“Just perfect”: Poppa’s Socceroos game plan praised

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Tony Popovic’s game plan in the Group D clash has been described as “perfect” by former Socceroo Archie Thompson.

After Nestory Irankunda’s dazzling 27th-minute opener, the Socceroos soaked up wave after wave of Turkish attack with Beach performing well behind a composed trio of central defenders in Alessandro Circati, stand-in captain Harry Souttar and Cameron Burgess.

The game was then put to bed when Connor Metcalfe scored a delightful second goal in the 75th minute.

Thompson believes Popovic came with the right plan and his players did well to execute it.

“He had a game plan and they executed it amazingly,” Thompson said on SEN’s The Global Game.

“Was it the prettiest of games to watch in terms of having possession? No.

“But it was what Poppa does so well. He set up the team to grind out a result and he used the quality he had up front.

“The game plan was just perfect.”

Thompson admits that the call made by Popovic to go with Beach over Ryan was one he questioned early only to see it vindicated.

He also loved seeing Paul Okon-Engstler, son of assistant coach Paul Okon, in central midfield.

“The only decision from Popovic I thought was questionable was the decision to not have Maty Ryan,” he added.

“I thought ‘what happened there?’.

“And having Paul Okon-Engstler in the middle of the park probably surprised a lot of people. It surprised me but I wasn’t worried at all.

“His improvement over the last couple of months has just been exceptional. I just knew that his mobility in the middle of the park was probably a little bit better than Jackson Irvine in this game with the way we were going to be defending.

“We defended well out wide and when the ball got crossed in it was dealt with. There was no height in the Turkiye team to be really threatening. They were lumping a lot of balls in but we were cleaning up, there was no threat.

“The composure in those moments was great. Even when we won the ball the guys didn’t look flustered at all.”

SEN football expert Jordan Kounelis agreed that the defence of the Socceroos looked sound throughout.

“The game plan, which he’s been criticised of before, is playing very defensively, sitting off the ball and letting the opposition have the ball,” said Kounelis.

“But everything was so finely tuned yesterday that it all worked. Yes, the Socceroos did a lot of defending, but it was composed defending.

“They were never panicked. Turkiye were going to have opportunities, they were going to fire a few shots at our net, and Patrick Beach had to make a lot of saves, there were going to be times when they got the ball into the box.

“But the Socceroos every time were prepared for it. They knew what the plan was. It never felt like they were losing control of their defending, they were in control the whole time, even though they knew it was going to be wave after wave.

“Watching it you felt assured of the Socceroos’ defence.”

Greatest World Cup gamble? Bozza hails national hero Beach

Australia’s collective jaw fell to the floor on Sunday afternoon when it was confirmed that Tony Popovic would not have captain and veteran goalkeeper Mat Ryan starting against Turkiye.

There had been no prior debate about who was the nation’s first choice stopper.

There is certain to be now after Patrick Beach became one of the greatest World Cup gambles in recent memory.

Popovic didn’t buy into the shock factor of naming the 22-year-old Melbourne City gloveman in place of Ryan.

"I just wanted to play Patrick (Beach). The decision was to play Patrick," he said casually before the opening Group D clash in Vancouver.

More than 90 minutes, a 2-0 win and eight match winning saves later, Popovic was vindicated and Beach became a national hero.

What greater praise than to be described as a “star in the making” by Australia’s most famous goalkeeper and SEN’s Mark Bosnich.

“There's a star in the making,” Bozza told SEN1170 Breakfast. “To come in and make that many saves – eight in a game - to come in for the captain when there was no debate about this position beforehand. It’s outstanding.

“Against Switzerland in the friendly he was terrific but no one had any inkling that place was up for grabs. To go out and do it in the place of a captain and perform like that was outstanding.

“Who dares wins, they say, for selections and he (Popovic) was right. They must have seen something that convinced them to go that way.”

Beating Turkiye 2-0 to sit second behind the USA in the group was not a position many would have backed Australia to be in going into the 48-nation tournament.

With the host country next up before a clash with Paraguay on June 26 (AEST) the Socceroos are a very real chance of reaching the Round of 32.

For Bosnich one more point will all but secure this feat.

"I thought they needed one point from the first two games and then they would beat Paraguay," Bosnich said when asked how much his predictions might have changed after the Vancouver victory.

"After watching the USA I don’t think Australia could beat them; now after seeing them play Turkiye they can (beat the US), but it’s going to be difficult.

"USA were flying from all angles and they will be looking for a clean sweep.

"The way Australia played, it will be interesting to see if they can come forward a bit. A draw is the best we can hope for. But the Turkiye win is pretty much going to guarantee that one point from (the next) two games gets us into the knockout stages.

"That win was so important."