Santa Clara: Australian coach Tony Popovic has praised the efforts of the youngest ever Socceroo to start at a World Cup, Lucas Herrington, describing him as a “special talent” as his side booked a place in the tournament’s knock-out stages with a scoreless draw against Paraguay.
The result at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara was enough to ensure Australia finished second in their group, qualifying automatically for a round-of-32 match in Dallas at 4am on July 4 (AEST). Their opponent is not yet known, but will be whoever finishes second in a wide-open Group G featuring Iran, Egypt, Belgium or New Zealand.
“It’s a special day; we’ve seen already how many big nations have not gone through,” Popovic said. “I’d like to think that we dominated the game in a crucial World Cup qualifier with a very young squad in the third match, when everything’s on the line, and the players showed composure, patience, quality, and resilience.
“We’ll now go to Dallas and try and do something special. Overall, we deserved it. We were very good today.
Herrington, the 18-year-old centre-half, was among Australia’s best in the key Group D clash. The former Brisbane Roar defender did not put a foot wrong in a performance that showed a level of calmness and composure at a level of experience beyond his four starts for the national team.
“He is a special talent, and … it’s why he was selected in the squad, not to just make up the numbers, and again entrusted this talented young man in the most important game of the three,” Popovic said.
“He was ready to play. He’s probably frustrated, didn’t get minutes against the US, which I love to see. And today he was outstanding.”
Australia offered moments of attacking intent while their South American opponents gave Socceroos fans a few nervous moments late on as 69,000 fans inside Levi’s Stadium were served up a contest between two teams intent on not losing. The draw will likely be enough for Paraguay to also qualify as one of the best third-placed teams,
Heavily criticised for the team he sent out against the United States, Popovic made six changes to his starting line-up from the 2-0 loss in Seattle, including starting Herrington over Cameron Burgess in defence. Back in the starting side were Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, the two goalscorers from the win over Turkey, and Cristian Volpato, who earned his first national team start after impressing when he came on for the last 30 minutes against the US.
The improvements from the Socceroos were evident from the start. Nervous and overawed against the US, Australia started on the front foot against Paraguay and threatened early when a Volpato cutback to midfielder Jackson Irvine, also making his first start this World Cup, forced Paraguay’s keeper Orlando Gill to make a save after just four minutes.
For much of the first half, both sides settled into roles. Australia, in a somewhat unfamiliar position, dominated possession and looked to attack. Paraguay seemed intent on sitting back and being patient in defence.
Defender Jordy Bos, who was switched from his preferred left side to cover for the injured Jacob Italiano, had his best game of the tournament and linked strongly with Volpato on the right. Bos had two of Australia’s best chances in the game, forcing a save out of Gill in the 37th minute before making a run into the box in the 89th minute only to push wide what would have been the match-winning goal.
Volpato was a constant threat for the 58 minutes he was on the pitch, constantly looking to take on the Paraguayan defence ,and his shot on the stroke of half-time forced Gill into a nervous save.
La Albirroja looked to take the game to Australia more in the second half, with three shots from range on the Australian goal in the opening five minutes, although only a strike from Mauricio forced Socceroos keeper Patrick Beach to make a save.
The longer the game went on, the more it seemed both sides were content to share the points, but late opportunities when Julio Enciso fired wide from range and Tete Yengi forced Beach to make another save gave Australia nervous minutes.
“You can have opinions on how the game was played, or what we both thought we needed, but we at no stage felt that we were playing for a draw,” Popovic said. “I thought we controlled the game quite well, and were in control, and had the better opportunities.”
Defeat could have knocked the Socceroos out of the tournament altogether or, had they qualified as a third-placed team, would have forced them to negotiate a quick turnaround before a knockout tie against European heavyweights like Germany, France or Portugal within three or four days.
Instead, Popovic said the Socceroos would benefit from the eight-day break and the time would allow the “euphoria” in his younger players to settle before preparing for their next match.
“These eight days not only prepare us for that game, if we can somehow get through, we may be able to be ready for a shorter turnaround following that,” he said. “We’re delighted to have this break, and we have a good plan in place to have all players that are fit, ready, and able to produce a big performance that might give us a chance to progress even further.”
Paraguay must wait to learn their fate, but are in good position to advance to the knockout round for the fifth time. “Now we have to wait,” coach Gustavo Alfaro said. “I am optimistic that we will be able to move on to the next phase.”
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Nick Ralston is the deputy editor and investigations editor for The Sydney Morning Herald. He has previously spent time as news editor, justice editor and world editor.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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