A late own goal from Harry Souttar consigned a 10-man Australia to their first-ever defeat against football minnows Bahrain last night.
The towering centre-back turned into his own net an Abdulla El Khalassy cross just one minute from the end of the match at the Gold Coast’s Robina Stadium, handing the Socceroos their first defeat of the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Kusini Yengi’s red card for a high foot added insult to injury, as Australia fell to one of their most humiliating defeats.
Australia’s players and fans became increasingly frustrated in the second half by Bahrain’s play, as the visiting side looked to slow the game down. But Australia only had themselves to blame for an attacking performance that produced only nine shots despite having 71 per cent of the ball.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold insisted Bahrain deserved credit for their performances, but lamented his side’s poor touch in front of goal.
“You’ve got to give full credit to Bahrain, I think they prepared very well, they were ready for us,” Arnold said.
“It was just one of those nights where when we did have the occasions, we didn’t put it in the back of the net.”
He bristled at suggestions after the match his side didn’t have the answers to break down a low block.
The boys, they go out and they do their best, but sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce.
“I know you [journalists] love carrying on about breaking down teams,” Arnold said post match. “You’ve got to respect the opposition with their defence. And at the end of the day, you’ve also got to have players of the individual one-v-one quality.
“The boys, they go out and they do their best, but sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce.”
His comments were scant consolation for fans and players of Australia, as a sense of deja vu hung over Robina Stadium, with the performance all too familiar against an opponent ranked 85th in the world by FIFA.
It has been an Achilles heel for the Socceroos, with the Asian Cup at the start of the year also badly exposing the issues Australia has at being assertive in attack when faced with a team who plays in a more conservative and defensive shape than some of the games top nations.
That said, the Socceroos seemed to start brightly with Aiden O’Neill having a chance tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Ebrahim Luftalla after just two minutes.
It wasn’t a sign of things to come, though, as Australia struggled to take control of the game, putting in an at times turgid attacking performance as the lack of creativity in midfield reared its ugly head again.
The midfield of O’Neill, Connor Metcalfe, and Jackson Irvine couldn’t impose themselves on the game, with much of the creativity coming down the left wing through Goodwin.
Goodwin, who missed recent World Cup qualifiers, highlighted his importance to the team, putting in dangerous crosses for O’Neill, who fired over the bar, and Kusini Yengi, who was unable to control his effort on goal from a wicked delivery.
Outside of Goodwin, there was precious little for the 24,644 crowd on the Gold Coast to get excited about, as Bahrain proved a tough nut to crack, whilst also looking composed on the ball.
With the tepid performance in front of goal, many were expecting wonderkid Irankunda to be injected into the game in the second half to give the game a much needed spark, but there were no changes at the break from Arnold.
Australia’s new star boy was eventually introduced in the 58th minute, with the atmosphere visibly lifting as soon as the 18-year-old entered the pitch.
Nestory Irankunda runs at the Bahrain defence. Photo: Harley Appezzato/Front Page Football
Despite his best efforts, it failed to spark the Socceroos into life as the game continued to sputter along.
Australia committed fouls out of frustration, with the niggle in the game increasing in the second half.
Bahrain debutant Vincent Emmanuel was impressive at right back, and centre back Amine Bennadi was arguably Bahrain’s best player on the night.
Arnold introduced Mitch Duke from the bench to create a striking duo up top, though surprisingly replaced the effective Goodwin, and this plan fell apart minutes later as Yengi received a straight red card for a high boot on Sayed Baqer.
The closest Australia came to breaking the deadlock in the second half was from an errant backpass from Bahrain, which almost caught out Luftalla in goal, though he recovered to clear the danger.
In a rare moment of direct running from Australia, Irankunda weaved his way into a shooting opportunity with five minutes to go, but Luftalla was able to easily gather the effort.
The Socceroos’ profligacy left the door open for a Bahrain sucker punch, and that’s exactly what happened, as El Khalassy went on a rare foray forward and sent in a cross that clattered into Souttar and went in past a despairing Mat Ryan.
Australia threw men forward to save some face, but a Duke header from a free-kick that flew wide of the mark was as close as they would get, and Bahrain held on for one of their greatest ever victories.
Main image credit: Harley Appezzato/Front Page Football
