Socceroos 1-2 Greece: international football friendly – as it happened

That’s just Greece’s third win in 16 games, I believe, so they’ll be delighted. It also puts into perspective (in a bad way) Australia’s performance this past week.

The doomsayers will be out, no doubt, but it may be foolish to read too much into a couple of ‘off-season’ friendlies. The sky isn’t falling.

That’s me out. Thanks for joining me. Cheerio.

A few words from Ange Postecoglou who joins the cadre of trench coats that is the Fox Sports team:

“They got the jump on us and we didn’t react well, particularly in the first half. We got sucked into playing their game a little bit and got frustrated , giving away silly fouls and jumping in. We lost our composure. Then we were chasing the game.”

Postecoglou then defends Federici, saying the high line his keeper was playing was “my responsibility, not his... we’ve been playing that high line for a while and every now and then you’ll get done on it.”

It’s been a good run for Australia since Ange Postecoglou took over. Even their losses have had a silver lining that hasn’t been hard to find.

But a good spade will be needed to uncover any upside to this one. Australia were awful and allowed themselves to be thrown off their game by Greece who rushed them into error over and over again. That’s just the second loss Australia have suffered on home soil in 34 matches since 2009.

90 min + 4: A few hopeful punts from the back don’t end up with a Socceroos shot on goal, oddly enough.

And just before the final whistle someone in blue attempts to catch Federici off his line one last time. Not far off, either.

90 min + 2: Sainsbury wins a one-on-one challenge in the box as Stafylidis, I think, tried to cut back on to his right boot for a shot.

90 min: There will be four minutes of stoppage time. The crowd has been announced: 33,622.

89 min: Corner Greece. Samaris can’t reach it, Rogic clears, and as Giannou scampers away Samaris bear hugs him. As the whistle is blown Samaris kisses Giannou on the head.

86 min: Rogic earns a yellow he should have got in the first half. He’s been cutting a frustrated figure and here he goes into a challenge with something more like a stamp.

83 min: Nick Mangafas writes in from Austria to gently let me know that that “Greece line-up” I posted way way back was actually the Australian line-up (written in Greek).

Ah, you play with fire you get burnt.

Just five minutes left. Australia don’t look like drawing level. Greece don’t look bothered getting a third.

81 min: It’s incredible how Cahill can get his head to anything. I reckon I could go outside my house now, boot a ball in any random direction and Cahill would appear as if out of a trapdoor to head it.

This is a roundabout way of saying that Ikonomidis’ cut back and cross is headed by Cahill despite him being boxed in by two defenders. It doesn’t trouble the keeper but he had no right to get to that.

80 min: Now Kruse is off. Nathan Burns is on. Can he find an equaliser that Australia scarcely deserve?

I’ll say it again, the intensity has really gone out of this game.

78 min: Kruse strokes a through-ball into the box for someone to run onto. Someone doesn’t run onto it, however. Someone wasn’t anywhere near doing so. A case of crossed wires, I’d say.

Vellios can now get those divots in his leg looked at. He’s off, replaced by a hulking lump called Papzoglou. He looks like a soldier in ‘300’.

76 min: Vellios slides down his sock to reveal some puncture wounds as Leckie departs now, replaced by Chris Ikonomidis.

74 min: From the left wing, Stafylidis launches a lovely ball that clears every player on the field but Mantalos on the right wing. It drops at his feet like a gift from the Gods but he wastes it with a lead-footed cross straight to a gold shirt.

73 min: Samaris shakes off two gold jerseys with a nice 360 turn on the edge of the centre circle.

71 min: The Socceroos pass it around the back before Bailey Wright’s through-ball to Smith is intercepted.

Australia make a third change: Mooy off, Giannou on.

68 min: Now it’s Maniatis’ turn for an early shower. He’s been strong tonight, even without that amazing 60m goal. He’s replaced by Tziolis.

66 min: A couple of subs made by Postecoglou: Gersbach and McGowan off, Brad Smith and Milos Degenek on.

65 min: Australia might have equalised there! Mooy’s freekick curls into the box and Cahill meets it with a strong header but it’s always slanting wide.

63 min: Yellow to Maniatis for dissent, complaining about a free kick awarded to Australia.

Cholebas is off, Christodoulopoulos is on. That’s an easy name for a live blogger to get his fingers around.

