The Socceroos are through to the Asian Cup quarterfinals after a 4-0 win over Indonesia on Sunday night. The scoreline may have flattered the Australians who struggled at times, but there’s no doubting the excellent performances of some players.
Here’s how every Aussie performed in our Player Ratings!
MATCH REPORT: Epic late blitz as big Socceroos win seals Asian Cup quarters berth
Perth walks away with draw against Bulls | 00:55
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DEFENCE
Mat Ryan: 6
Faced just one shot on target in the match (and that was a simple catch), but nevertheless had a busy afternoon. Ryan was often called into action to rush out and stifle long balls, while he was often passed back the ball under pressure. But he never panicked and distributed the ball well.
Gethin Jones: 4.5
Produced an inch-perfect cross for Martin Boyle’s headed goal to double the advantage on the stroke of halftime. It was just reward for Jones’s tireless attacking runs up the line … except he gave away the ball too often by running straight into packs of defenders. Made a few dubious decisions in defence, especially in the first half. And Jones almost lost his head when he lashed out at an opponent after being fouled. If the incident had been any worse, he would have seen a red card instead of yellow – but he lasted just three more minutes anyway before being taken off with an apparent groin injury.
Harry Souttar: 7
It was a sloppy start, and he was guilty of misreading a long ball into the box in the 16th minute that could have proved costly if not for some smart work from Ryan. But Souttar calmed those early nerves and was reliable from there out, before capping off the win in the 91st minute with a trademark header. He won all of his aerial duels in another commanding performance.
Kye Rowles: 5.5
He’s often overshadowed by his centre-back partner in the green and gold (literally as well as figuratively). But he made a number of crucial interventions to stifle the Indonesian forays into the area including a team-high four clearances and was an assured presence at the back.
Aziz Behich: 5
Had a nervy start but settled into the game. The Socceroos needed calm heads in the second half and he contributed to a more stable, disciplined defensive unit after the break. No Aussie touched the ball more, and he passed well, but couldn’t find a target on any of his crosses.
MIDFIELD
Jackson Irvine: 7
Irvine has been excellent so far this tournament, and he continued his strong run of form with another influential performance. No Socceroo was up for the fight in the early minutes as much as Irvine, who set up the opening goal with a barnstorming run past a pair of defenders. He wasn’t at his best in terms of passing – completing a lowly 63% of his passes – but Indonesia’s hard-pressing defence deserves credit for breaking up so many attacks. He won’t get that opening goal credited to his name, since it was a cross deflected into the net, and he was also extremely unlucky not to score the third Socceroos goal – which was well saved but fell straight to Craig Goodwin to finish off.
Keanu Baccus: 5
Baccus was overrun in the midfield in the first half as Indonesia dominated that area, but he worked as hard as ever and made a number of tackles and interceptions. Improved markedly after the break and became more influential with his passing. Taken off in the 86th minute.
Riley McGree: 3.5
McGree and Bruno Fornaroli were meant to provide the creativity and attacking impetus that the Socceroos have lacked so far this tournament, but it was another very quiet performance. He couldn’t build the kind of connected, smooth-flowing passing moves that he often orchestrates at his best, gave the ball away frequently, and was subbed off after 61 minutes.
ATTACK
Martin Boyle: 7
Boyle was switched on from the opening kick-off, and was willing to take on defenders from the first minute until the last. Boyle’s dangerous dribbling was on full display, completing six of seven dribbles (a game-high). He also won a remarkable 10 of his 11 ground duels, which are battles for the ball with a defender. His goal sums up everything we love about Boyle – a well-timed run that caught out a defender, followed by a desperate body-on-the-line dive for the ball. It was his second goal in as many games.
Jordan Bos: 5
Graham Arnold sees Bos as a winger rather than a left-back, but this was not the young gun’s best attacking performance by some distance. He played just one ball into the final third, despite getting into some excellent positions and showing off great technical ability. The potential is clearly there for him to be a dangerous attacking threat, and Arnold praised him after the game, but he lost possession in good positions when he could have done more to create effective chances. Defensively, however, he tackled well and made five recoveries.
Bruno Fornaroli: 5
The 36-year-old was brought in for his ability to control the ball in tight areas and create chances – an especially valuable skill against packed defences.
And he started well, fighting hard for the ball and even attempting an acrobatic bicycle kick that instead earned him a yellow card.
He didn’t have the kind of creative input Arnold would have hoped for, made some poor tackles and lost the ball a bit too frequently, but there were promising signs.
He faces a tough battle on his hands to retain the position for the tough quarter-final ahead, with Arnold often preferring Mitch Duke in big games. Fornaroli was replaced after 61 minutes.
SUBSTITUTES
Mitch Duke: 4
Like Fornaroli, he struggled to get on the ball, but made a number of good runs off the ball to create space. He made a horrible mess of a great opportunity to chip the keeper and seal the game when it was 2-0 soon after coming onto the park. It was a quiet day for the dependable veteran, but he’ll be buoyed after getting through half an hour on his return from a minor hamstring niggle.
Connor Metcalfe: 4
He hardly saw the ball in his half an hour on the pitch, and started slowly before settling into the rhythm of the contest. There were no major mistakes, so it perhaps seems harsh to give him just a four – but there was also little of note from the talented midfielder, besides a couple of nice driving runs into space.
Nathaniel Atkinson: 6
Having lost his spot to Gethin Jones after replacing him for the Uzbekistan game, Atkinson was forced into action when Jones went down with injury in the 69th minute. Atkinson showed good intent with a couple of nice dribbles and a long-range shot that drifted wide. He also delivered an excellent cross into the box to set up the third goal. Didn’t need to do much defensively, but Arnold will trust he can replace Jones for the next match if the new recruit can’t overcome what looked like a groin injury.
Craig Goodwin: 9
Goodwin delivered one of the all-time cameos off the bench, scoring then assisting in the space of just over two minutes. His volley was clinical and coolly-taken, before he delivered a perfect set piece ball for Souttar to head home in the 91st minute. His set pieces were very poor in the opening game of the tournament – and he hadn’t played since then – so it was the perfect reminder to Graham Arnold of what he can do.
Aiden O’Neill: N/A
Only had a handful of minutes and didn’t have much of an impact.
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