Just 22 days ago, on the day he was announced as the new coach of the Socceroos, Tony Popovic made something very clear. Above all else: “It’s always okay to win ugly.” And while he may not have taken three points on Tuesday evening in Saitama, the 1-1 draw that Australia’s men secured against Japan, breaking what had been a perfect run of nine games, nine wins, and no goals conceded by the Samurai Blue to that point in World Cup qualifying, certainly felt like one. And having secured it without putting a single shot on target, it was this willingness to embrace the ugly made manifest. A smash-and-grab in Saitama.
“It wasn’t pretty,” said Mitch Duke, who produced Australia’s only effort of the game on target with a wayward 12th-minute header. “And we knew we had to just bunker in and do the defensive and dirty work and really match it physically.”
