The Socceroos’ youth revolution has been hiding in plain sight, according to defender Harry Souttar, who is convinced the side’s achievements at the World Cup were not given enough credit back home.
Tony Popovic’s side was pilloried in some quarters for their pragmatic style of football at the tournament and the manner of their round-of-32 defeat on penalties against Egypt – an outcome that Souttar admits still stings the playing group nearly five months later.
While the squad that went to North America was the second-youngest ever sent to a World Cup by Australia, Popovic fielded the youngest starting XI for the entire tournament in their win over Turkey, along with three others which ranked inside the top eight.
It was part of what Popovic later explained was a long-term plan for the national team, to accelerate the development of a talented new generation to set them up for the next two to three World Cup campaigns. While while it remains to be seen how much longer Popovic will be in charge, it seems to be working.
The Socceroos’ 3-0 win over two-time defending Asian champions Qatar on Saturday was another emphatic marker of progress, with all three goals coming as a result of turnovers forced by their high press, and four debutants coming off the bench in the second half to continue the rapid expansion of the national team’s depth.
It was a continuation of the more aggressive gameplay Popovic introduced during Australia’s recent friendly series against Brazil, which itself was a step change from the World Cup, where the Socceroos were more content to sit back and play on the counter-attack.
Although the Asian Cup they were supposed to be preparing for in this window has been pushed back to December 2027, Souttar is excited about the overall direction of the team.
“I don’t think that’s probably got the kind of coverage that at the time, or now [that it deserved] … to be the youngest team at the World Cup and to not really have any expectations from the outside,” Souttar said.
“We had a lot of belief going into the World Cup, but from the outside, probably not. We knew what we could do and to get out of the group in the way we did, and then obviously coming so close to making it through in that knockout game, it still obviously hurts today thinking about it, but the only thing that we can do is grow.
“The boys will become more mature for it. They’ll learn from it going forward. We were really looking forward to [the Asian Cup in] January; obviously that’s not happening now, but it gives us another chance to grow. It’s about belief and how much the squad can grow together.”
Popovic’s men will play again on Wednesday (3am AEDT) against Jordan, the team who Qatar beat in the last Asian Cup final four years ago, and who previous iterations of the Socceroos have had plenty of trouble against.
The match will be played in Doha, after an eleventh-hour lobbying effort by Football Australia’s top brass to have the game moved from Amman due to security concerns held by the players was successful.
“We [came] into camp to play two games. I just want to say thank you to the Jordan FA for obviously agreeing to come over to Qatar and play,” Souttar said.
“As players and staff, we’re really appreciative of it. We know the hard work behind the scenes that went on to try and get that done and I know the guys there are really, really thankful for that.
“Once again, it’s going to be a really tough game. We know what they’re going to bring. The lads are going to have to be absolutely on it. But with the guys that we have in the squad and the belief in the togetherness, obviously we’re going to go for the win.”
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