Irvine’s ‘huge honour’ to reach double digits for the Socceroos

Socceroos midfielder Jackson Irvine reflected on scoring his tenth goal for his nation and securing three points to open the Asian Cup campaign.

Goals from Irvine and Jordan Bos made the difference in a 2-0 win over India, although it took some time for Graham Arnold’s side to break down a resolute defensive outfit.

Irvine broke the deadlock with a goal in the 50th minute, capitalising on a goalkeeping error.

The strike takes his tally to double digits for the national team, which is something Irvine said he was extremely proud of.

“It's a huge honour every time,” Irvine said.

“It's also my first goal at a tournament as well so I’m absolutely delighted.

“It was a patient performance from the boys today, we had to wear them down. They came out in a very deep block, it's tough to break it down so you have to get that first goal.

“By the end, we could have probably made a four or five but pleased to get off with three points.”

The St Pauli skipper put in another impressive display for the national team as he was also not afraid to shoot at goal, finishing with the most shots (five) out of all the Australians.

Irvine paid homage to the side's mentality to find enough to win in a tough environment.

“Of course, there are things we can look at and improve on but I’m very pleased with the mentality side of things to stay patient and find the right solutions,” Irvine said.

“India fought really hard in the first half. They defended desperately by throwing their bodies on the line in front of the box and credit to them they stayed in the game for a long time.

“It was challenging, but mentally we handled it really well.”

While Australia came away with the three points, it was India's fans who made the majority of the noise among the crowd of 36,253.

Irvine said that he enjoyed the experience but also gave credit to the Australian fans who were in attendance.

“The crowd was excellent,” he said.

“Whenever you play in competitive national team games, you want to play in front of good energy and a good atmosphere. We thrive in these settings.

“The Indian fans brought that today but so did our fans as well. There's a lot of Aussies kicking around today as well.” 

SUBWAY SOCCEROOS AFC ASIAN CUP QATAR 2023™ FIXTURES (GROUP B):

Every AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 match will be live on Paramount+