Australia has beaten Hungary 2-1 in Budapest in their last warm-up match before the World Cup begins.
The match was a mixed bag for the Socceroos at best, with all three goals coming from goalkeeping and defender mistakes. This friendly win for the green and gold followed on from a 4-0 victory over the Czech Republic in Vienna last week. So Australia will go into their World Cup opener against France on June 16 with two victories in a row, but questions remaining over their chances in Russia.
Compared to the resounding performance in Vienna, this was lackluster at best. The Socceroos struggled to fashion attacking opportunities, with Tom Rogic largely pedestrian. Coach Bert van Marwijk went with the same XI and formation that started against the Czechs. Captain Mile Jedinak and striker Tomi Juric were both on the bench again.
Chances came for the Socceroos in the first half to Mat Leckie and Robbie Kruse. But it was Hungary who enjoyed the better spell. In the 30th minute Mat Ryan made a low save to keep them out, while Laszlo Kleinheisler hit the crossbar with a long-range volley. Right before half-time Aaron Mooy dragged his free-kick wide and to the left. After a drab first 45 minutes, van Marwijk went to his bench. Jedinak, Juric and back-up keeper Brad Jones were introduced for Massimo Luongo, Andrew Nabbout and Ryan.
In the 64th minute Jackson Irvine replaced Rogic. Irvine made an immediate impact and forced a save from the opposition goalkeeper. Five minutes later Daniel Arzani came in on place of Kruse.
It took just two minutes for the exciting 19-year-old to make an impact. Arzani skipped past two defenders and curled a shot in, which keeper Denes Dibusz fumbled badly into the net, giving Australia a 1-0 lead. In just his second cap the Melbourne City has his first international goal after an impressive cameo.
In the 80th minute Tim Cahill was introduced for Juric. With two minutes left a bad mix-up at the back between Trent Sainsbury and Jones gifted Hungary an equalizer. It was a terribly poor goal to concede. But Hungary matched it in injury time, when Irvine’s cutback was clumsily knocked past Dibusz by Tamar Kadar for an own goal, ensuring the Socceroos notched the victory. The final error-filled finish summed up the whole 90 minutes – pretty ordinary.
van Marwijk admitted after the match admitted it was an average display by his team.
"It's to do with form a little bit,” he said.
“I think they were all tired. You could see that. We worked very hard the last three weeks. We gave them a rest in the last three days but, with this weather, you could see they were tired.
"I'm glad we have kept everybody fit in the training camp. I could not be satisfied about the first half but we didn't have a goal against us. The second half was much better.
"Juric has done really well in the last week of training and he deserved his chance. What he showed, that's why we took him. He's done really well. I'm 80-90 per cent sure of my starting line-up. Ryan will be in goal."
