Socceroos Advance Despite Attack Concerns
The Socceroos are through, but the mood around their attack is anything but relaxed.
Australia’s 0-0 draw with Paraguay booked a place in the round of 32 at the FIFA World Cup, a professional job done against rugged South American opposition. The story, though, was not a striker finally catching fire on the big stage. It was a full-back.
Jordan Bos, thrust into the right side after Jacob Italiano’s late injury withdrawal, became the unexpected spark in a game that badly exposed the Socceroos’ lack of cutting edge up front.
Tony Popovic shuffled his deck to cope with Italiano’s absence. Bos, naturally a left-sided player, went to the right, while Melbourne City’s Aziz Behich slotted in on the left. It was the tactical tweak many fans had been waiting to see Popovic make. It worked. Bos was dynamic, direct, and brave on the ball, often Australia’s most dangerous outlet.
“Up front is a bit of a worry when we’re looking at Jordy Bos as one of the most threatening (for Australia),” Robbie Slater said on Stan Sport’s Added Time, his concern cutting through the post-match relief.
Scott McDonald agreed. In his mind, the spotlight in a World Cup knockout race should be fixed on the forwards: Mo Toure, left on the bench, or Nestory Irankunda, the explosive winger asked to lead the line as Australia’s No.9.
Instead, it was the young defender stealing the show.
McDonald doesn’t see Irankunda as a long-term answer through the middle, not in this tournament and not in that role. The Adelaide product, just 20, was asked to operate in the most unforgiving zone on the pitch, battling a physical Paraguayan back three with precious little service.
“There is a problem in terms of the No.9. Not bringing (Mo) Toure on instead of Tete Yengi tells me today that there’s no trust there,” McDonald said, reading Popovic’s substitutions as a loud message to one of his main striking options.
“Does he go and start him (Toure) out of the blue in the next game? You just can’t tell with Tony. But as a striker, being Toure, I don’t like that. That doesn’t fill me with confidence that my coach trusts me.”
The criticism didn’t stop at selection. It extended to the role itself.
“No matter who we put up there, it’s a thankless task up there,” McDonald added. “Look at Nestory (on Friday), he had very little and was living off scraps.”
The shape of the side left Irankunda isolated and, in McDonald’s eyes, stripped Australia of a vital attacking reference point in the box.
“When he plays up top, we don’t have a box outlet. Jordy Bos playing on the right-hand side was brilliant and it gave us that outlet.”
The contrast was stark. Bos, from full-back, driving into space, overlapping, offering width and an out-ball. Irankunda, the supposed spearhead, starved of the ball, forced to improvise in a role that doesn’t suit his instincts.
“Look, he’s gotta hold it up a little bit better,” McDonald said, acknowledging that the young forward still has technical growth ahead of him as a central striker. “I think at times he struggled because it’s not his natural game.”
Paraguay’s structure compounded the issue. Their back three tracked Irankunda tightly, closing the channels he usually loves to attack.
“He wants to get in those wider areas and drift but with the way Paraguay were set up as well with the back three, it is very hard for him to get down the sides of the opposition. There was no space.
“They were aware of his threat also, with three taking care of him. But he probably sometimes needs to be more in central positions and wait for things to happen.”
That, McDonald argued, is the evolution required if Irankunda is to become a true No.9 at this level. Less chasing the ball, more trusting the play to develop around him.
“As we see the best strikers in the world – like Erling Haaland – they’re not interested any more. They just get into the right areas and allow others and trust others to do the dirty work then get on the end of things.
“That’s not naturally probably where (Irankunda) thinks. He wants to be the guy creating that and doing things, getting on the edge of the box and having shots. So if you’re gonna play that role, you just need to play it a little bit more smarter and be a bit more patient.”
For McDonald, a former international No.9 himself, the discomfort with the current set-up is personal as much as tactical.
“I didn’t like it either. I mean, for the majority of my career it was always you played off the big man or whatever.
“But I’ve always said it, if you can head it, you’ve got a better chance of being a No.9 for the Socceroos. It’s as simple as that.”
Australia move on, job done on paper, defensive structure holding, and a new star in Bos emerging from the back line. Yet the old question lingers over the front of the team.
In a tournament that rarely forgives blunt attacks, how long can a full-back be the sharpest weapon?
