Souttar is standout as Aussies pack quite a punch
GRAHAM ARNOLD challenged his players to go into this World Cup and perform like 11 boxing kangaroos.
In response, his battling side laced up the gloves and delivered an uppercut to Tunisian hopes of progress in the World Cup finals.
When the final whistle sounded the jubilant boss dragged injured Hibs winger Martin Boyle — on crutches — into the centre of an impromptu squad huddle on the pitch.
Appointed the squad’s unofficial ‘Vibe Manager’ Boyle is doing his bit for squad harmony. The strains Men At Work’s Down Under, blaring down the tannoy, did the rest.
Aussie passion was summed up by Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy, a player who rarely wears his heart on his sleeve.
As Tunisia poured forward in search of an equaliser in the baking heat, the quietly spoken, reflective Mooy thumped the ball out of play, punched the air and roared into the Doha sky. That moment summed up how much this victory meant to Australia.
‘When you see Aaron Mooy, one of the quietest people I’ve ever met, pumped up like that after he made that tackle, it inspires the entire team,’ said Arnold.
‘Then there’s Harry Souttar’s late tackle where he got across, those type of things are inspirational and really edge the rest of the boys on.’
The Caledonian influence in this Aussie team is strong. Mooy, Dundee United left-back Aziz Behich and Hearts centre-half Kye Rowles were all in the starting 11.
Aberdeenshire-born Souttar, meanwhile, had an immense game, prompting the thought — once again — that the SFA blundered when they failed to keep the former Scotland youth cap from the clutches of the Socceroos.
Victory was secured when unheralded striker Mitchell Duke — plying his trade with Japanese second-tier team Fagiano Okayama — became only the second Australian player to score a header at the World Cup after Tim Cahill.
Duke brilliantly guided a backflicked header into the net to claim the lead after 23 minutes.
While there was fortune in the way Craig Goodwin’s heavily deflected cross spun up favourably, there was no quibbling with the quality of the finish which beat keeper Aymen Dahmen for the 50th goal of these World Cup finals
Neither of these two sides had any previous experience of winning their second group game at the World Cup finals.
Returning to the stadium where they lost to world champions France 4-1 coach Arnold wanted his players to put a smile on the face of Aussies everywhere. He also wanted his team to improve on a dismal record of two wins from their last 17 games at the finals. Duke’ goal offered something to protect.
Brother of Rangers defender John, Harry Souttar denied the North Africans a certain equaliser before half-time. A quickly taken throw caused chaos in the Australia backline. Issam Jebali worked the ball wide to Mohamed Drager, but a magnificent sliding block from the Stoke defender was heroic in its execution. It wouldn’t be the last.
Tunisia missed an even better chance in added time. Finding rare space on the right, Jabeli thumped a low ball across the face of goal. Timing his run, captain Youssef Msakni got across Souttar and drilled a shot past the post. He knew he should have scored.
The first time in 18 attempts Australia had led a World Cup group game at half-time, Tunisia had to win this — or claim a point. They had to be more positive. They had to score their first goal of the World Cup.
A tactical switch at half-time saw the introduction of midfielder Ferjani Sassi in place of defender Drager. The intent was clear. A former boss of Australia at the World Cup, Ange Postecoglou talks of teams playing in ‘survival mode’, subconsciously retreating in to their shell.
There was some of that going on with Australia’s second-half performance. A dangerous attacking force in the first half they were sliding deeper in to their shell. The introduction of former Hibs striker Jamie MacLaren was a switch to get the game back into Tunisia’s final third. It almost paid off when Matthew Leckie attacked MacLaren’s fizzing low ball across the face of goal, failing to turn it into the net by inches.
Tunisia were playing better, but nowhere near well enough. Skipper Matt Ryan had nothing to do until his first save 18 minutes from time, stopping a fizzing strike by Msakni.
The final minutes were edgy and nervous as Tunisia went for broke. Shored up by the outstanding duo of Souttar and Rowles the Aussies lived to fight another day.
Australia’s first win in group stages since 2010 could claim one of the first scalps of the World Cup after Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri threatened to step down if he failed to guide his team to the group stages.