Socceroos beat Canada 3-0 at Craven Cottage in London to begin the post-Holger Osieck era
THE Socceroos let out some frustration on lowly Canada, returning to winning ways with a 3-0 victory in London this morning.
The post-Holger Osieck era began in positive fashion as Australia rebounded from horror 6-0 defeats to Brazil and France with an encouraging showing at Craven Cottage.
While the performance under caretaker coach Aurelio Vidmar wasn't totally convincing, especially in the first half, there were plenty of encouraging signs for the yet-be-decided new national coach.
Josh Kennedy needed less than 30 seconds to open the scoring but Australia didn't really put their foot down against their 106th-ranked opponents until the second half, with Dario Vidosic and Mathew Leckie getting on the scoresheet.
Australia will name a new head coach in the coming weeks after Osieck was sacked immediately after the disastrous loss to France in Paris on Friday.
And the successful candidate, likely to come from the A-League, will have some encouraging things to build on based on Tuesday's performance.
Along with promising striker Leckie opening his international goal scoring account, youngster Jason Davidson also had an encouraging first start while 25-year-old defender Rhys Williams was one of Australia's best at right back.
Lucas Neill had a solid match amid calls for him to step down, though Australia's defence was only tested in patches.
Neill equalled Peter Wilson's record of 60 matches as Socceroos captain. Vidmar made three changes to the side that fell in Paris, with Davidson named alongside Neill in central defence and James Holland pushed into central midfield.
Neill had come under heavy fire for his pre-match criticism in which he appeared to blame Australia's younger players for the team's consecutive 6-0 losses to Brazil and France.
Australia's Dario Vidosic, lower right, celebrates his goal against Canada with teammates during their international friendly soccer match at Craven Cottage.
"I'm not going to regret asking the team to show passion, to show spirit, that's what Australia is all about in any sport we play in," said Neill, who was booed by small sections of the 3,741-strong crowd on a cold London night.
"That's the way (Vidmar) has been talking to get a reaction and that's what we showed tonight. We were deliberate in what we said. We needed to see some spirit and we got it tonight.
"I can't stop other people saying what they want to say."
Josh Kennedy of Australia scores the opening goal during the International Friendly between Canada and Australia at Craven Cottage.
Neill reiterated his desire to continue leading his country when the new coach is appointed and said he shouldn't be singled out.
"When the team loses you can't pin the blame on just Lucas Neill," said Neill.
"And when the team wins Lucas Neill doesn't take the credit. This is a team game, we win together, we lose together."
The Socceroos celebrate after Dario Vidosic scored against Canada at Craven Cottage.
Kennedy and Vidosic also returned as big guns Tim Cahill and Robbie Kruse were left on the bench.
Having not scored a goal in more than three hours of football, Australia were looking for an early strike to relieve the pressure.
Kennedy provided it before most of the fans had found their seats when he finished off some great build-up.
Canada forward Tosaint Ricketts (L) heads the ball at goa as Lucas Neil watches on.
Williams and Vidosic combined out wide, with the latter producing a lovely backheel and Mark Bresciano finding Kennedy with a pin-point cross.
But rather than put the foot down, the Socceroos were put under some heavy pressure throughout the first half.
Simeon Jackson hit the post for Canada while captain Dwayne De Rosario should have equalised when he failed to capitalise on a sharp counter attack.
Canada goalkeeper Milan Borjan (R) makes a save from a header by Australia midfielder Dario Vidosic (L) during the friendly football match between Australia and Canada at Craven Cottage.
The Socceroos had a goal disallowed with Bresciano correctly adjudged offside in the 23rd minute while Mitch Langerak denied Tosaint Ricketts with an excellent point-blank save in the 30th minute.
Australia began to control the game and continued their dominance after halftime, with Vidosic doubling the lead in the 52nd minute.
The Swiss-based midfielder cleverly glanced in a close-range header in after Williams knocked the ball into the box.
Australia forward Josh Kennedy (C) vies with Canada defender Nikolas Ledgerwood (R) during the friendly football match between Australia and Canada at Craven Cottage.
Matt McKay almost made it three with a spectacular scissor kick before Leckie made it 3-0 when he headed in from David Carney's cross in the 79th minute.
Young guns Olivier Bozanic and Jackson Irvine were handed debuts off the bench in the second half, while Mat Ryan was given 45 minutes in goal and had little to do.
Mile Jedinak and Bresciano have both been mentioned as possible captaincy candidates should the incoming coach replace Neill, but neither player wanted to react to the speculation.
Australia defender David Carney (L) vies with Canada forward Simeon Jackson during the World Cup 2014 International friendly football match between Australia and Canada.
"I think it would be disrespectful in that sense. People are going to have their opinions but I don't really think about that too much," said the 29-year-old Jedinak, adding that the team is in a "rebuilding phase".
"I'm just looking forward to the future for this national team. It's always great to win for your country but it's also very encouraging what we showed out there on the pitch.
"All in all I think we can take a lot from this game."
Australia interim manager Aurelio Vidmar during the International Friendly match between Canada and Australia.
Former Socceroos Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater were the most vehement critics of Neill, and the 33-year-old Bresciano wasn't particularly happy with the focus on the captain's position.
"It's not that helpful because he's still our captain and I respect him as a captain and as a player," Bresciano said.
"At the end of the day it's going to be up to the new coach who comes in to make these decisions to pick the right players."
Despite Ange Postecoglou or Graham Arnold leading the running to replace Holsieck, Vidmar didn't totally rule himself out of the running for the fulltime job and praised how his players handled a difficult few days.
"It's not nice what happened. You have to feel for Holger but it's a part of the game," Vidmar said.
"A lot of players took it hard and it took a couple of days to get back into the swing of things. I think the reaction was excellent tonight."
