Socceroos great Robbie Slater analyses Asian Cup defeat to South Korea

The critics came quickly for Graham Arnold after the Socceroos were knocked out of the Asian Cup. But as ROBBIE SLATER writes, Australia’s fatal flaw can’t be blamed on its coach.

What hurts most about the Socceroos’ loss to South Korea is that on paper, this was an Asian Cup quarter-final we had no right to win, but in the end, it was a game we should have won.

Critics of coach Graham Arnold are having a field day questioning his tactics and his substitutions, but the reality is that the Socceroos should have put the game to bed long before Lewis Miller’s stoppage-time brain snap that gave the Koreans the chance to take the match into extra-time.

How Mitch Duke failed to guide his header into an open goal in the 85th minute I’ll never know. If that went in, as it should have, it was game over and the Socceroos would be preparing for a semi-final against Jordan.

A costly miss from Mitch Duke came back to haunt the Socceroos. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Duke also had another second-half chance he should have taken, while Martin Boyle and Connor Metcalfe also wasted golden opportunities, so regardless of what you think of “Arnie”, it’s not him missing those chances that would have won Australia the game.

In terms of his substitutions, I wouldn’t have brought Miller on, but for all we know, Nathaniel Atkinson, the player Miller replaced, was gassed.

The decision to go to a back five in the dying stages by bringing on an extra defender in Cameron Burgess for winger Boyle also meant we were surrendering possession too easily.

Poor finishing
Poor defending
Done #AsianCup204@Socceroos

— Robbie Slater (@RobbieSlater17) February 2, 2024

Miller should have been smart enough to know not to lunge at South Korean star Son Heung-min. Son was going nowhere in the corner of the penalty area, so all Miller needed to do was stay on his feet.

Lewis Miller is consoled by Harry Souttar. Picture: Hector Retamal

Even if Son had got a cross in, there were enough Australian bodies to deal with it.

It was the start of a horror 20-minute spell for Miller, who also gave away the foul with another silly challenge that gave Son the chance to score South Korea’s winner with a sublime free-kick.

Some are questioning goalkeeper Mat Ryan’s positioning, which led to him having to dive backwards rather than horizontally, but he was never going to save it.

Son’s class was evident in a South Korean team that has not only him but a host of other players at clubs in Europe’s top five leagues.

Robbie Slater says Graham Arnold can’t be to blame for the Socceroos missing so many chances. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

We don’t have any, which is why anybody who had the Socceroos starting as favourites to win the game were wrong.

Again, we punched above our weight, and we very nearly did enough to cause a quarter-final upset, only to be denied at the end.

A Socceroos squad that is in a transitional stage will learn from the heartbreak, but they can’t afford to dwell on the defeat for too long.

World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon are on next month, and as much as it would have been great to win the Asian Cup, playing in world football’s greatest tournament is much more important.

Originally published as Socceroos great Robbie Slater analyses Asian Cup defeat to South Korea