Analysis: debutants Petratos, Susnjar the positives after Oslo loss

Result aside, Dimi Petratos and Aleksandar Susnjar had assured debuts on Saturday morning.

It was encouraging to see two starting XI debutants given a chance in Bert van Marwijk’s first game in charge.

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Alexandar Susnjar was also handed his debut seeing almost a full half of football on the left side of defence after he replaced Bailey Wright early in the second half.

What a moment for Dimi Petratos and Andrew Nabbout. What a moment for Newcastle Jets and the Hyundai A-League.

Dimitri Petratos chasing down his Norwegian opponent.
Dimitri Petratos chasing down his Norwegian opponent.

And the pair didn’t look out of place on the international stage in Oslo.

Petratos, who has been one of the most consistent players in the Hyundai A-League in 2017/18 played 74 minutes and showed some good signs.

While Andrew Nabbout, recently signed by Japanese giants Urawa Reds, was replaced by Swiss-based striker Tomi Juric just after the hour mark.

“It was an awesome feeling,” Petratos told Fox Sports after the match.

“I was happy to be out there with Andrew. We worked very hard to get here so we’re pretty happy.

“It’s been a great feeling [being in camp], learning different things here and trying to improve my game.”

And they will only continue to get better the more time they spend in camp with some of the more established Caltex Socceroos stars.

The focus will quickly switch to Wednesday morning's [AEDT] clash against Colombia, who pulled off a big friendly win over France on Saturday, one of Australia's Group C opponents in Russia.