Socceroos greats Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater have blasted coach Tony Popovic’s team selections for the World Cup match against the USA, saying they damned the Aussies to defeat before a ball had even been kicked.
Popovic put Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe on the bench for the loss to the USMNT despite both players starring with goals as the team opened their tournament with a 2-0 win over Turkey.
That controversial choice left the pair of ex-Premier League stars flabbergasted, with Bosnich describing the Socceroos as ‘lambs to the slaughter’.
‘I just think the game was over before it started,’ Bosnich told Stan Sport.
‘Very rarely, in any sport, let alone football, [would] two goal-scorers from one of the greatest wins in Australian football history [be] left out.
‘I think it upsets the whole balance.
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic (pictured) has been blasted by two greats of the Aussie game for his controversial team selections for the World Cup clash with the USA
Robbie Slater (left) and Mark Bosnich believe the decision to bench Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe doomed the Aussies to defeat
Irankunda (pictured playing against the USMNT) and Metcalfe didn’t start despite scoring goals in the Aussies’ brilliant 2-0 win over Turkey
‘You’ve got to back up the words with your performances and be positive, and from the first half perspective, they weren’t out there.
‘It was like lambs to the slaughter waiting to get beat.’
Slater agreed that the selection backflip had played a decisive role in Australia’s defeat.
‘I just don’t get why we left two goal-scorers out of the starting XI,’ he said.
Aussie stars are now adamant they have learned from wilting under a physical barrage from the United States as they plot a swift response from the get-go against Paraguay, with a win in that match securing them a berth in the first knockout stage of the tournament.
Plenty of the post-mortem from Saturday’s 2-0 loss in Seattle centred around coach Popovic’s call on Irankunda and Metcalfe, but the coach also talked about being sluggish out of the blocks and struggling to go with the US physically in the first half.
Midfielder Paul Okon-Engstler described the US loss as the most physical match of his career and expected a similar match against Paraguay.
‘We didn’t come out of the blocks strong, and I think that that put us on the back foot in the first half,’ Okon-Engstler said.
Pictured right: Connor Metcalfe battles for possession in the loss to the Americans
Paul Okon-Engstler (pictured middle vs the USA) and his teammates can now secure a berth in the first knockout stage of the tournament by beating Paraguay
Fellow midfielder Jackson Irvine watched the first half from the bench.
‘Probably the main thing that we have to get better from the first half is just being able to come into the duels and arrive in the physical side of the game a little bit better, and ride through those difficult moments,’ Irvine said.
‘… I don’t think in the first half we really managed to drag ourselves out of those difficult moments. And then the second half, we came out and we looked much more front foot, much more aggressive.
‘We were arriving into tackles and winning second balls and it looked like a totally different kind of performance.
Irvine was adamant the slow start wasn’t a fitness issue, but conceded there could be ‘a little bit of a mental factor’.
Popovic took pride in Australia’s second-half response which Irvine believes was a combination of substitutions and mentally resetting at the break.
‘So I think if we can do that from the beginning, or at least find a way to change that momentum a little bit within the half, then it’ll give us a much better chance of being competitive from the beginning.’