60 min: Greece set up a free-kick that Samaris almost sneaks inside the right upright from 40 yards! Federici looked beaten then.

The goal? It started with a Mooy corner from the right which Cahill again headed towards goal. Milligan met it en route but his header hit the cross bar and bounced out to Sainsbury. From a few yards out he couldn’t miss with his header. Well, he could have, but didn’t!

56 min: Greece rattle the post! Bakasetas sends in a corner from the left and it falls just inside the area where Torosidis leans into it like a downhill skier, his first time left-foot volley sending the ball slamming into the right hand post. So close to 3-0!

55 min: The Socceroos are getting slated on Twitter. It’s been a dream run, really, for Ange’s side, but is the long honeymoon over?

53 min: Aussie subs warming up en masse on the sideline. No changes to either team during the break, by the way.

So far things seem far more sedate, as if something was slipped into the halftime oranges.

51 min: Australia win a corner which Mooy takes from the right. It’s another high, pillowy cross which comes down almost on top of Cahill’s head. Cahill at least gets it goalward where Sainsbury meets it, his attempt to flick into the net with the outside of his boot not too far away.

48 min: News from the dressing sheds: Ange wasn’t happy with what he saw in that first half. You heard it here first, folks.

47 min: Greece break free in midfield after Bakasetas holds off Rogic and slides a ball to the right for Vellios to run down. His cross isn’t a good one.

Mark Bosnich, wearing a black trench coat, has opened up. No, nt opened up the trench coat! It’s not even 930pm!

No, after praising Greece he says the Socceroos have been “pathetic”, adding it’s the worst performance he’s seen under Postecoglou’s reign. He also adds that some of the challenges the Australians have made have been “unacceptable”.

As Omar would say, “True dat”. Some of Greece’s challenges have been no oil painting either, mind. Some friendly, this one.

As the two teams take a breather, and as I pop the kettle on, why not settle back and enjoy this timely look back on Greece doing a Leicester before Leicester at the 2004 European Championships. Incredible. And to think, Denmark did a Greece before Greece did a Leicester back in 1992! But that’s a video for another day:

44 min: Gersbach lucky to be on the field. Mantalos was scooting down field and the young Australian jumped on the slip-and-slide and clattered into him, nowhere near the ball. He hit Mantalos around the knees. Yellow for Gersbach. No arguments from him or anyone I’d say.

41 min: Sayings McSayings on Twitter says “leave Viduka alone Easily our best ever We all know his role was keep 5 opposition players busy then setup Kewell Skoko Emo etc”

Wasn’t knocking, Viduka, SMcS. Didn’t I say I’d love to see him in this team?

39: Kruse knocks in a cross that resembles someone kicking the ball away in anger. Then, a smart interchange between Cahill and Rogic frees up Mooy whose snap shot from distance is snaffled up without too much difficulty by Kapino.

38 min: Australia get a shot away! Rogic steals the ball off Maniatis 40 yards out, skips onto his left foot and attempts to curl the ball inside the far post. He hits it fairly well but it didn’t curl enough.

As Maniatis is treated, injuring himself in that meeting with Rogic, we get a different angle on that second goal. Perhaps Federici was at fault after all. He was standing outside the D.

35 min: Rogic’s in the referee’s sights now after a poor tackle on the right flank.

34 min: Rogic is all but lopped down by Papastathopoulos. A wood chopper at the Easter Show would have been proud of that. He gets a yellow card.

Mooy hits the freekick into the wall. His deadball delivery hasn’t been great tonight. And as I speak Mooy’s corner (following the deflection off the wall) doesn’t clear the first man.

32 min: Another corner to Australia but Kruse should have gone himself there from the edge of the area rather than look for Cahill who was surrounded by blue shirts. Like a hippie at a Liberal Party tea party.

The corner comes to naught.

30 min: Corner to Australia but Mooy’s delivery isn’t great. He gets another crack at it though when it comes back to him, but it’s another poor cross, high and looping. An up and under. Leckie gets a head near it but Greece boot it to safety.

29 min: Cahill does well in traffic to find Mooy whose early ball in behind gives Kruse something to chase. He’s looking a chance until Greece’s keeper, Kapino, races out to clear.

27 min: Leckie brings down Cholebas on the left —scything his legs out from under him— and gets a deserved yellow.

That second goal: you could blame Federici, yes, but who expects a shot from 60m out? Better to praise the vision and execution of the scorer.