Match Preview: Syria vs Australia | AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™

Kristian Bullock \\ Insights: Jack George 1705481917,1705536411

The Subway Socceroos will line up for their second group stage match of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ on Thursday night (10:30pm AEDT) against Syria at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

Australia's Asian Cup campaign started with a comfortable 2-0 victory against a stoic and resolute India outfit, with second-half goals from Jackson Irvine and Jordy Bos helping secure all three points for Graham Arnold's men.

An uneventful first-half made way for a very successful second, with an uncharacteristic mistake in the 50th minute from Indian goalkeeper Sandhu gifting a 10th international goal to Jackson Irvine, while a break from two substitutes helped close out the game, with Jordan Bos on the end of a Riley McGree low cross, with the former having been introduced just seconds earlier.

The clash also saw a number players feature in their first ever match a major international tournament. Three Australians made their starting debut, with Martin Boyle, Connor Metcalfe and Gethin Jones lining up for Graham Arnold's first XI, while Aiden O'Neill, Jordan Bos, and Bruno Fornaroli appeared off the substitutes bench.

Attention now turns to a familiar foe in Syria, which may be perplexing considering the fact that the two sides have only met on three occasions previously. However, in all three instances, a lot has been on the line, with Thursday's clash being no different.

The last encounter came during the 2019 Asian Cup group stage, with victory needed to secure knockout progression for both sides. A back-and-forth contest eventually spun in the Aussies' favour, thanks to a long range strike by Tom Rogic, to win the game in injury-time, leaving the scores at 3-2, despite the efforts of Syria's star striker Omar Al-Somah.

READ MORE: Our History vs Syria

It was Al-Somah that again proved a handful for the green and gold during their first encounter in 2017, scoring twice throughout a two-legged FIFA World Cup qualification play-off. However, the tie belonged to Tim Cahill, who produced two magnificent headed goals in Sydney, to send Australia through to an eventual fifth World Cup appearance.

Seven years on, and both sides have had to readjust their squads. Syria will be without talismanic forward Al-Somah for this Asian Cup, with promising talent Omar Khribin stepping into the hole left up-front. Their most recent result, a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan shows they can remain incredibly disciplined against strong opposition.

Australia meanwhile, have shown both in this Asian Cup and in the World Cup just a year earlier, that they can remain patient in possession and use their fitness and lethal weapons off the bench, to overpower teams later in matches.

A victory for the Subway Socceroos would secure a spot in the Round of 16, however, Graham Arnold and his side will not be satisfied with simply qualifying, but will be looking to top their group outright.

The short turn around may force the manager into making changes from the XI that took the field against India. Bos, McGree, and Fornaroli's impressive displays off the bench may well help their cause for more game-time, while a number of others await their first minutes at the tournament.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1747544286584017055

Current FIFA Rankings

Australia: 25 (7 Places higher than 2019 Asian Cup)

Syria: 91

Head-to-Head vs Syria

Played: 3
Wins: 2
Draws: 1
Losses: 0

Insights

The Socceroos have won all five of their last five matches, scoring 14 goals and conceding none in the process
Syria has won one of their last five matches, in a 1-0 game against North Korea, but have lost just won against Japan, earning three draws in the process
Against India, the Socceroos let just one pass into their box, with only three attempted
The Socceroos also registered 426 passes in India’s attacking half, compared to India’s 37 in Australia’s half
In his last five matches, Jordan Bos has attempted 25 dribbles, completing 16 of them - a success rate of 64% and an average of 4.94 completed per 90
In their last ten matches, Australia has conceded just eight goals - all of which came against teams who were ranked 32nd or above in FIFA rankings, with an average FIFA ranking of 12.75. In the other five games, Australia has kept clean sheets

What They Said

Graham Arnold on facing Syria and improvements needed

"We're excited to obviously to get back on the field and play against Syria... I think we did very well against India, but probably just the last pass, the last finish.

"I think our set pieces were not great against India, we had a lot of corners and that is probably one of our strengths and we just need to improve on those little things.

Arnold on the India performance

"I have to give full credit to India. I thought that there was probably a little bit too much excitement (from us) first half for the competition to start, but after we got to halftime and showed them some good clips about what they were doing well, second half we did very well. But I can honestly say that we've got to improve a lot more than that."

"We're here to win the Asian Cup and to reach the stars, you have to have high expectations and put those expectations on the boys and get them to believe in what we can do."

Arnold on the impact of Jordan Bos

“You always have to look forward and bring younger players through and Jordy Bos is doing well in Belgium. He can obviously play left fullback and left wing so he brings a lot to the team."

“I believe in Australian youth and I really do think we've got some good quality players coming through and it's a great experience for them to be here with some senior players at this Asian Cup.”

Aziz Behich wary of Syria's strengths

"We know Syria is a good squad, we've analysed them over the last couple of days. We're expecting a physical game but the most important thing is focussing on what we can do better from our previous game against India.

"It's full focus on ourselves and we know what we need to improve on."

Harry Souttar

"Obviously the main goal is to get through the group stages first and foremost. We know there's no kind of easy games and we're playing against teams are sitting a little bit deeper and we've got to use more of the ball, than kind of some of the teams that we've faced previously. But it's just about that confidence that we've got, as a team.

"Just just train every day and try to get better to work, you know, better situations and angles against teams that sit in the low block. Obviously, we've kind of done it previously, before.

You know, it's kind of worked for us in some stages. And, but we know how hard it is to play, you know, when you're when you're facing that kind of onslaught of attack all the time"

Harry Souttar: I absolutely love this team | Press Conference | Syria v Australia

Assistant Coach Rene Meulensteen

“We knew it was going to be hard, but very pleased with the application of the boys. Very, very happy with the focus and the patience that they kept throughout the game. That's what it's all about, take every game at a time and we will grow in the tournament for sure. We are still constantly a growing team; you can see that by the makeup of the squad."

“You learn a lot from those games, when you review them, you can highlight a few things that we think we need to improve on and it's always about adding other things,” he said. Our game is based on two things, mainly – energy and intensity, so we don't want to lose that but also we want to add that quality on the ball and that unpredictability in forward play so whenever we face those opponents, we still have the qualities to break them down.”

“I watched the game yesterday, Syria were well set up and made it very difficult for Uzbekistan to break them down, and they will do the same against us. We need to come up with the right selection of players, the right game plan again, utilise possession well to create those overloads and pockets to create chances to score goals."

Keanu Baccus

"We have all the games on, and we are keeping an eye, but we are just worrying about ourselves, that’s the most important thing. We realise the competition is quite tough and every game is a tough game. But the most important thing is we focus on ourselves.”

“We quickly reviewed the India game after it was done and then moved on to the next game and we're getting ready for that game. We know it will be quite similar, so we will see how we set up in training, I don't want to give too much away, but we'll just make sure that we're ready for that game as much as possible.”

“I am trying to move forward in my own style and make that position something I can do my own way. I don't want to think about the future too much, I just want to enjoy the moment, because if you get away from that, added pressure is not great for you as a footballer.”

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

Australia 2-0 India
(Jackson Irvine 50', Jordan Bos 73')
Saturday, 13 January 2024
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan
Kick-off: 2:30pm local (10:30pm AEDT)
Broadcast: Network 10 and Paramount+

Syria v Australia
Thursday, 18 January 2024
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Kick-off: 2:30pm local (10:30pm AEDT)
Broadcast: Network 10 and Paramount+

Australia v Uzbekistan
Tuesday, 23 January 2024
Al Janoub Stadium, Doha
Kick-off: 2:30pm local (10:30pm AEDT)
Broadcast: Network 10 and Paramount+