I never said about playing for penalties, let me explain.

At the World Cup in 2018, we were forced to chase a result against them they scored off two counter but well taken goals to beat us in Russia.
Today there wasn’t chasing a result because it’s a one off game and Arnie didn’t need to take alot of risk out there which suited him tactically unlike in the qualifying campaign where we forced to chase a result against the likes of Oman, China and Japan at home where we looked uncomfortable but today the game state made it different proposition.
I said before Peru were up for the taking because there not the scary South American team assumed people though they would be and in a one off game and anything can happen on the day.

We stifled them and there best attackers couldn’t get any momentum into the game, we created some chances often little but the game state made it comfortable knowing that we didn’t need to open up too much.
But overall that’s where this current team looks vulnerable especially from what we seen in this campaign but we kept our composure which was very important.

The World Cup will be a different story where we need to try and find a way to win games but that’s for another time, we can enjoy the moment now because it’s a great achievement from where we were in qualification.

We demand an investigation into the replacement of goalkeeper Matt Ryan and his departure at a difficult time in such an important match. We ask for an examination of the penalty area that was not suitable for the Peruvian team, while Australian players seem to keep their temperament, so we saw Peru's players fail during the shoot-out, while Australia's keeper was wiggly.

Was is Grobbelaar with the wobbly legs? Redmayne has entered a whole new realm. 

A fair assessment. Over the moon we got there but yes there are flaws and issues about. 

Australia faced Peru in a penalty shoot-out last night for a place at the World Cup...

Australian keeper Andrew Redmayne noticed that Peru's keeper had instructions on his water bottle 👀

Redmayne threw the bottle over the advertising boards 😂

Incredible shithousery 👏

Throwing to the stand sounds more abrasive. He just put it away to avoid tripping. 

It should not be overlooked what a huge advantage that long and well managed camp gave us. More than 2 weeks with games of increasing difficulty evenly spaced out at the same time of day at the same stadium. Whereas Peru got their 72 hours before kick off. Superior management also helped us beat Syria and Honduras last time around and all the way back to beating Uruguay in 2005.

Karacic is so much better than Atkinson! Surely he must start in his place from now on.

If Rogic does not have a seriously good reason for missing these games, (which it seem like he does not because if he did we would probably know about it) I am not sure he should ever be selected again. In any case he is a downhill player who only does well when on the better team, not in adversity, which in fact makes him unsuitable for Australia in the world cup.

It's Peru's problem they wanted to hang around in Spain so long. Atkinson should be selected as a winger. He's alright in attack and can help better with defending. Karacic went alright but he needs more games for his club.

https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/live/event/2AWTP0yK6aHFYcvChdFfU9kcVzg

Full game here. Cheers FIFA! NZ game should be here too.

THIS STREAM CANNOT BE WATCHED IN YOUR AREA.

Do we expect the NZ game to be live there or only replays? 

Fully live I've heard. Our game was too apparently.

Damn. Works in Germany. Sign up to Nordvpn.

So i was there last night and sat behind the goals with the aussie fans and we all saw redders do it. Meanhwhile the Peru keeper didn't notice, so when he walked back to his drink bottle we were all anticipating it and the look on his face when he realised he bottle was gone was priceless hahaha

Everyone gave it the big aussie "wheyyyyyyyyyyyyy" and proceeded to give it to him.

Was at the match last night... tbh i thought they were both shite. Atkinson cannot defend and is very lightweight without aggression (unlike Behich who is light back makes up for it with aggression). 

Meanwhile when Karacic came on he was defintely better defensively but everytime he got on the ball he'd just pump it forwards conceding possession and taking the pressure off them that we had built. 

One thing clear from last night  - Atkinson is a wingback, not a fullback. As a fullback (in a 4) you need positional discipline and to be a equally strong in defense as attack. A wingbacks job meanwhile is to get up and down that line providing width. Atkinson clearly the latter 

Was that you in the cream shorts chatting to the press post game? Awesome scenes.

Exactly right

Rowles is a clone of Alex Wilkinson. Absolute clone. I mean that in a good way.

Its like Champinship manager when player retires and we get re-generated player. At keast this time we started picking wilko much younger lol

If Rogic comes back and is playing at a decent level (something im doubtful of, getting the feeling he's going into semi retirement) , Souttar comes back strong after injuries and taggart stays fit, i genuinely think we can get 2nd round

France is where we can do it, there arrogance is there downfall.

I usually agree with your opinions, RIMB.

However, regarding Duke's selection and Arnie's coaching, I disagree.

Given we don't have a big, imposing, tall target striker like Josh Kennedy, or,  Mark Viduka, ATM,  Mitch Duke's selection has been  plausible as central striker. He caused quite a few turnovers in the attacking half of the pitch against Peru - this is a phenomenon of modern football. If teams win the ball high up the pitch, in our Attacking Transitions, it is very dangerous for the opposition. Alex Brosque, Matt Leckie and Brett Holman, have all been very good at this too.

Particularly at the instant  of the turnover, our Attacking Transitional phase of play,  invariably the opposition players  are running off the ball to support the ball carrier advancing forwards.  Many of the opposition team are just a few more seconds slower to reconfigure into a defensive shape after being in an offensive shape in these high up the pitch turnover scenarios.

