- Australia suffered an unexpected defeat against Bahrain
- Now he will travel to Indonesia for an important match.
- Skipper says a big change will be needed
Socceroos captain Mat Ryan said his “naive” side need to work “smarter” rather than “harder” against Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday night after a shock 1-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat to Bahrain at Robina Stadium.
Reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute on Thursday night when striker Kusini Yengi was sent off, the Socceroos suffered an even more crushing blow in the closing stages when Harry Souttar’s own goal secured the Bahrainis three points on the road to the 2026 World Cup.
“Defensively, the goal we conceded after the red card wasn’t good enough, but those things happen if you do the other things well enough and put yourself in that situation,” goalkeeper Ryan said.
‘We were too naive in the way we played the game.
“I don’t think it’s a case of working harder, but working smarter. We didn’t ask the right questions in the right areas, we gave the goalkeeper a fairly quiet night and we didn’t test him or test the defence enough in the final third of the pitch.”
‘When you face this type of opposition, if you don’t score the first goal and they stay compact, they have strengths and are difficult to beat.
“Now we have to show personality and character to respond in the most forceful way possible. Now it’s up to us.”
Awer Mabil and captain Mat Ryan exchange words on the pitch during the disastrous FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bahrain
Nestory Irankunda and Joe Gauci react after shock defeat to Bahrain on Gold Coast
Australia will need to bounce back quickly from their defeat to Bahrain with a crucial game against Indonesia ahead.
As well as a frustrating night in attack, the Socceroos also let the Bahrainis’ attempts to capitalise on free-kicks with theatrical reactions to tackles get the better of them.
“We’ve talked many times about the challenges that this opposition brings to us,” Ryan said.
‘If you don’t get that early goal, then time-wasting, so-called acting, going to ground comes into play and then the referee is put in a position where he needs to determine whether it’s a dive or whether it’s a legitimate foul.
“We have to approach these situations better and with more maturity as a team. We have to avoid putting ourselves in a situation where that becomes a factor.”
Socceroos manager Graham Arnold was quick to give “full credit” to Bahrain despite his frustration with the visitors’ “performance”.
“That was the fewest minutes of football I’ve ever seen, 46 minutes in total the ball was in the park and played, but overall we just have to recover quickly,” Arnold said.
‘We have a quick return to Indonesia and we need to make sure we learn from it and move forward.
“We’ve got nine games left (in Group C). We’ve got to get through this quickly, bounce back quickly and show that good Australian DNA of being between a rock and a hard place, and that’s it.”
