The Socceroos, Australia’s national football team, have continued their recent good run of form with a 2-all draw against reigning World Champions, Germany in Kaiserslautern.
The result has been lauded in the various media outlets, including Sydney Morning Heralds’ Michael Lynch, who praised the spirit of the team.
Having played each other five years ago at 2010 FIFA World Cup, where the Socceroos lost 4-0, this was a vast improvement.
The teams’ first game since their Asian Cup triumph on home soil, it is a boost for the confidence of head coach Ange Postecoglou and the side ahead of their second friendly against FYR Macedonia on Tuesday morning (AEDT).
With both teams fielding relatively strong outfits, including Germany who named Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, it was the home team in the 17th minute who took the lead. Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak gave away the ball cheaply to fellow captain Semi Khedira, he pushed the ball onto Marco Reus who beat the offside trap to poke the ball home.
Both teams had their chances in the first half but Australia was the next team on the scoresheet. An excellent cross from winger Nathan Burns found the on-rushing James Troisi who headed home. This was particularly sweet for him as in the build-up to the game, as reported by goal.com, he was criticised by former head coach, Holger Osieck, for being good enough to start for the Socceroos.
Surprisingly for the home side, who are ranked number one in the FIFA rankings, went behind in the 50th minute. A foul on Troisi on the edge of the box allowed Jedinak to step up and curl the ball over the wall and into the top right corner.
But, despite the visitors dominating for most of the game, the Germans showed their class when they equalised through Lukas Podolski. A neat movement in the play leading up saw an inviting ball go across the six yard box which the Arsenal man cooly latched onto for a 2-all draw.
After the game Troisi was diplomatic over the comments made about him, as seen through the report by ABC.
With stars from the Asian Cup, Massimo Luongo and Trent Sainsbury, expected to return for the game against Macedonia, the push towards the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia remains on track. For an in-depth look at the game and all the big issues, head over to Fox Sports.