Australia overcome early setback to crush Kuwait in Asian Cup opener

Australia overcame an early goal from Kuwait to march past their Group A rivals with a 4-1 victory and open their Asian Cup campaign on home soil.

Australia's Massimo Luongo, right, celebrates his goal with Tim Cahill during their Asian Cup Group A match against Kuwait at the Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne on January 9, 2015. Brandon Malone/ReShow more

Australia kicked off their 2015 AFC Asian Cup campaign with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Kuwait front of a capacity 25,000 crowd at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute when defender Hussain Fadhel ghosted past a static defence to head home from a corner. Australia’s response left their manager praising the performance and spirit of the team.

“We’re pleased with the result and it’s a great reward for the players’ efforts,” Ange Postecoglou said. “We got off to a very disappointing start, conceding a goal we should never concede. The reaction was great, there was really energy and intent in the tempo that we played.”.

Australia struggled to get their game going for long periods, often relying on long balls into the box for Tim Cahill to challenge.

“It’s not easy to play an opponent that sits back in their own half,” Postecoglou added. “It can get frustrating and you have to be patient, but I thought our passing was for the most part was good.”

Their best move led to Cahill levelling the score with a right-footed finish from Massimo Luongo’s cross with 10 minutes of the first-half remaining. In the 44th minute, the provider turned scorer, heading in Ivan Franjic’s cross.

“Throughout that period Massimo Luongo was outstanding, he created the first and scored the second. There was a real urgency in what he did, and he lifted a few around him,” Postecoglou said.

The second half proved one-way traffic, and Australia, having had three penalty appeals turned down, finally got one when striker Robbie Kruse was brought down in the area.

Captain Mile Jedinak calmly stroked the ball home to all but guarantee the three points and a winning start to the Asian Cup for the hosts.

“That spirit that every Socceroos side had, we spoke about it all week,” Postecoglou said. “Sometimes things don’t go to plan and it’s how you react that’s important. While we have a fairly new group, they’ve understood the responsibility of representing their country, I would have preferred we didn’t concede a goal, but it was the right kind of reaction.”

Kuwait rallied briefly after the introductions of Youssef Nasser and Bader Al Mutawa, but could not find a way past a solid Australian defence, and it was the hosts who scored in injury time through James Triosi’s close range shot.

Coach Nabil Maaloul had no complaints about the result, conceding that the hosts were superior on every level.

“Australia were stronger physically and faster than our team,” he said. “We tried to nullify the Australian team’s strengths, to isolate the front line, but their speed worried some of our players. The negative for us was not keeping possession of the ball. We were losing the ball quickly, and our forward play was also lacking. Congratulations to Australia, they deserve the win.”

Maaloul felt it was too early to read into the his team’s early lead.

“I was probably the only one on the bench not celebrating; we know how strong the Australian team is, and where the strengths and weaknesses of our team lie, “ he said. “ I knew that they were capable of coming back at any time.”

The Tunisian also dismissed suggestions his team was too negative in the second half.

“On the contrary, we asked the players to press the Australians even higher up the pitch,” Maaloul said. “What did make the players retreat was perhaps the third goal. That affected their confidence and stopped them from following the strategy we had set out for the second half.”

Postecoglou reserved special praise for his captain Tim Cahill.

“It doesn’t need me to say, he’s still a fantastic player,” the Australia coach said. “The way the team plays suits him, and he really focuses on getting into the penalty area every time we’ve got the ball. There isn’t a defender in the world who would like to be one on one with Tim Cahill, whether in the air or on the ground.”

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