Socceroos 2 Bahrain 0

The Socceroos provided a tame but sensible display to see off the challenge of Bahrain on Wednesday night. Goals in the second half to Mile Sterjovski and David Carney gave the 40,000 fans something to cheer about, amidst freezing conditions at Stadium Australia.

Pim started with a 4-2-3-1, with Mark Schwarzer in goals and acting captain due to Lucas Neill’s suspension. Schwarz was protected by a back four of Chris Coyne and Mark Milligan in the middle, and Carney and Luke Wilkshire at left and right back respectively. The two holding midfielders were Jason Culina and Mile Jedinak, while the three attack mids were Harry Kewell, Brett Holman and Sterjovski. Scotty McDonald was the lone striker.

The match was barely five minutes in when Bahrain had the first real opportunity with a free kick on the edge of the box. However, it was wasted as Talal Yusuf hit his shot into the wall, and this was as close as the visitors got to scoring in the first half.

The Socceroos provided several nice passing moves which resulted in shots at goal, but none were clinical as the sides went into the sheds without scoring. Scott McDonald will be kicking himself as he missed a golden opportunity to score his first international goal. Running onto a long ball over the top, Macca didn’t realise the time he had, choosing to blast a volley over instead of controlling the ball and going one on one against the keeper.

The Socceroos finally made the break through ten minutes into the second half, when nice work on the left by Kewell found Sterjovski after a mistake from the Bahraini defence. The new Perth Glory winger volleyed calmly into the net to send the Socceroos 1-0 up.

The Bahrainis almost hit back straight away, as several minutes later giant defender Abdulla Al Marzooqi headed home from a free kick, only to be flagged for offside.

On the hour mark Jedinak was subbed for Grella, and it was unfortunately a quiet game by Jedinak, who no doubt was trying to impress Pim with this opportunity. But I think the Socceroos game plan went against the playmaker, as Pim instructed his men to pump the ball out wide and find the wingers with every opportunity, therefore not giving Jedinak enough of the ball to work his magical passes with. However, it was still an encouraging sign that Pim gave Jedinak a game, and the creative midfielder shouldn’t be too disheartened by his performance.

On the other hand, Macca had a night to forget as he missed two more opportunities midway through the second half, firstly after being called for offside and then secondly when his bicycle hit the post. His inability to score for the Socceroos must be frustrating the Celtic frontman, and hopefully he manages to score soon so that his confidence in a Green and Gold jersey isn’t sapped.

Not to be outdone by Macca, Culina came up with a bicycle kick of him own late in the game, but with the same post rattling result as McDonald. However, this time Carney was on hand to stab home the rebound to send the home side 2-0 up and secure the victory along the way.

All in all, it was a very pragmatic match from the Socceroos. They didn’t over exert themselves, and did just enough to secure a comfortable win. The cold weather failed to dampen the moods of the crowd, who treated the night with the party atmosphere it deserved.

The Socceroos finish their World Cup qualifying campaign next Wednesday with the final match against fellow qualifiers Japan in Melbourne.