Less than four minutes into what would eventually become a 7-0 thumping against Australia, Bangladesh found themselves defending a free kick perfectly swung into their penalty area by Craig Goodwin. It didn’t seem fair really, because sure enough, the gigantic frame of Harry Souttar was rising, unchallenged, to meet it and drive home the opening goal of the game and the Socceroos’ road to the 2026 Fifa World Cup in North America.
It was the ninth goal for the Scottish-born centre back in his adopted green and gold, the seventh of which has come in the second phase of AFC World Cup qualification. Indeed, the 2-metre tall defender represents something of a microcosm of his side more broadly at this stage of qualification: they are bigger, more resourced and just better than their opponents. Winning handily is not just an expectation, but a fair and realistic one.
