‘We should have won it’: Socceroos rue wasted chances as World Cup hopes hang in balance

It felt like another small step in the right direction. But in reality, the Socceroos haven’t moved forward at all: their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup are still resting on a knife’s edge, just as they were before Thursday night’s scoreless draw with Saudi Arabia.

It wasn’t great. It also wasn’t a total disaster. It was actually very nearly both of those things.

Riley McGree’s face says it all about the Socceroos’ clash with Saudi Arabia.Credit: Getty Images

Had Riley McGree’s bicycle kick in the 97th minute flown past the other side of the right post at AAMI Park’s northern end, he would be an international viral sensation. And not for the first time in his career.

“Almost, almost,” McGree said, neatly capturing the essence of the whole contest.

“I saw the flight of the ball come, and I knew pretty early what I was going to try and do. I think it was a bit shinny ... if it comes off my foot, I’d say it should have, could have, would have gone in.”

McGree’s near-miss came just moments after another at the southern end. Saudi Arabia had a free kick in a very dangerous position on the left flank. The ball came into the box, spilled out at the back post and rolled into the path of Sultan Al-Ghannam. He took one touch to steady it, and with his second, slapped it into the bottom corner.

As players and substitutes mobbed together to celebrate in front of a rowdy corner of Saudi fans, they were confronted by the heartbreaking sight of the assistant referee raising his flag. Because Al-Ghannam’s shot had gone through the legs of teammate Ali Al-Bulaihi, and because he was allegedly in an offside position, he was deemed to have blocked goalkeeper Joe Gauci’s line of sight and therefore interfered with play.

The next 2½ minutes, as the VAR reviewed the decision, felt like an eternity. Especially since some replay angles suggested that Al-Bulaihi was not, in fact, offside.

Turns out he was, by the barest of margins.

“Yeah, I was worried,” said coach Tony Popovic. “Of course. It’s that close.”

McGree’s bicycle kick just missed.Credit: Getty Images

That the Socceroos recovered so quickly and surged to generate another chance through McGree’s acrobatics is a reflection of their character. But the scoreboard was a reflection of their killer instinct, or lack thereof.

Despite seeing less of the ball than the visitors, Australia had not only vastly more shots (13-3), but much better shots. Four, at minimum, probably should have gone in: Harry Souttar’s early skied effort after a free kick, tame shots from Ajdin Hrustic and Jackson Irvine just before half-time, and an 84th-minute breakthrough in which McGree was foiled by a world-class lunging intervention by Saud Abdulhamid - although Brandon Borrello, the player who provided the final pass, could have perhaps taken aim himself.

“We all know there was more there for us tonight,” said Irvine.

“When the time comes when you’ve got to hit that ball, it’s just about being clinical. I just don’t think we were clean enough in those moments to seal it.”

Don’t let anyone ever tell you 0-0 draws are boring. This was a cracking game.

The Saudis came out breathing fire to mark the second coming of their beloved coach, Herve Renard. But aside from the late scare and a couple of other nervy moments during their first-half surge, they were very well held by the Socceroos, which is why the sense was that this was two points lost for Australia, rather than anything gained.

Jackson Irvine missed a golden chance late in the first half.Credit: Getty Images

Popovic described it as an “OK result”, and an “opportunity maybe missed”. He wasn’t happy with Australia’s ball use in the first half, but was pleased with how they took control of the game in the second, and with how their pressing was able to create opportunities in attack via turnovers.

This team is building. Sometimes that’s not clear, and often it’s not pretty to watch, but they are building. They must, though, continue to build. And quickly, because the stakes demand it.

On Wednesday morning (AEDT), the Socceroos will front up again for an away clash with Bahrain, the team who shocked them 1-0 on the Gold Coast back in September. A win is essential to keep alive hopes of direct World Cup qualification, although Bahrain’s surprise 0-1 defeat to China has titled the equation back in Australia’s favour.

“We know it’s a huge game,” Popovic said. “We need a much better performance than we had here, where we lost 1-0. So if we can improve that performance, then we’ve got a chance to win.”

They will benefit from the fresh legs of Craig Goodwin, who was suspended for the Saudi game, although an ankle injury to substitute Nishan Velupillay in the second half is a headache Popovic could have done without. Hrustic, meanwhile, was brought off at half-time after clutching at his groin, but Popovic said he was not injured and that his decision to do so was purely tactical.

Asked to compare the way the team is playing under Popovic to the way they did play against Bahrain two months ago, Irvine said it was like night and day.

“You can feel the structure of the team is clearer, the game plan,” he said.

“We can feel on the pitch that we can see exactly what it is we’re trying to do. We know it’s going to be a totally different game for us [in Bahrain], but we’re working within a framework that allows us to play.

“We’ve played against a very deep block against China. We’ve had to defend deep against Japan – and now tonight, almost a man-against-man kind of style game from the Saudis. We’re facing a totally different ways of football, but we’re still sticking to what we’re trying to do, and we’re finding solutions – good enough solutions that probably should have won us the game.

“There are a lot of positives to take. But it doesn’t take away from feeling that we should have won it.”

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