SYDNEY, – Tony Popovic would not deny that his Australia team are tough to watch at times but the former centre half has done what he was brought in to do and taken them to the brink of qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
The Socceroos were distinctly second best to an understrength Japan in Perth on Thursday but Aziz Behich’s late winner means they only have to avoid a 5-0 loss to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on Tuesday to punch their ticket.
“It was a special, special night,” Popovic told reporters. “The outpouring of emotions when we scored, and obviously after the game, yeah, they are moments I’ll always remember.
“We’ve all played a part in getting us to this point, and we want to go to Saudi Arabia now and really finish the job off.”
Saudi Arabia was the site of Popovic’s greatest triumph as a club coach in 2014, when his Western Sydney Wanderers team drew 0-0 with powerhouse Al Hilal in Riyadh to become Asian champions in only the second year of the club’s existence.
It was partly that continental experience that encouraged Football Australia to bring Popovic in as coach last September when Graham Arnold quit with the World Cup qualification in trouble.
The football has not always been pretty but the Socceroos are unbeaten since he took over with four wins and three draws, having conceded just five goals and scored 14 in the seven games.
Popovic acknowledged there was plenty of room for improvement but said the seconds before Behich’s goal proved there was already a strong platform of resilience to build on.
“Although football wise, we need to get better, and we will get better, but in that moment, the 90th minute, we had six players in the box, six players trying to score a goal,” he said.
“We were tough, we kept a clean sheet, and we’ve done something that many Australian sides have found hard to do.”
Australia had not beaten Asian powerhouse Japan in 10 games going back to 2009 before Thursday night and Popovic said that achievement should not be underestimated.
“I understand why, now that I’m in this role, why it’s hard to beat Japan,” he said.
“They are the best, and we want to challenge them to be the best, so we shouldn’t shy away from that, and hopefully today, we take a big step forward knowing we can beat Japan.”
Despite the emotion of the last-gasp victory, Popovic said there was no danger of any complacency ahead of Tuesday’s clash at King Abdullah Sports City.
“It’s been a really intense period since I’ve come in but everyone’s embraced what we’re aiming to do. And we’re very close now to achieving our goal,” he said.
“We need to do a job in Saudi. We’re in a great position, but we have to finish it off.”
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Indian Super League club East Bengal FC on Thursday announced that three foreign players, Hector Yuste, Richard Celis, and Raphael Messi Bouli will be leaving the club ahead of the next season.
“The club would like to thank Hector Yuste, Richard Celis and Raphael Messi Bouli for their services. We wish them the best in their future endeavours,” the club said in a statement.
Messi Bouli joined the Red and Gold Brigade from Chinese League One club Shijiazhuang Gongfu on a free transfer in January and made eight appearances for the club, scoring three goals and assisting one in that period.
On the other hand, Venezuela forward Celis, who was also bought in the January window played nine games and failed to record a goal or assist.
Meanwhile, Yuste, who joined from arch rival Mohun Bagan Super ahead of last season, played 25 matches across all competitions and recorded two assists.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is in talks with its Afghanistan counterpart to organise a tri-series in August involving hosts UAE if the Asia Cup gets cancelled or postponed.
This edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be played in September and India has the hosting rights, but Pakistan will not travel to the neighbouring country as per the hybrid model accepted ahead of the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
Therefore, there is a non-clarity surrounding the event, prompting the PCB to initiate talks with the Afghanistan board.
“With the Asia Cup now unlikely to be held in India as originally planned in September due to the simmering relations between Pakistan and India, the PCB is working on another tri-series proposal,” a well-informed source in PCB said.
“The idea is that if the Asia Cup is moved to the UAE then Pakistan will play a tri-series with Afghanistan and the UAE in Dubai in August replacing the Afghanistan tour to Pakistan,” he explained.
He said the PCB has already been in talks with the two boards to organise the tri-series.
“If the Asia Cup is cancelled or postponed the PCB wants the Afghanistan and UAE teams to play the tri-series in Pakistan in August,” the source disclosed.
PCB Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi is the president of the Asian Cricket Council and the source said the ACC will meet soon to decide on the Asia Cup.
“The Indian cricket board is yet to confirm its willingness to host the Asia Cup at home. So, it remains to be seen when the ACC council meets and makes a call on the future of the Asia Cup which is to be held in the T20 format,” he added.
Nikitenko joins Abhijeet in lead at Delhi GM Open with win over Paichadze
Grandmaster Mihail Nikitenko beat Grandmaster Luka Paichadze to join Abhijeet Gupta in the lead with seven points at the end of the eighth round in the Delhi GM Open chess tournament at the Tivoli Gardens, Chhattarpur, on Thursday.
In an even battle, Nikitenko hooked a knight on the 55th move and Paichadze promptly resigned.
Overnight sole leader Abhijeet drew with Manuel Petrosyan to reach 6.5 points, with two more rounds to go in the Swiss League competition.
In the ninth round, Nikitenko will play black against Abhijeet. There were 12 players with 6.5 points and 16 players with six points, which could lead to a very lively climax. On the second board, Mamikon Gharibyan will play top seed SL Narayanan. Diptayan Ghosh will play Van Huy Nguyen.
The results (eighth round):
Manuel Petrosyan 6.5 drew with Abhijeet Gupta 7; SL Narayanan 6.5 drew with Neelash Saha 6.5; Mihail NIkitenko 7 bt Luka Paichadze 6; Aronyak Ghosh 6.5 drew with Vitaly Sivuk 6.5; Diptayan Ghosh 6.5 bt Boris Savchenko 6; Aditya Samant 6.5 bt Saravana Krishnan 5.5; Mamikon Gharibyan 6.5 bt Abhishek Kelkar 5.5; Mikulas Manik 6 drew with Adarsh Sriram 6; Viresh Sharnarthi 6.5 bt Hari Madhavan 5.5; Amit Agrawal 5.5 lost to Aleksej Aleksandrov 6.5; EU Ahaz 5.5 lost to Van Huy Nguyen 6.5; Semetei Tegin 6 drew with Arnav Agrawal 6; S Nitin 6.5 bt Soham Roy 5.5; Alok Sinha 5 lost to Karthik Venkataraman 6; Deepan Chakkravarthy 6 bt Harshit Sahu 5; Alekhya Mukhopadhyay 5 lost to Harsh Suresh 6.