In the Ball Possession Opposition phase of play they have to cover the teammates and make the pitch smaller and more compact - very quickly. Again causing these turnovers in the attacking third is invaluable. A team can catch them out of shape. It is also advantageous suddenly having the opposition chasing, and having to defend  running towards their own goal and keeper.

Moreover, Duke is the type of striker, who does not need pinpoint service like Maclaren. Despite the Melb City striker being the more clinical finisher. The likes of Kennedy, Duke and Leckie, are more likely to win loose balls, or second balls than JMac.

In addition, given Duke's incredible engine, he is particularly effective at tracking back and keeping the defensive shape compact in our Ball Possession Opposition. Most strikers haven't got the  engine to do it. Although JMac has been more effective recently.

Moving the ball around at the back probing for gaps to build up forwards is the axiom in international  football. Peru did it too. 

One Chilean media article anointed Aaron Mooy as best player on the pitch, for controlling the tempo of play, which caused them to lose the  game. They had to run more than they would have liked. Australia wasn't able to do this in the past, because technically, we weren't good enough to maintain possession and build up from the pack, with rhythm changes. From watching extended highlights the Socceroos should have won in 90 mins.

Admittedly, Peru had three chances in quick succession in the second half of extra time. I think it was due to the impact to Peru's fresh subs. Over the game we had more scoring chances though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HioInaOpuds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvuwKzDqkz0

Peru reaction. Feel sorry for fans. Those wanker panelists pre game saying we're absolutely nothing have zero sympathy. The first video is brutal.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdE27sKdGBU

CONMEBOL highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWLDkPtrw8U

Mini presser

I've just looked up FIFA rankings and  Denmark are very high ATM - I think 5th.

I'll find them and post them here- or the World Cup Group - France, Denmark, Tunisia, Aus - thread.

France currently ranked 3 in FIFA rankings.

Denmark ranked 11.

Tunisia 35.

Peru were ranked 22.

Tough group - yet again.

France 3
Denmark 11
Tunisia 35
Australia 42

Difficult group but slightly better than the group for the other play-off 
Spain 7
Germany 12 
Japan 23
Costa Rica (31) or NZ (101)

I feel sorry for Japan. I desperately want other Asian teams to progress from their groups.

Japan currently ranked 23, are a much better team than Peru, currently ranked 22.

Germany invariably lift for the big  tournaments.

Crazy they still think they outplayed us. In terms of possesion and chances the first 90 was ours

We are not that far apart. I agree with most of what you have said - my slightly dismissive nod to Duke's effectiveness in acknowledging his 'chasing'.

The moments I mentioned where I wondered about Maclaren were the instinctive striker moments. Games are not lost by forcing a turnover deep in opposition territory - but they are equally not won by creating chances that are not converted. They are two sides to the defenwsive/offensive coin. I would like to think that Maclaren would have been in position to receive the ball those times (and also run into some of those crosses we put across to nobody in particular) and that one of them would have been put in the net. It is not a certainty - I know we can all agree on that.

I guess the key point is that we don't have a big, imposing, clinical finisher - and in the absence Arnie clearly prefers someone big to run round with a big engine over a more pinpoint striker who does require service - or at least space to operate. I see my mighty Roar creating brilliant opportunities that no-one puts away and I think that colours my perspective when I see similar results to our national team raids. The one player (Duke) represents the 90 minutes that a game is fought over - the other (Maclaren) represents the few pivotal moments that can decide the outcome. Besart Berisha was a combination of the two and his like would probably be ideal for us.

Personally I would prefer the clinical finisher who only shows up once in a game to take the points with the accompanying frustration of struggling to get the ball off the opposition - over the high pressure, tempo forcing forward who wins unlikely balls with the accompanying frustration of missing created chances.

What you say makes sense strategically and tactically with the forward options we have. It just goes against what I want my striker to be doing.

As far as Arnie's choices - using Leckie as a centre forward when his effectiveness is significantly greater in a wider position says to me that he sacrifices too much to try and create in life the picture he has in his head of how we need to play.

A meaningless but amusing statistical comparison from that:

Australia has 49 ranking points against it in our group, where the bottom team in the other group has only 42 ranking points against it - so the other group is harder for Costa Rica/NZ overall.

I've seen a lot of YT videos today about the game - mostly in Spanish.

I must have seen the same one somewhere where the  Peruvian pundits laughed at us!  Another video where  Peru fans thought they would walk it in!

Another one, which I'm getting really fed up with, was Mark Schwarzer stating how the Socceroos would likely lose, because we are a really weak team compared to  his amazing  high quality Golden Generation teams.

Sorry, Mark, but your amazing GG Socceroos did no better qualifying against a South American team in 2005 than today! Both  Socceroo teams won by penalties.

Also, given there are four facets of a keeper's play:
1. Shot stopping
2. Coming  off one's line and  commanding the penalty box.
3. Playing as sweeper with one's feet.
4. Distribution by throwing and rolling the ball.

Australia has  improved immeasurably  as a team since Mark's retirement, because Matt Ryan is better at 2, 3 and 4 than Mark, and similar quality at 1.

So our keeping for the Socceroos has been better since Mark retired!   

Was that the Schwarzer one with Optus from a while back? That was around the Japan game so we were in a big slump then. He does also get egged on a bit and it's for entertainment purposes. I agree with your statements.