‘He belongs’: Socceroos prodigy shines on debut against Messi’s Argentina

They came for Lionel Messi, but the 68,000 fans who packed into the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing also got a glimpse of another talent who could soon be scaling the dizzying heights of European football.

Thursday night’s friendly against Argentina ended in a 2-0 defeat for the Socceroos, engineered once more by Messi’s undisputed genius.

But the biggest positive, at least from an Australian perspective, was how good Jordan Bos looked on his starting debut.

Bos, 20, was the pick of the bunch in green and gold, completing more dribbles than any other player on the pitch in a sensational two-way performance at left-back. He would have also had an assist to round it off, but for a desperate save from Emiliano Martinez that pushed Mitchell Duke’s point-blank shot onto the post.

Having just completed a breakout season in the A-League with Melbourne City, Bos is about to begin his first pre-season with Belgian club KVC Westerlo — who bought him for $2 million, a record outbound transfer fee — but there is little doubt that scouts from much bigger clubs will now be keeping tabs on his development, and perhaps even kicking themselves that they hadn’t made their own moves.

“That’s the future,” said former Socceroos fullback Luke Wilkshire on Network 10’s coverage.

Jordan Bos, right, battles for the ball against Argentina’s Nahuel Molina.Credit: AP

Bos was his own harshest critic post-match, saying he was pleased with his first half but less so with his second-half display, but did not put a foot wrong throughout his 90 minutes. In doing so, he threw down the gauntlet to Australia’s long-time left-back Aziz Behich, who appears to have a massive battle on his hands to get his spot in the team back ahead of the World Cup qualifiers later this year and January’s Asian Cup.

“I can take some positives and negatives out of that, I think,” Bos said. “Especially coming off the season I’ve had, confidence is high. When you have that, it’s easy to play, especially when you’re surrounded by such a class group of boys. [It was] hard work, tough conditions, but so much to learn from it, a great experience. It was just amazing.”

Coach Graham Arnold, who handed Bos his first taste of international football earlier this year against Ecuador, was effusive in his praise.

“That’s how he needs to play,” he said.

Jordan Bos negotiates his way past Angel Di Maria on Thursday night.Credit: Getty

“I’ve got to play players to their strengths and Jordy’s strength is going forward, and making sure that we’re protecting him defensively. He will improve out of sight with that.

“This game, the kid will walk away now and [think] he belongs. He will have that belief that he belongs on the big stage now, and I just think that he’s got such a bright future, not just individually but for the Socceroos as well.”

Arnold had been hoping to settle the score with Argentina after their 2-1 defeat in the World Cup’s round of 16 six months ago in Qatar, but despite the result, was proud of how his players acquitted themselves.

Seven players from that team started in Beijing, but key midfielders Aaron Mooy and Jackson Irvine were missing. Not that you could tell. Aiden O’Neill was outstanding in the No.6 role and will follow Bos to Europe next season, leaving Melbourne City to also head to Belgium with Standard Liege.

Arnold’s only complaint was Australia’s opening to the match, in which Messi’s second-minute goal sparked an early surge from the South Americans. They soon settled, however, and put together some eye-catching passages of play, albeit without any reward in attack.

“The purpose of this game and the plan I had before the game was to give youngsters a chance,” he said.

“When you play the world champions like that, it’s obviously a good learning curve for a lot of people. We started the game poorly ... [but] it’s a learning experience for the young players who’ve probably never played in this type of environment before. I thought they handled the occasion, after the first 10 minutes, very well.

“The most pleasing thing is there’s some kids coming, and we’ve just got to expose them and give them an opportunity to be exposed against this type of opposition. Losing an international fixture is not fantastic — I’m a bad loser. But at the end of the day, I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.”

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