By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia coach Tony Popovic has forecast changes for a daunting World Cup qualifying assignment against Japan after starting his tenure with an encouraging win over China.
Following a shock 1-0 home loss to Bahrain and a 0-0 draw away to Indonesia, the Socceroos revived their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 showpiece with a 3-1 win over struggling China at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Australia now sit second in Asia’s Group C behind Japan, who beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jeddah and have scored 14 goals in three successive wins in the phase.
Australia travel to Saitama Stadium for Tuesday’s clash, having never beaten the Blue Samurai in Japan or anywhere in 15 years.
“It’s a beautiful challenge, I can’t wait. I hope the players are really excited for it,” Popovic told reporters.
“We’ll see who can back up. Some of the players I don’t think have the level quite yet to play the level we require twice in four days.
“Once we get that right, I think you’ll see the players and how they performed (against China), they can back that up.”
Having replaced Graham Arnold after the long-serving coach quit following the Indonesia qualifier, Popovic unveiled a new-look team with regular goalkeeper and skipper Mat Ryan replaced by Joe Gauci and midfielder Jackson Irvine wearing the captain’s armband.
After slack defending helped China take a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute, the Socceroos roared to victory with goals to Lewis Miller, Craig Goodwin and debutant Nishan Velupillay.
Popovic played with three defenders at the back in a break from Arnold’s conventional, four-man setup but said he was not fixed on the formation, only that it was the right one for China.
Though Japan might have made the Socceroos pay more dearly for their defensive wobbles, Popovic’s first game in charge generated favourable reviews from fans and media.
His selections and substitutions paid off handsomely, with Miller scoring in his first game for the Socceroos since his horror match against South Korea in the Asian Cup quarter-finals.
Velupillay was a surprise pick in Popovic’s first Socceroos squad but repaid his former coach at Melbourne Victory by sealing the match with a crisp finish in injury-time after coming off the bench.
“When the game started everything felt right, and I felt at ease with the group, with the staff,” said Popovic.
“Even at 1-0 down I thought we were in total control of the game.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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