Houston, do we have a problem? After starting the Tony Popovic-era with an 11-game unbeaten run, an experimental Socceroos lineup fell to their second-straight defeat, going down 1-0 to Venezuela at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium. While there was a certain level of fight to their 2-1 loss to the United States last month, this was a much more passive, flatter defeat.
Just 20 minutes in, the 50th-ranked Venezuela had three-quarters of possession, which only fell to 66% at game’s end. It was a sharp contrast between the approach of interim boss Fernando Aristeguieta and his predecessor Fernando Batista, who was sacked after they failed to qualify for the World Cup with an average possession rate of just 39% during the qualification campaign.
Venezuela’s positive approach was paired with an immediate press whenever Australia took possession, harassing and haranguing their attempts to move the ball and more often than not taking it back before they could progress beyond the halfway line with any kind of momentum.
The Socceroos did show early flashes in which they could have taken a lead and written a different tale – Mohamed Touré twice shooting on goal – but that soon faded. “We had some great opportunities early in the game that we really should have scored, and I’m sure the game would have been different,” Popovic said.
After attempting to bring a more physical dimension to their game against Canada and the US last month, after a series of fixtures in which Popovic felt they had been outmuscled and at times bullied, Australia were once again pushed on their heels after 10 minutes, reacting and chasing as their opponents took control.
“We probably didn’t win as many of the duels and the second balls,” said Popovic. “We probably struggled in that regard, which doesn’t help you when you press and the ball goes long, you really need to win that next ball. That was difficult for us. Then it’s hard to break that momentum.”
Australia’s debutant goalkeeper Patrick Beach is a shining light on a difficult night for the Socceroos against Venezuela in Houston. Photograph: Karen Warren/AP
While Australia, for the most part, kept Venezuela in front of them, the weight of numbers eventually saw this pressure begin to manifest: Cristian Cásseres Jr whipping in a cross that was met with a diving header by Jesús Ramírez in the 17th minute, Gleiker Mendoza cutting inside from the left and bending an effort just wide of the far post in the 29th, and Ender Echenique weaving into the box and sliding in a low attempt in the 32nd minute. For the two, bookending efforts on target, debutant goalkeeper Patrick Beach proved up to the task, with his split-second reaction to deny Ramírez the highlight of an evening where, if not for his interventions, this could have been a much heavier defeat for the Socceroos.
The Melbourne City custodian, however, could do nothing when the dam broke and Ramírez finally gave the South Americans a deserved lead in the 38th minute. Dani Pereira dropped the ball in behind Craig Goodwin for Ender Echenique to run onto, the FC Cincinnati attacker driving inside, rounding debutant centreback Kai Trewin and squaring the ball back for Ramírez to tap into an open net.
It lowlighted a miserable but indicative few minutes for the Australians, arriving just after a frustrated Nestory Irankunda was lucky to escape with a caution after lashing out at Echenique’s ankle from behind. It elicited an instant, angry reaction from the Venezuelans and came just before Jason Geria limped off with an injury.
The goal also capped off a series of moves in which La Vinotinto looked to attack the space being left vacant by Goodwin, who was a surprise starter at left wingback in the absence of Jordy Bos and Aziz Behich. It had been a decade since Goodwin last regularly played the role and, if these games are about experimentation, this was a hypothesis that looks like it may be discounted going forward given Popovic replaced him with Callum Elder at half-time.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Football Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
With three debutants in Beach, Trewin, and Paul Okon-Engstler starting – the first time that has happened since the Socceroos faced Guam in December 2012 – and a raft of first-choice players on the bench or absent entirely, the hope for Popovic will be that this will serve as a learning experience rather than trendsetter.
The return of Jackson Irvine and Riley McGree from long injury absences off the bench as the second half progressed offered a faint silver lining, as did another debutant in Al Hassan Touré forcing Venezuela keeper José Contreras into a sharp save amid signs of late life.
“We created some great opportunities; didn’t take them,” said Popovic. “But overall, there’s a lot of lessons, a lot of young players [playing], and you look at that, where they are now, and I’m sure in the future, they’ll be much better.”
But regardless of its framing, a lacklustre loss, seven months out from the World Cup, isn’t one the Socceroos will want to repeat when they face Colombia next week let alone further into the future.
