This World Cup has been different for me, watching with my kids, who have the football itch, not just watching the Socceroos, but also their pop, Graham Arnold, who is coaching Iraq against so many of their favourite players!

I’m loving the tournament, it is such a great spectacle; I’m still confident the Socceroos can have a great run, despite what happened against the States. 

That game plan against Turkiye worked perfectly: we dominated where we needed to dominate, blocked shots, made clearances; our game plan, sit deep, soak up all the pressure, frustrate them, don’t allow their better players to get close enough to our goal where they can hurt us, worked. We then let the speedsters and target men up front do all the damage.

The grudge match with the US, after all those comments in the media, didn’t really go to plan.

The selection surprises worked in the first game, but in the second, it looked like there was a lack of cohesion and in the second half, the boys that came out were the version of Australia I think everyone was expecting in the first. We looked really dangerous. 

That’s why I’m still confident.

There’s been a lot of talk about Australia sitting deep and focusing on defence. As a central defender, that makes your role really clear.

I think that’s why the boys played really well in the first game; as a centre back, having the plan as simple as possible – make your clearances, blocks, knowing we’re going to be sitting deep so there’s nothing really going in behind you – it makes the game plan easier to prepare for. 

The US game was more complicated. 

Disappointment for the Socceroos. Photo: Aleksandar Jason

As a player, you can’t say that a major change to the team sheet doesn’t affect you. Normally you find out the night before or the day before that you’re going to be in the squad and you’re going to be starting. I’m not sure how it’s happening in camp under Popa, but everyone seemed a little bit surprised.

Maybe in the back of your mind as a player, you’re going to be thinking, ‘damn, I really wish we had this player out there because of his qualities’. That said, all the boys are there for a reason so they should be able to perform at the highest level and block out any of the outside noise.

The other thing that surprised me was we sat deeper against Türkiye than against the US; I was a little bit surprised that we pushed up and tried to press America a little bit more than we did against Turkey given the hosts probably had more attacking threats. 

We’ve got such a great defensive unit when we’re sitting deep and absorbing pressure, and then we’ve got the really fast rapid boys up front.

The players will be ready to bounce back from a defeat that probably will hurt a bit more knowing that the second half was so good and if we had produced that for ninety, we could have got something and almost cemented our place already. 

So now, it’s a grand final. 

The Socceroos’ substitutes against USA. Who will start against Paraguay? Photo: Aleksandar Jason

It is different. 

I remember when we played Peru in 2018; you do little things like you’ll chase, you’ll look at the clock, you’ll see minutes drifting by and you’ll think, damn, we’ve really got to produce something here. So you might take a little bit more risk here and there, depending if you’re down, or you might start to think, we’ve got twenty minutes here, let’s bunker in.

I’m backing our boys. If we’re up, we’re going through, us bunkering in with those three big slab heads at the back; I don’t there’s a better defensive three at that World Cup at absorbing pressure, especially with the two as well in front of them. 

For the own goal, it happens. Cameron Burgess is just a big man with his feet like that, it’s hard to move your feet that quickly, so no fault on him at all.

He’ll block that out quickly. Getting subbed off in such an important game for your national team, it’s always going to hurt, it’s going to suck, but at the same time, he doesn’t get to the level he’s at and the performances he’s produced by having a soft mindset. The Championship’s one of the hardest leagues in the world and he played every minute of every game and to do that your mentality’s got to be rock solid.  

This is do or die, but not a lot will change this week in terms of routine. Maybe some of the older boys will get the others together to reiterate the importance of the game and Popa, he’s been here before as a player too, he’ll have the boys fired up with no doubt, once they cross that line, they’re getting three points.

From what we did against Turkiye, I think our approach might be a little bit of a hybrid; dropping deep but not too deep, because we do need to get after it, but at the same time we need to play to our strengths.

I think the back and five and keeper will be the same – depending on news on Jacob Italiano’s injury – but the middle is where I think there could be some new energy injected into the team, with Jackson Irvine starting alongside Paul Okon-Engstler. 

Nestory Irankunda has got to start, alongside Mohamed Toure, and Connor Metcalfe and then see how it’s going at half time. I was really impressed with Cristian Volpato – he and Irankunda lit up the pitch and I thought it would have been really good to see Toure on with them up front.

Jackson Irvine against the US. Photo: Aleksandar Jason

It is good we have depth; Ajdin Hrustic is another option we haven’t seen, he has way more creativity than the others in midfield. 

Competition is always healthy in a squad, but I was honestly shocked, really shocked, before that Turkiye game. Shocked that Jacko wasn’t starting, more shocked that Maty wasn’t. Our captain. My initial thought was he was injured or sick; I know he wouldn’t say anything to put himself out of line with the staff or the gaffer, because he’s the ultimate professional. And not seeing him on the squad sheet was a bit baffling but it seems like a little bit of a stroke of genius because Beachy has been amazing. 

The way they’ve held themselves in camp, though, I’m not surprised at all. That’s their character. That’s why they’ve been around for so long. You don’t get that far and have that sort of longevity in football with having a s**t mentality.

Photo: Aleksandar Jason

Now, as they pick themselves up from the US, which does sap a little belief and a little energy, those boys will be drawing on their experiences from previous World Cups and sharing those stories with the other boys. That’s key, because it’s an inexperienced squad. They will be helping them dust themselves off to go again. 

I’m highly confident they won’t just dust themselves off, but get three points. If they play the way they did in that second half, I’m highly confident they’re going to get the six points from the group stage. I still think this team can really do some damage going further.

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