This shot nearly tipped Peru off its axis. Previously, it was thought Behich’s right foot was purely for balance purposes.
When Mooy was dispossessed on 72 minutes, six gold shirts sprinted back to extinguish the danger and as the end of 90 minutes neared, it was the Socceroos surging.Īziz Behich, having a brilliant night at left back, cut inside and brushed the post with a right-foot shot. The fire still burned bright for Australia. Cueva had no desire to attack him and meekly shot wide with a poor left-foot attempt. Picture: Karim Jaafar/AFPĪ prime example of his mindset came on 72 minutes, when driving into dangerous territory from the left, straight at Nathaniel Atkinson, who had been on a yellow card since the 10th minute.Ītkinson backed off, not willing to risk a second caution and an inglorious exit. Andre Carillo, the direct, quick winger, was withdrawn just after the hour mark, while Christian Cueva, in the No.10 shirt, which in South American lore translates into ‘give him the ball’, was strangely subdued.ĭespite plenty of tribulations, Arnold got the job done. The centre backs showed verve by calmly restoring possession and passing out of trouble, rather than default-setting to pumping the ball to the moon at every opportunity. Rowles, along with Bailey Wright, held his nerve. Rowles was playing just his third senior international.
Gianluca Lapadula, an Italian striker recruited thanks to his Peruvian mother, was barely sighted after a fourth-minute chance in which he cunningly got rid of his chaperone for the evening, Kye Rowles. Peru’s thrusts forward were without impetus. Whatever the words, not a lot changed in the second half. One imagines the dressing room foundations inside the newly-constructed Al-Rayyan Stadium received its first structural test with the noise bellowing from a Gareca blast. Mutterings turned to audible frustration and by the end of the first half, it was full-scale verbal disgust. Ricardo Gareca, Peru’s manager of God-like status in the Andean nation despite his Argentinian passport, was becoming increasingly annoyed, like a simmering father whose children are ignoring his requests to get off the couch and do something with their day.
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It wasn’t apparent as Aaron Mooy and Ajdin Hrustic, the two chief creators from midfield for the Socceroos, were allowed time and space to pick passes forward.Īaron Mooy played the full 120 minutes despite not playing a club game since January. South American grit and cunning was expected. The Socceroos caused Peru problems throughout. Behind him, nine others in gold followed their defensive instructions implicitly.
“Dukeeyyy!”Ī more rounded player after time spent in Japan, Duke dutifully went in search of uncovering uncertainty amongst the Peruvians. Mitchell Duke’s selection up top indicated a willingness to harass anything in red into a mistake.Īrnold had Duke as a youngster at Central Coast a decade ago, and as a raw youngster Duke would run around the pitch at full pelt without regard for energy perseverance, nor tactical solidity. Without the ball, this was certainly evident before kick-off. The Socceroos frailties which sent them down the playoff path automatically made the Peruvians better players and more technically adept. One’s own self-doubt lends itself to an overestimation of others. In the vacuum of time before such a contest, this sparked its own discussion about the need for ‘fighting and kicking and scratching’ for every ball, as if it were some Neanderthal play. Picture: Joe Allison/Getty ImagesĪll the noise pre-game from an Australian perspective was about Arnold’s call for the ‘Aussie DNA’ to reveal itself. Andrew Redmayne was the hero with two saves in the penalty shootout.
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