Australia Disappoints Against Argentina

The Aussies started promisingly, getting the better of the early exchanges and applying the opening pressure. The Argentinean box was peppered with crosses from Scott Chipperfield, including one that found a free Tim Cahill, but unfortunately he was not able to capitalise. However Argentina certainly found their rhythm on 12 minutes with a world-class goal from Luciano Figueroa. As with much of the evening’s display it was the creative talents of midfielder Juan Riquelme that unlocked the Australian defence.

Argentina’s second of the night on 31 minutes involved considerably less skill as Javier Saviola went down acrobatically in the box. The mood around the Franken Stadium immediately turned sour as whistles rung out from the largely neutral crowd of 25,000. The Fanatics section were a degree more animated in their expression of displeasure.

Control became the name of the game for Argentina who regularly maintained long periods of possession. The middle half of the match was not a good period for the Socceroos who spent a lot of energy chasing down ball and making challenges. The Singaporean referee agreed with the Argentineans’ interpretation of tackling and the Argentinean trainer, water-boys and stretcher-bearers were kept very busy as Australia clocked up 26 fouls and 4 yellow cards for the evening.

The introduction of Mark Viduka at the break had immediate impact not only in that the Argentinean defence were imminently more concerned, but they now had to deal with Big Dukes’ holding and laying-off abilities, had a greater physical presence to deal with, which in turn reduced some of the attention previously on John Aloisi.

Despite a better approach going forward for the Aussies, the pressure continued to mount at the other end. Figueroa slipped between two Australian defenders to meet a crossed ball, only for his header to skim off the crossbar. But his persistence paid off when he picked up his second, and Argentina’s third of the evening when allowed to turn and strike from within 18 yards.

Coming back from 3-0 at 53 minutes was always going to be an up hill battle, but with the two striker combination of Viduka and Aloisi working well the change from coach Frank Farina started to pay off.

Aloisi was clattered in the box from a clumsy challenge but dusted himself off to take the spot kick and convert (61 min). Shortly after, with the Aussies causing real trouble in the Argentinean defence, Gabrielle Heinze suffered a brain explosion, chesting a ball intended for the ‘keeper straight to Aloisi on 4 yards. With twenty minutes remaining the Argentineans found themselves scrambling to save a match they considered won at half time.

The final exchanges of the match were certainly the most exciting as the Socceroos continued to push forward, leaving opportunities for Argentina to counter-attack. The introduction of Pablo Aimar further solidified the Argentinean control in midfield and he helped his side to regain some composure with their strength of passing and maintaining possession.

But it was not to be for the Socceroos as Figeroa completed his hat trick on 89 minutes, unmarked on the far post from a set piece, and Australia slipped out of the 2005 Confederations Cup.

Certainly the Australians’ can point to the fact that crucial players were not available for the tournament with Harry Kewell and Stan Lazaridies recovering from post-season groin surgery and Marco Bresciano and Vince Grella on club duty with Parma in their Seria A relegation battle. But squad depth is equally important and a necessity in the campaign for Germany 2006.

It is clear that defensive lapses have been the principal reasoning behind Australia’s early departure, and that’s not to say that members of the defence have played poorly themselves. Too often there have been 3 on 2 situations, particularly down our makeshift left flank, which have called upon the talents of skipper Craig Moore or the in-form Mark Schwarzer in goal.

On the subject, Coach Frank Farina made comment “Conceding eight goals in two games, of course it's disappointing. You can go through things as many times as you like on the training paddock, but if people aren't going to do them on the park, that's what's going to happen: you give away stupid goals. Whether it's defending too deep, not picking up, not putting pressure on the ball - the players know what the problems are."

It is fairly clear to all that this is the area to be improved if the side is to have any chance of being back in Germany for 2006.

Remaining is the Tunisia fixture on Tuesday, one that the Socceroos are treating as anything but a dead rubber. Asked whether the match had any meaning, Craig Moore replied: "Too right. We don't want to go away without any points. It's a massive game for us again. If we're not making progress, we've got a problem."

But no more succinct a summary could be made than that by Tim Cahill: “Although we cannot qualify for the semi-finals, it is not over for us. In the end we were very unlucky. We lost against big teams, excellent sides who have some fantastic players. Germany play direct football, while Argentina can pass the ball quickly from one end of the pitch to the other. But we have learnt a lot during this competition – and football has learnt that Australia never give up.”