Paraguay 0 Australia 0
Australia marched into the knock-out stages of the FIFA World Cup with a battling draw in Santa Clara confirming second spot in Group D and an exciting trip to Dallas. A game of few chances but plenty of action gave the capacity crowd marvellous theatre, but once both teams had traded their best opportunities in added time, there was definitely going to be nothing on the scoresheet. A delighted Tony Popovic embraced his coaching staff at the final whistle, and gave the Australian fans a taste of Jurgen Klopp as he celebrated qualification with a series of fist-pumps and a beaming smile. And what a day it was for every fan in green and gold as they were able to avoid the spectre of a long and expensive trip to Boston and lap up the party atmosphere in nearby San Jose.
Arriving in San Francisco and heading down to San Jose, the FIFA World Cup trip resumed after a four-day break in Mexico, and by midday, San Pedro Square was already buzzing with fans clad in yellow. Enjoying a sing-song in the sunshine at O’Flaherty’s Irish bar with the excitement of the Ecuador v Germany game as a backdrop, the Socceroos fans enjoyed the attention of the TV cameras before heading to the light rail station to venture out on an epic journey into the middle of nowhere to join the now-traditional march to the stadium. The journey tested the patience of the fans, but having allowed four hours to make the whole trip, the delays and multiple stops were forgotten once the sea of green and gold was joined and the fans made their way to this marvellous stadium.
The Aussie fans were behind the goal, and again were split up into three sections, with various flecks of yellow dotted through the stadium, the remainder of the fans bedecked in red and white and making a lot of noise. A dead-heat was declared in the decibel check, 103dB a long way short of the earlier games, but the noise was intense, especially when the national anthems were played. The Paraguay hymn doesn’t have any words until half way through, so the scene of 20,000 Paraguayan fans bursting into song midway through caught a lot of people by surprise. The Aussie anthem was sung with heart, the fans behind the goal finishing the song before the music had ended, but it was loud and it set the scene perfectly.
Australia had a number of changes from the team that misfired against the United States, Lucas Herrington in a back three, Jordy Bos thrown onto the right with Aziz Behich on the left, while Nestory Irankunda came back in and Jackson Irvine made a start. This looked good on paper, and the early signs were positive. Bos crossed for Irvine whose effort was saved for a corner after only three minutes, Australia shooting with the stiff breeze in the surprisingly chilly stadium. There was a big cheer to accompany the US scoring to go one-up against Turkiye, the stadium treated to score updates and even a replay of the goal, diverting eyes from the action in Santa Clara. Australia attacked cautiously, Irankunda scampering away after a monstrous throw from Patrick Beach and Harry Souttar surrounded by four Paraguay players when another corner was floated in.
There was exasperation in the stadium as the scoreline from USA v Turkiye updated again, and a Mexican wave circled the stadium, a little early in proceedings and definitely not a reflection of what we were seeing on the field. Beach appeared to scoop a ball back in play after it had taken a deflection, the assistant referee unmoved, and Bos again got free up the right to cross low into the middle to win a corner. Irvine rolled a stray ball to opposite corner flag, as if trying to place it perfectly in the quadrant, watching it all the way like a bowls player might, before remembering where he was and joining the corner routine from the other side. The Paraguay band played, almost identical to the RBB in Western Sydney, and there was a bit of fun at the first hydration break with fans being singled out for screen time. Play was stopped almost immediately after the hydration break when Connor Metcalfe was adjudged to have knocked the ball behind for a goal kick; it looked an incorrect call, but the referee was more concerned with the blood that was coming from the Socceroos midfielder’s head. Irvine still couldn’t believe it wasn’t a corner and had to bite his lip with the officials, and the physios hesitated to go on, not entirely sure of whether they should, given the one-minute rule now in place. Finally after a change of shirt and some big bandaging, Metcalfe was allowed back on with no minute on the sideline.
A second Mexican wave on the half-hour had the crowd roaring, and there were cheers again soon after for Turkiye as they took the lead against the hosts in Los Angeles. Still the Socceroos pushed, Bos having a good effort well saved, but Paraguay showed they were no pushover when a dangerous early throw-in caught the Aussies out, Beach relieved to see the ball miskicked harmlessly wide. Herrington gave us a monster tackle to warm the crowd, Volpato cut in to shoot as added time continued, his effort not matching the approach play, and soon after he beat his man to cross from the right, but Irvine couldn’t keep the header down. This had been an entertaining half of football, but we needed a goal to satisfy the crowd.
