Australia travelled to face Palestine insisting that their focus would be on football, on securing two wins from two at the start of their long journey through World Cup qualifying ahead of a shift in focus to next January’s Asian Cup. And thanks to Harry Souttar’s first-half header in Kuwait, the lone goal in a 1-0 win, they delivered on that intention, even if their performance beyond the head of their defensive behemoth left something to be desired.
Particularly in an attacking sense, this was probably the least convincing performance from the Socceroos since their 4-1 defeat against France in the opening game of last year’s World Cup; one doubtful to have met the increased standards that coach Graham Arnold has said the players have imposed upon themselves following the elevation of their game since.
