Tony Popovic’s face said it all.
Perth Stadium was going wild, a flare was ripped among the Australian fans and the players were still smothering Aziz Behich near the corner flag after his stunning 90th minute winner, and then there was Popovic; emerging from celebrations of his own on the sidelines with eyes wide open and a look of sheer relief on his face.
Last minute winners don’t keep any sweeter than that. For the previous 89 minutes Australia toiled and battled just to stay in the game. This was the ultimate smash and grab mission – in their own backyard, albeit.
Not that Popovic cared. While he acknowledged that Japan were the better side, you could barely wipe the smile off his face after the game.
“We found it difficult to retain the ball,” he admitted.
“I thought the biggest problem around the first half was nothing to do with the ball. We didn’t win the challenge, we didn’t win the second ball. They were a lot tougher than us in the first half.
“When you can keep winning the ball, you can keep your momentum going forward. We didn’t have a chance to retain the ball. When we went into our duels, we were pretty much second best in every challenge. We know there’s room to grow and room to improve.”
But…
“Tonight’s a special night for everyone involved. I mean for Australian football, we take a major step towards achieving our goal.
“We’ve almost done it, and we’ve beat a fantastic nation (and) that should give everyone confidence, whether they’re a supporter, whether they’re someone involved with the Socceroos, or just someone watching our game for the first time, that was quite a special night.”
For Behich it caps an incredible week after he captained Melbourne City to the A-League championships on Saturday night.
“(But) it feels great. I don’t want to take all the credit, that’s for sure, because tonight, not just the players that played, the players that come in and even the boys that were on the bench or in the stands (deserve the credit).
“We’ve worked hard this week and we want it to be tough. That’s the type of thing we pride ourselves on.”
It was Japan, fielding a second-string side (if we’re generous) that controlled the proceedings. They were superior technically, positionally, and in every other aspect you could imagine; perhaps except for the one part of the game that really matters – scoring.
Hajime Moriyasu kept true to his word to test the depth of his squad, fielding a completely new-look starting XI, with only Daichi Kamada keeping his spot from their last game against Saudi Arabia.
Three players made their debut – Hiroki Sekine, Yu Hirakawa and Kota Tawaratsumida – while another six had less than five games experience; only Kamada and Koki Machida had double-digit caps.
This was as experimental as it gets for Japan, and despite the result Moriyasu made no apologies for it after the game, citing it as necessary to ensure Japan built the depth required over the next 12 months to go to the World Cup and genuinely compete.
“I didn’t want my young players, the players with less experience, just to gain experience on this occasion,” he said, cutting a dejected figure after the game.
“I wanted to see what they could do against a strong opponent in very difficult circumstances. I didn’t want the new inexperienced players to rely on the more experienced players. I wanted them to show me what they can do on their own.
“Obviously, I think they’re all disappointed because we controlled the game, but we lost in the end.”
While Australia know they’re all but through, they face a nervous few hours while they await the result of the game between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in Manama. Anything but a win for the Green Falcons will guarantee Australia’s place at next year’s global showpiece.
While the result of that game won’t be known until about 2:00am Perth time, when the players would ordinarily be in bed resting ahead of the lengthy trip to Jeddah, good luck stopping these players from watching the moment that could decide their fate.
“I think most of us will watch, to be honest,” defender Milos Degenek said after the game, “and you know, we’re not there yet. We’re that close, but that far.
“And I think that’s this result here helps us a lot. And I think this result puts a lot of pressure on Saudi Arabia as well.”
The defender, who had plenty of work to do on the night to repel Japan’s forays forward, also said the gritty nature of the victory made it more special.
“I was just speaking to Cam (Burgess) under the shower, I said, I think I’d rather this game means more to me, and I’m happier that we won this game than I was in China, where we controlled the game, where we won two nil, where we had the ball.
“This game means more to me, and I feel more joy out of winning a game like this than that game, because this one’s a lot harder for us defenders.”
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