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The Socceroos have been sent packing at the quarter final stage for the second consecutive Asian Cup after losing 2-1 to South Korea in extra time.
It was a cruel result considering the graft the Aussies had put in throughout regular time, before a costly error from a substitute gave the Taegeuk Warriors a late, late avenue back into the contest.
The errors coupled with the Socceroos inability to convert gilt-edged chances contributed to their exit, leaving Aussie boss Graham Arnold wondering what could have been.
Foxsports.com.au analyses the Socceroos’ defeat in Talking Points!
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AUSSIE’S ‘BRAIN EXPLOSION’ CRUELS ASIAN CUP HOPES
You’d have thought Lucas Neill giving away a penalty in the Socceroos’ Round of 16 clash against Italy at the 2006 World Cup would have served as a lesson why defenders don’t go to ground inside the box.
Unfortunately for Lewis Miller, he didn’t heed the warning.
The Hibernian defender replaced Nathaniel Atkinson in the 73rd minute, largely due to the latter struggling with an ankle injury sustained during the first half.
Sadly, it was a substitution that will be remembered by Socceroos fans for some time to come, but for all the wrong reasons.
With only a handful of minutes remaining in second half stoppage time and the Socceroos inching closer towards a semi final against Jordan, South Korean skipper Heung Min Son picked up the ball in the Aussies’ 18-yard box.
Son, who didn’t have much room to operate, nudged the ball ever so slightly from out of his feet as he tried to get to the byline.
Much like a shark sensing blood in the water, Miller tried to pounce on what he perceived as a slightly loose touch from Son.
But the Korean sensation snatched Miller right into his trap as the Aussie lunged at the ball, only to collect none of it and all of Son.
It gave the referee an easy decision to point to the spot, gifting Hwang Hee Chan a golden chance to equalise in the 96th minute and it was a chance he gratefully took as the match went into extra time.
Former Socceroos Alex Brosque and Luke Wilkshire didn’t hold back in their verdict of Miller’s foul.
“The penalty is just a brain explosion,” Brosque told Channel 10, while Wilkshire described the incident as “a brain fade to give away a needless penalty.”
Miller’s nightmare didn’t stop there.
On the stroke of half time in extra time, Miller clumsily fouled Hwang right on the edge of Australia’s 18-yard box, gifting Korea a set piece from a dangerous spot.
Son stepped up to take the free kick and delivered a beautifully-curled effort over the wall and past a sprawling Mat Ryan to score what proved to be the winner.
Miller cut a devastated figure after the game and slumped to the turf as his teammates went over to embrace him.
Speaking after the match, Arnold offered his full support to the crestfallen defender and reiterated it’s all a part of the learning experience in football.
“I put my arm around him and give him a hug and tell him that these things are lessons in life,” Arnold said in his post-match press conference.
“You learn from these type of things and move forward.”
‘HEARTBREAKING’ MISSES THAT PROVED COSTLY
It was Garang Kuol’s miss against Argentina that was the Socceroos’ ‘what if’ moment of the 2022 World Cup.
And we might come to look back on Mitchell Duke’s wayward header as the ‘what if’ moment of Australia’s 2023 Asian Cup campaign.
The Socceroos had broke forward on the counter attack as substitute winger Jordan Bos found himself with space inside the box.
Bos’ cross took a deflection off a Korean defender and flew into the air, producing the most inviting of crosses for Duke, unmarked at the back post, to steer home.
Unfortunately, Duke’s header flew agonisingly wide of an open goal.
Had Duke scored in the 84th minute, the Socceroos would have gone 2-0 up and preparations for a semi final clash against Jordan would have begun straight after the final whistle.
How costly that miss would prove to be.
Even prior to Duke’s miss, Martin Boyle had a golden chance to score.
A delightful cross from Craig Goodwin found Boyle unmarked at the back post, but the Hibernian flyer’s header went straight at Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-Woo.
The rebound fell kindly to Boyle but he was quickly foiled again by Hyeon-Woo.
The ball then landed for Duke who was just metres from goal, but he thrashed his volley well over the bar.
As Wilkshire noted, a failure to bury chances like these when they come along will almost always prove costly.
“When you don’t take these chances, you go, you just know they’re going to come back and bite you,” Wilkshire said.
“It’s heartbreaking, it really is.”
ARNIE’S GAME PLAN LAUDED AS SOCCEROOS DELIVER ‘BEST PERFORMANCE’ OF ASIAN CUP IN LOSS
In Australia’s first four games at the Asian Cup, they’d dominated possession but largely struggled to break down teams who essentially parked the bus.
But against South Korea, the Socceroos did not enjoy the lion’s share of possession.
However, as we’ve seen throughout Arnold’s tenure as Socceroos boss, it is in these types of games where the team thrives.
The Aussies started perhaps a little sluggishly, but grew into the game after 20 minutes and were a constant threat on the counter attack.
Led by Duke up front, the Socceroos pressed intelligently and knew when to drop back and get bodies behind the ball.
At the half time break, Brosque loved what he’d seen from the Socceroos without the ball.
“We are keeping everything in front of us, allowing them to move the ball,” Brosque said.
“Yes, the speed at which they move the ball, and their crisp passes, great to watch, but it is not troubling us at all.
“We are in a good block there … they have been a few times where it has been very close, but that back four has kept the perfect line. It has made all the difference.”
Channel 10 commentator Andy Harper also waxed lyrical about the pace at which the Aussies switched from defence to attack.
“Australia, their transition passes have been a high point,” Harper said.
Much like their Round of 16 fixture against Saudi Arabia, South Korea grew into the match and began to look the better team but the Aussies continued to valiantly defend.
The Taegeuk Warriors tried to go through, around and over the top of the Socceroos backline but each time, a man in green and gold thwarted the attack.
Eventually South Korea did find a way through thanks to Miller’s lapse in concentration, but up until that point, Arnold nailed the game plan.
He can’t score gilt-edged chances for the Socceroos, nor make defensive blunders that cost the team the win.
Speaking after the match, Wilkshire and Brosque had plenty of praise for Arnold’s tactical set-up.
“That is our best performance of the tournament,” Wilkshire said.
“The way it played out tactically, defending in transition, we were threatening.”
Brosque recognised the fact everyone clearly knew their tasks and stuck to it as a reason why the Aussies were so successful up until the late stages.
“It looked like everyone was in sync, they were in the same page in terms of being where they needed to be, covering the players they needed to cover,” Brosque said.
“The one chance they (South Korea) had on goal was a soft shot that Mathew Ryan picked up comfortably and that was it.
“They had nothing else, they were looking tired. So were we, but we were still doing enough to progress, it seemed.”
So it seemed, Brosquey.
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