Regret for the Red and White as Bert says bye bye - talking points as Peru waltz over Australia 2-0

Alex Broun 23:04 26/06/2018
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  • Paolo Guerrero was among the scorers for Peru

    It was built up as Australia’s valiant effort to reach the last-16 but instead it became a statement about how Peru under-performed in their first two games.

    The Socceroos were no match for the already eliminated South Americans, who cruised to a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Andre Carrillo and Paolo Guerrero, ending their opponents’ World Cup journey.

    Here are our talking points from the match:

    BYE BYE BERT

    It will go down as one of the strangest ever coaching non-stories.

    Bert van Marwijk, the 66-year-old Dutchman who took the Netherlands to the World Cup final in 2010, was appointed in January after Ange Postecoglou – having guided the Socceroos through a world record 22-game qualification process –  threw his toys out of the cot and resigned in November.

    Van Marwijk was only ever appointed for the World Cup and indeed his successor, former Sydney FC manager Graham Arnold, was appointed back in March.

    A wag at a press conference tried to anoint him “Aussie Bert” but Van Marwijk never warmed to the nickname, nor did the team or country ever really warm to him.

    There were some bright results – the 4-0 hammering of the Czech Republic in a warm-up in early June was impressive as was the 2-1 win over Hungary.

    He also did manage to bring through the extraordinary talent of Daniel Arzani – and that perhaps will be his lasting legacy – but his reign is over before it really began, full-stopped by a meek surrender against Peru. Good luck Graham.

    THE REGRET OF THE RED AND WHITE

    Peru on the other hand will look back on this World Cup and wonder what could have been.

    For them the killer-blow turned out to be the head-scratching 1-0 loss to Denmark in their opening game. It was a match they should have won – they had 17 shots to 10 and 53.4 per cent of the possession – but they went down to a Yussuf Poulsen goal, set up by the sublime Christian Eriksen.

    It was the same against France where they lost 1-0, Kylian Mbappe bundling home in the first half.

    The ease in which they put Australia away showed just how good this Peru team really are.

    The Socceroos put up more than a fight going down 2-1 to France and shaded Denmark in their 1-1 draw but Peru were a class above them and played with confidence and control.

    If only La Blanquirroja had reached this peak earlier in the tournament and replicated the form they showed in warm-ups – 3-1 over Iceland, a 2-0 victory against Scotland and a 3-0 drubbing of Saudi Arabia.

    At the World Cup you have to hit the ground running or have a bit of luck – Peru had neither and head home much sooner than they should have.

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