On Thursday the 16th of November the Socceroos defeated Bangladesh 7-0 at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium to successfully begin their World Cup Qualification campaign.
The Socceroos imposed themselves in the First Half
The Socceroos opened the scoring early, when a 4th minute Craig Goodwin freekick was met by the towering Harry Souttar, who confidently headed the ball into the back of the net. The goal represented a trend that would continue, as the the Bangladeshi squad would struggle to contain the physically imposing Australians for the remainder of the match.
The Australians dominated the remainder of the match, holding possession and generating multiple attacking plays particularly through the wings with Lewis Miller progressing the ball on the right and Craig Goodwin continuing to generate dangerous crosses from the left.
In the 20th minute Brandon Borrello would tap home the Socceroo’s second goal from a Connor Metcalfe cross who then generated a second assist in the 37th minute for Mitch Duke to head home. In the 40th minute Mitch Duke again found himself on the scoresheet, tapping in the ball after Brandon Borrello’s shot from outside of the box came off the post.
The Second Half was the Jamie Maclaren Show
With the game beyond doubt the story of the second half was much the same, with the Australians dominating possession and overwhelming the Bangladesh defence. The Socceroos’ relentless attacking plays lead to a hatrick of tap ins for Jamie Maclaren at the 48th, 70th and 84th minutes. Maclaren again demonstrated lethal poaching abilities with excellent positioning and clean finishing.
A missed penalty in injury time for Massimo Luongo was the only sour note in Australia’s otherwise complete performance.
Bangladesh can hold their head up high
The Bangladeshis worked hard to create a couple of threats through captain Bhuyan and attacking players Fahim and Hossain but were often found isolated and easy dealt with by the physically dominant and clinical Australian defence.
Currently ranked 183rd in the world the match against the Socceroos was always likely to end in their defeat, however the Bangladeshis can however hold their heads high, as they generally appeared to play out from the back rather than bomb it long and resort to dirty gamesmanship.
Bring the story of their captain Bhuyan to Australian shores alone was noteworthy. As a young man Bhuyan sustained significant injuries from gang related gun violence and faced a future without football. His recovery and return to the game leading to his captaincy of his country is an inspiration.
Where to now for the Socceroos?
The result places the Socceroos top of their groups in this stage of World Cup Qualifying and represents the first of six matches. In order to progress to the next stage of World Cup Qualification, the Socceroos will need to finish in the top two of their four team group featuring Palestine, Bangladesh and Lebanon.
The Socceroos now face Palestine in Kuwait on Wednesday the 22nd of November to continue their world cup qualification campaign.
The Beautiful Game 