Australia NewsVerbeek: We Rode Our Luck |
PIM Verbeek admitted Australia rode their luck and were lucky to escape with a 1-0 win over Iraq in Sunday's World Cup qualifier.
The Socceroos took the win thanks to a 47th minute header from Harry Kewell, but Iraq missed three or four clear chances during the game and Verbeek said afterwards he had breathed a sigh of relief.
"Four games and no goal against, but today it was not what we deserved. I think everybody understands that I am very happy with the three points, but we started quite nervous," the Dutchman said.
"We were very lucky at the start when the ball hit the underside of the bar. I think that's the story of the whole game, we gave too many chances away. We were lucky in that situation, we didn't use the free players, we didn't use our qualities. Overall I'm sure we can play much better."
Kewell agreed with Verbeek's assessment of the performance, saying poor finishing and poor passing had made the Socceroos task a lot harder than it needed to be.
"They had chances, we had chances but it just didn't fall for us today. We worked hard and we just didn't take our chances like we'd have liked," he said.
Verbeek did praise his player's commitment throughout the 90 minutes. He said that while they weren't at their best, their determination to first score the goal and then hang on to the lead, won them the match.
"What I can say about my players is that they never give up and that's not also appreciated. They are fantastic players and they play for 50,000 fantastic fans, which were the extra man today. But we should not forget that the Iraqis did a very good job against us. They made it very difficult. I am happy with the three points, but not the performance."
Verbeek said he would assess the performance properly via a replay, but felt that the personnel were right, but the organisation, especially in defence, was lacking.
"It was not individual it as organisational. I want to watch it back, but that's our problem. We never won the second ball. We lost the second ball, too many times," he said.
Mark Schwarzer made several crucial saves for Australia, and Verbeek was full of praise for his keeper. But both men realise that in terms of defensive structure, there is plenty to work on.
"I speak about organisational mistakes, we have to work on that. I think Mark, that's why he's the goalkeeper, I said thanks to him and he said 'yeah, but that's my job'. He's a good professional but he did a great job, he was always there. Great performance from Mark again," he said.
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