Elimination threat
WHEN the Socceroos meet Cameroon in St Petersburg on Friday morning, they will need to fire from the first whistle or risk an early elimination from the Confederations Cup, says goalkeeper Mat Ryan.
Frailties in Australia’s game were exploited by a highcalibre German side, leaving them chasing with less than five minutes on the clock.
The scoreline was held to a semi- respectable 3- 2 loss only thanks to a gutsy revival after the break and some crucial first- half saves from Ryan.
The defeat leaves Ange Postecoglou’s side with no room for error when they face the African champions, with Chile rounding out their group matches.
“If we can start the game a bit better, like we did in the second half ( against Germany) and patches in the first half, we can find more of that play in us for perhaps longer periods of the game,” Ryan said.
“At the start we can give a better account of ourselves and give ourselves a better chance of winning games.”
Australia are yet to put together a full 90- minute per- formance since switching to a bold, attacking formation with three at the back and roving wing backs.
“I guess if you had the answer to [ why Australia fail to click for periods in matches] you’d be a pretty good coach, eh?” Ryan said.
“It is frustrating, knowing that we can do it but aren’t doing it as consistently as we need to be doing at this level.
“We took too long to find our straps, I think, in the beginning, and they punished us. Plenty of courage to get back in to the game, [ but] I think we shot ourself in the foot.”
One player unlikely to feature against Cameroon is QPR midfielder Massimo Luongo. Restored to the side, he looked out of his depth throughout a tortuous 45 minutes on the park, and gave away the penalty for Germany’s second goal with a clumsy foul.
With Australia more assured once Robbie Kruse was introduced at the break and Aaron Mooy dropped to a deeper role where he was able to dictate proceedings, it seems almost certain the combination that started the second period against Germany will take the field against Cameroon.