Houston, do we have a problem? After starting the Tony Popovic-era with a 12-game unbeaten run, an experimental Socceroos lineup fell to their second-straight defeat, going down 1-0 to Venezuela at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium. While there was a certain level of fight to their 2-1 loss to the United States last month, this was a much more passive, disappointing defeat.
Just 20 minutes in, the 50th-ranked Venezuelans had three-quarters of possession, which only fell to two-thirds at half-time and 66% at game’s end. It was a sharp contrast between the approach of interim boss Fernando Aristeguieta and his predecessor Fernando Batista, who was sacked after they failed to qualify for the World Cup with an average possession rate of just 39.3% during the qualification campaign.
Venezuela’s positive approach was paired with an immediate press whenever Australia took possession, harassing and haranguing their attempts to move the ball and more often than not taking it back before they could progress beyond the halfway line with any kind of momentum.
The Socceroos did show early flashes – Mohamed Touré twice shooting on goal – but that soon faded. After attempting to bring a more physical dimension to their game against Canada and the US last month, after a series of fixtures in which Popovic felt they had been outmuscled and at times bullied, the Australians were once again pushed on the back foot, reacting and chasing as their opponents took control.
Eventually, this pressure began to manifest: Cristian Cásseres Jr whipping in a cross that was met with a diving header by Jesús Ramírez in the 17th minute, Gleiker Mendoza cutting inside from the left and bending an effort just wide of the far post in the 29th, and Ender Echenique weaving into the box and sliding in a low attempt in the 32nd minute. For the two, bookending efforts on target, however, debutant goalkeeper Patrick Beach proved up to the task, with his split-second reaction to deny Ramírez the highlight of an evening where, if not for his interventions, this could have been a much heavier defeat for the Socceroos.
The Melbourne City custodian, however, could do nothing when the dam broke and Ramírez finally gave the South Americans a deserved lead in the 38th minute. Dani Pereira dropped the ball in behind Craig Goodwin for Ender Echenique to run onto, the FC Cincinnati attacker driving inside, rounding debutant centreback Kai Trewin and squaring the ball back for his teammate, with Beach scrambling back across his goal, to tap into an open net.
It lowlighted a miserable but indicative few minutes for the Australians, arriving just after a frustrated Nestory Irankunda was lucky to escape with a caution after lashing out at Echenique’s ankle from behind, eliciting an instant, angry reaction from the Venezuelans and just before Jason Geria limped off with an injury. It also capped off a series of moves in which La Vinotinto looked to attack the space being left vacant by Goodwin, who was a surprise starter at left wingback in the absence of Jordy Bos and Aziz Behich. It had been a decade since he last regularly played the role, and, if these games are about experimentation, then this was a hypothesis that will probably be discounted moving forward, especially given Popovic replaced him with Callum Elder at halftime.
And with three debutants in Beach, Trewin, and Paul Okon-Engstler starting (the first time that’s happened since the Socceroos faced Guam back in December of 2012) and a raft of first-choice players on the bench, or absent entirely, the hope for Popovic will be that this will serve as a learning experience, rather than trendsetter. And after Ramirez forced another diving save from Beach two minutes into the second stanza, the return of Jackson Irvine and Riley McGree from long injury absences off the bench as the half progressed offered a faint silver lining, as did another debutant in Al Hassan Touré forcing José Contreras into a sharp save amid signs of late life.
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But regardless of its framing, Friday evening’s loss, seven months out from the World Cup, isn’t one the Socceroos will want to repeat.
