Faith in the side pays off
With only one change made to the starting 11 which succumbed to a 4-1 defeat against France on Wednesday (AEDT), upon full-back Fran Karacic replacing the injured Nathaniel Atkinson, Graham Arnold put full faith behind his squad selection and choice of formation against Tunisia despite the criticism he faced about the two from fans and pundits alike in their opening match.
After a patchy performance against Les Bleus across most areas of the park, the starting 11 immediately hit their stride with a more direct and aggressive approach against Tunisia, with the Aussies being rewarded for their early dominance in the match when oft-maligned striker Mitchell Duke found the end of a deflected Craig Goodwin cross in the 23rd minute - opening the scoring with a beautifully-weighted backwards header.
The side held firm defensively for the rest of the match while managing to still get opportunites on the attack, with standout performances from both wingers in Goodwin and Matthew Leckie, as well as defender Harry Souttar and captain Matt Ryan, while Aaron Mooy brought steel to midfield.
On the strength of the standout performances, the Aussies managed to hold Tunisia scoreless despite their 14 attempts on goal to Australia's eight, as well as the North African side spending more time in possession.
According to SBS World Cup analyst John Aloisi, the performances and eventual result served to quell doubt in the ability of Arnold's squad, having coming under intense scrutiny from some following their defeat to France.
“They would have been questioning themselves, are we good enough? But to go out and put on a performance like that, it was amazing,” he said.
“They started really well - they started on the front foot, they put them under pressure and they were brave with the ball and deserved the lead.”
“In the second half, yes we had to soak up the pressure. But it was a sensational performance from us today."
Socceroos legend and SBS World Cup commentator Harry Kewell seconded the thoughts of his former teammate.
"Fantastic performance from the Australian team, it was everything we wanted,” he told co-commentator David Basheer.
"We were direct, positive, aggressive, we won the second balls – we did everything we needed to do to win this game.
“And to put Tunisia, who, let’s not take anything away, are a fantastic team, we kind of nullified (them).”
Arnold gets it tactically 'right’
While Arnold’s tactical approach and perceived belated substitutions were two central points of criticism following their defeat to France on Wednesday, the Socceroos head coach struck a perfect balance between the timing of his substitutions and his approach to the Tunisia match, according to SBS' World Cup analysts.
Former Socceroo Craig Foster noted how the second-half substitutions of returning midfielder Ajdin Hrustic and Melbourne City striker Jamie Maclaren nearly paved the way for a second Australian goal, upon the latter making the cross to a sliding Leckie who was close to finding the net midway through the second half, while fellow analyst Mark Bosnich echoed Foster's sentiments in light of Arnold becoming the first Australian-born coach to win a World Cup match.
"Graham Arnold got it absolutely spot on," he said.
"It really puts us in a good position, depending on what the result is between France and Denmark."
"He got it absolutely right, said Foster.
"The first half was absolutely brilliant and hanging on in the second, but they threw everything at us.
"When he brought on Hrustic, I think it was the 63rd minute, was perfect. Jamie Maclaren almost got one across for Leckie as well, so the substitutions were spot on."
What 12-month absence?
After having played only one match in preparation for Qatar 2022, Stoke City defender Souttar was noted as one of the key contributors to Australia's victory in only his third senior game for club or country after enduring a year-long stint on the sidelines with an ACL injury.
With concerns over the player's recent knee reconstruction and subsequent lack of match of fitness ahead of the tournament, the 198-centimetre tall centre-back was responsible for shutting down many of Tunisia's attacks, which included a phenomenal sliding block to deny Mohamed Drager a goal-bound opportunity at the end of the first half.
He then pulled off a crucial tackle in the dying minutes of the match to deny Tunisia an open sight on goal.
SBS analyst Aloisi, who was critical of the Socceroos' defensive structure against France and identified Souttar's lack of game time in the tournament's lead-up as a factor, was full of praise for the defender this time around.
“I was questioning whether Harry Souttar could back up after 12 months of being out [and] only playing one game. Wow," he said during his post-match analysis.
“The recovery tackles that he made [were outstanding]."
Choose your hero
With many standout performances across the park for the Aussies, identifying the best player of the match would almost be a matter of personal preference.
That was exactly the case for the SBS analysts, who were quick to praise almost every player at the end of the match.
"The whole back four with Mat Ryan, [and] the midfield were very good today," Aloisi said.
“All 16 of them and the five subs that came on - absolute heroes,” Bosnich interjected.
"Everything was right today, Maty Ryan was fantastic, Behich was unbelievable, Souttar - those last ditch tackles in that last 10 minutes, that’s something very special. So, I think someone needs to call Albo and ask for a national holiday,” Foster joked at full-time.
Following his doubts expressed over Arnold's 26-man squad selected for the tournament, commentator Kewell added onto the analysts' praise of the players who took part in the historic win overnight.
“I’m so proud of them because this team has gone through some rough patches,” Kewell continued.
“It just goes to show that there’s quality here, but now we demand that because that’s the level we want to see and, if they do that, we’ve got a chance.
“You can see the unity in this team… there is something special happening here."
Next stop: Denmark
Following France's 2-1 win over Denmark in the other Group D match played out overnight, Australia's fate at Qatar 2022 now rests completely in their hands, as a victory over 10th-ranked Denmark will be enough to secure the Socceroos' place in the round of 16.
A draw in that match, however, will make things more complicated for Graham Arnold's side, as their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage will be dependent on the outcome of the match between France and Tunisia being played out simultaneously.
If the Tunisians manage to beat the reigning world champions in the outcome of an Australian draw, than the African nation will likely sneak ahead of the Aussies on goal difference.
However, regardless of the result of that match, the Australians taking on Denmark in the early hours of Thursday morning (AEDT) will not be one you want to miss.
How to watch Socceroos v Denmark LIVE and FREE on SBS
Thursday, December 1
Group D - Australia v Denmark
1:00am - 4:30am (AEDT) - kickoff at 02.00am
LIVE on SBS and SBS On Demand
