Goodwin praises Socceroos patience in Bahrain win

Craig Goodwin praised the Subway Socceroos’ patience as they ground out a 2-0 win against Bahrain on Sunday. 

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It was the Socceroos' final chance to get it right in a match before they begin their AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 on Saturday.

Australia faced a disciplined defensive unit that looked to restrict chances and hit Graham Arnold’s team on the break.

The Socceroos managed to breach the Bahrain defence on two occasions with a couple of well-worked team moves, with Goodwin involved in both.

He said Australia can expect a similarly disciplined game plan from their opponents throughout the Asian Cup.

“It's about focusing on the next moment as the game comes. And that's something that we're going to encounter throughout this tournament as well,” Goodwin said. 

“There's going to be a lot of times, I think, especially in the group stage where we might dominate possession, and we need to be patient, and at times, you know, have to move the ball around a lot more and just be patient for those opportunities.”

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1743776963398127999

Goodwin played the killer ball for both of Australia’s goals and emphasised the importance of the attacking players creating combinations in the final third.

The winger delivered two fruit-bearing crosses in the match, both coming off the left-hand side, saying it resulted from this good combo play he is seeking.

“I think it's something that we've started to work on,” he said. 

“That combination football in the final third, and obviously coming into this Asian Cup, we're going to have a lot more of the ball. So we need to be very good in those areas. Be patient and be decisive.

Hopefully, we can build on that and play some really good football coming into this group stage.

Goodwin also commented on the heated nature of the match at times, with both teams treating the match as a competitive test.

He said the team aims to reach a high level of competitiveness in every match.

“That's something we spoke about - although it's a friendly that there are no friendly games when you put on the jersey,” he said. 

“We want to go in with the attitude that we want to have during the Asian Cup, and we want to win every game and we spoke before the game that we have to be ruthless in every moment.

We're going to take that passion into the games into the Asian Cup the same way we had it at the World Cup.

The Socceroos start their Asian Cup campaign against India on Saturday, seeking an early three points to get their group stage off to the best possible start.

Goodwin said the team are excited to compete for silverware again finally.

“Everyone's really excited for the Asian Cup and the opportunity to represent our nation at a major tournament,” he said. 

“So we just have to be patient over the next few days before we get going.”