As Wednesday’s (AEDT) showdown between the two nations draws nearer,the Australian team is drawing confidence from the depth of talent in Graham Arnold’s 26-man squad,and the number of players within it who have the capacity to turn a match on its head.
In one of the few positive legacies of the pandemic,this is the first World Cup where teams will be able to use five substitutes instead of the traditional three - a change which enables coaches to inject more fresh legs into second halves,and gives greater scope for younger players to impress their qualities on matches.
“It’s going to take all 26 players - you can’t rely on 11,” said striker Jamie Maclaren,the Melbourne City goal machine.
“If you rely on 11,the game’s done and dusted,so we need an impact off the bench from all our players - and we’ve got game-changers.”
Maclaren could be one of them. He’s done it before for Australia,entering the fray in the 72nd minute of June’s preliminary play-off against the UAE under instruction from Arnold to “change the game”. He was ultimately involved in the play that set up the decisive goal scored byAjdin Hrustic.
In the subsequent match against Peru,where the Socceroos confirmed their spot in Qatar,four players who came off the bench helped win them the shootout - Maclaren,Craig Goodwin and Awer Mabil,who all scored penalties,and goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne,who wrote his name into national sporting folklore with his ‘Grey Wiggle’ routine.