Irvine was straight in the book a minute into the second half for a late tackle and Herrington hit his clearance straight at an opponent whose shot was wild. Australia weren’t settling into the second half as they did the first, but when Irankunda got half a yard on his man and threw himself to the floor, there was a genuine shout for a penalty. The referee was in no mood to entertain it though, and play went on. A screaming shot from Paraguay came as the US equalised, Beach making a smart save, and when they attacked again, Behich got a foot in to steer the ball back to his goalkeeper, but it wasn’t convincing and Beach had to bundle the ball out for a corner. The final ball and the finishing from Paraguay was woeful, Bos caught upfield and the Socceroos stretched, but the shot was wayward again. When Alessandro Circati eased a ball out for a goal kick, his opponent slammed into the advertising hoardings, the Paraguay bench up like a jack-in-the-box again to bemoan the officials.
Australia needed to wrestle back control. Volpato was sacrificed for Ajdin Hrustic, and Beach wowed the crowd with an olé moment to wrong-foot his attacker. Irankunda somehow found himself free on the right to power in a shot that almost hit the corner flag, a rush of blood preventing him from making a smart decision. This was a good spell of pressure; Irankunda thumped his opponent out of play, the Paraguay whack-a-moles up again to remonstrate, but he had hurt his opponent, who was down for a minute receiving treatment. The Paraguay fans reached full volume as Bos was hacked down for no free kick, but the hydration break was to curtail their enthusiasm. An Australian fan had the moment of the night, attracting the cameraman’s eye to load up his shoe with beer before downing the contents to a huge roar. Paraguay’s wastefulness when they got into good positions was alarming, the crossing particularly woeful, and there were exchanges of borderline assaults, Irankunda again smashing his player and Bos once more bashed to the ground with the referee waving play on.
The Aussie fans behind the benches were up soon after, Bos taken out for a yellow card, and the capacity crowd of 68,827 was announced, again to a big roar. Julio Enciso dragged a shot wide when well placed; he had been lively all game, and Bos had a promising moment, playing on after Hrustic was taken out but the angle was too tight. Ten minutes remained. Paraguay had three players on the ground. Were they playing for the draw? Tete Yengi and Paul Okon-Engstler came on to steady the ship, before Australia had the best opportunity of the game, Bos cutting between two defenders to advance and curl a shot just past the post. There was time for two good chances each at the end, Beach having to save smartly before Hrustic almost set up Yengi for a thrilling last minute goal but the shot was tame.
The final whistle arrived out of the blue, Tony Popovic hugging his fellow coaches on the sideline to signal the end of the game. The celebrations didn’t quite match the game of football that we had seen, but the result was all that mattered tonight, Australia confirming their berth in the round of 32. The players and fans joined in celebration, Popovic enjoying some Klopp-esque moments pumping up the fans and thoroughly enjoying the moment of achievement. His buoyant mood was to continue into the press conference soon after, shutting down questions about the six changes to the team tonight and reminding the media that all 26 players are here to play a role. This is a wonderful achievement, it’s the World Cup, it’s difficult, and now we’ve done it back to back.
The smiling coach said that the growth from the US game was pivotal, the second half in that game had shown the resilience of the Australian players, and they would now benefit from an 8-day break between games. When Paraguay coach, Gustavo Alfaro, took the microphone, he responded to questions about his formation, explaining that the result was not the one that they wanted. He was very glowing of the speed and physicality of Jordy Bos, mentioning the Aussie defender a number of times. The logistics of a quick turnaround to play Germany were discussed, and the fact that the tempo would be very different in that game, with temperatures being much higher. The vastly experienced coach reflected that he would have loved to have the majority of possession tonight, but hopes against reality don’t always align.
This had been a night where the result mattered the most; Australia had carefully managed the game, although there were moments when they left themselves open and benefitted from the dreadful final ball from Paraguay. The motoring performance of Bos, the athletic leaps of Irankunda and the aerial dominance of Harry Souttar were all massive plus points, but if Australia are to advance from the round of 32, they will need to be much more creative and take the game to what will surely be much stronger opponents. In Popa we trust. Why shouldn’t we?