goal and it was left to late substitute Tim Cahill to pull a goal back for the Aussies in the final minutes.
The Aussie attack had two great chances in the opening ten minutes of the match with Mathew Leckie and John Troisi flashing shots wide of the goal.
Australia dominated the hosts on and off the ball in the first half, looking confident when passing short and long and finally finding some of the cohesion in play that coach Ange Postecoglou has been working towards in the international friendly period.
With less than two months to go until the Asian Cup in Australia, Postecoglou was happy with his sides performance and the improvement across the pitch from his players.
“We had an excellent first half and even at the start of the second we were looking really good and comfortable then we conceded the goal and it gave them momentum and a little bit of belief,” commented Postecoglou.
Yasuyuki Konno netted the first goal for Japan in the 61st minute from a corner cross that was missed by the Australian defence.
Bitter with the lapse in concentration so close to goal, Postecoglou did not hold back when interviewed after the match:
“We were poor on set-pieces all night… at this level that is unacceptable,” commented Postecoglou, ruing his sides missed opportunity.
“The players worked hard, the football was good but when those details are missing you pay the price.”
Tim Cahill was left on the bench and brought on with Australia down 2-0 and only 17-minutes remaining in the match. Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer delivered in the final minutes blitzing a trademark header past a prostate keeper from a swooping cross.
When asked if leaving Cahill off the field for so long was a mistake, Postecoglou replied:
“No regrets. We obviously need to expose our players and a lot of them learned a great deal tonight.”
Australia will host the Asian Cup in January and will be motivated by a strong performance in Japan. The Socceroos have slipped to 94 in the world in the FIFA Rankings and the home side will be hoping for a good result in front of their fans.
