As the rest of Australia celebrated the 20-year anniversary of John Aloisi’s famous penalty kick against Uruguay over the weekend, the Socceroos refused to look back. But they did go backwards, ever so slightly.
Coach Tony Popovic did not sit his players through a communal re-watch in camp, nor did he ask them to channel the spirit of November 16, 2005, when they took the field against Venezuela in Houston, Texas.
Nestory Irankunda and the Socceroos had a dirty day against Venezuela.Credit: AP
Instead, he watched them produce the worst performance of his year-long tenure as Socceroos coach: a disjointed 1–0 defeat that extended a different South American hoodoo.
“It was a good lesson for us,” Popovic said, chalking it up largely to the inexperience in the experimental starting XI.
“Probably from the 15th minute onwards to the last 15, there wasn’t much good from us, with and without the ball.”
Australia has recorded nine wins from 49 matches against South American opposition. And two of them – friendly victories against Paraguay (2010) and Ecuador (2023) – have come in the 20 years since that night against Uruguay.
On Wednesday (12pm AEDT), an even bigger test awaits: Colombia, ranked No.13 in the world. They are another team Australia has never beaten from South America’s stacked 10-team confederation.
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