Picture: stock
The reign of new Socceroos coach Tony Popovic started off on the best possible note with a 3-1 win over China in Adelaide on Thursday (October 10).
The game was a crucial FIFA World Cup 2026 third round Asian qualifier and was played in front of a record-breaking 46,291 crowd for an Adelaide game.
A Football Australia match report said the Socceroos got their qualification campaign back on track with a hard-fought comeback win with goals from Lewis Miller, Craig Goodwin and debutant Nishan Velupillay.
Adelaide local Joe Gauci was named in goal while, at the back, Thomas Deng lined up with Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles in a three-man defence and Miller and Aziz Behich were at wing-back.
In midfield, Jackson Irvine partnered Aiden O’Neil while the attacking trio featured Goodwin and Nestory Irankunda as Mitch Duke led the line.
The Socceroos applied early pressure in the opening 15 minutes but the Chinese defence were able to neutralise the threats.
Despite Socceroos possession in the Chinese half, China struck first in the 20th minute; a long ball from goalkeeper Wang Dalei was not dealt with by the Australian defence and Zhang Yuning knocked it down for Xie Wenneng to brush past Souttar and push the ball past Gauci to make it 1-0.
Right on half-time, the Socceroos capitalised on their 81 per cent possession when Behich won a free kick on the left, Goodwin delivered perfectly into the box and Miller rose to head home his first international goal to level the score at 1-1.
China responded with three consecutive corners right before the break but the Socceroos defused the threats.
According to Football Australia, the Socceroos completed 385 passes in the first half, their highest in an opening 45 minutes since October 2019 against Chinese Taipei.
Popovic made two changes for the second half; Irankunda and Deng made way for Riley McGree and Jason Geria.
Australia struck quickly as Goodwin fired the ball into the net to make it 2-1 just eight minutes into the restart.
China made two substitutions and Popovic responded by replacing Behich with Bos.
Bos then initiated Australia’s third goal when he sent the ball into the box that the Chinese defence failed to handle and Velupillay blasted the ball into the top corner during a goalmouth scramble.
The victory gave the Socceroos their first three points of the campaign ahead of their trip to Japan on Tuesday.
