Australia are still fellow New Zealanders two months before the World Cup

Bis repetita placen t: Three days after its first success at home (1-0), Australia did it again by defeating New Zealand at home on Sunday (0-2), in a preparatory match for the 2022 World Cup, where it will start against the Blues. France’s first opponent in Qatar, on 22 November, Australia had the opportunity to gain confidence, even if the opponent’s level, 103 in the FIFA rankings, led to relativism.

“Overall, it was a good performance, but I know the ‘boys’ are capable of doing betterThe reaction of coach Graham Arnold, who turned the starting lineup on its head compared to Thursday’s Brisbane game. “The first half was deceitful, but in the second half the players did the right thing“, he added.

In front of 35,000 spectators at Eden Park in Auckland – barely 24 hours after Rugby championship match between the All Blacks and Australia -, the Australian eleven really took his time. The opener came from a cross from St. Pauli (German 2nd Division) midfielder Connor Metcalf, which was headed triumphantly by striker Mitchell, who plays in Japan (54th). Then the Australian widened the gap in the 80th minute with a penalty kick from former Glasgow Rangers player Jason Cummings (2-0) after a handball in the penalty area. The New Zealanders, excluded from the World Cup after a play-off defeat (1-0) against Costa Rica, had only one real chance in the first period through their star striker from Newcastle, Chris Wood.

Prior to these two meetings, the Australian national team had benefited from the experience of Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who was invited to an advisory assignment with a World Cup goal: the former coach of South Korea – the semi-final of “to her» World Cup 2002 – praised the group spirit.

“She looks so sharp and fresh – sharp both physically and mentally. There is no doubting it with Australians, they are always fresh in their heads. They fightremarked the very experienced Hiddink on Wednesday. The 75-year-old former coach was called up to make up for the absence of Graham Arnold’s usual right-hand man Rene Meulensteen, who is currently in Europe for Sunday night’s Denmark-France match in particular. Australia Group D with Tunisia.

See also – Benoit Badiachel’s reaction after making his first selection for the Blues against Austria (2-0)