Australia is still a teammate of New Zealand, two months before the World Cup finals

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

“Overall, it was a good performance, but I know the “boys” can do betterThe reaction of coach Graham Arnold, who turned the starting line-up upside down compared to Thursday’s match with Brisbane. “The first half was tricky, 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 the rugby championship match between the All Blacks and Australia – the Australian eleven took his time. The opening match came from a cross by St. Pauli midfielder (Germany second division) Conor Metcalfe, victoriously headed by striker Mitchell, who plays in Japan (54th place). Then the Australian expanded the difference 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 their play-off defeat (1-0) against Costa Rica, only had 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 expertise of Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who called for an advisory mission with the goal of the World Cup: the former coach of South Korea – the semi-finals of the “to her» World Cup 2002 – Team spirit praised.

“She looks very sharp and fresh – sharp both physically and mentally. There is never any doubt with Australians, they are always fresh in their heads. they fight‘, noted Hiddink with great experience on Wednesday. The 75-year-old former coach was called in to make up for the absence of Rene Mullenstein, the usual right-hand man of Graham Arnold, who is currently in Europe for the Denmark-France match on Sunday night in particular. These two countries are part of the Australia Group D with Tunisia.

see also – Benoit Diachil’s reaction after his first pick for the Blues against Austria (2-0)