QUEENS, New York -- Tony Popovic's post-game revelation that the Socceroos spent Sunday bedridden, suffering the effects of a virus that ripped throughout the playing group and staff, has to temper how one analyses the 3-0 loss to Colombia on Tuesday night. It doesn't discount adverse commentary completely, of course: a trend becomes a trend based on far more than just one game. But it does alter the picture of this particular fixture, especially how it ended, and gives an insight into the player's character.
Without that knowledge of the illness, the tale of Tuesday's game alone is one in which Australia's men held out doggedly for 75 minutes, struggling once more to create much of anything in an attacking sense but at least being able to take heart from holding out a high-powered Colombian attack until a suspect penalty opened the floodgates and instigated a late collapse. The loss might have been by a greater margin than the 1-0 defeat to Venezuela last week, but the performance that preceded the late goals was a much-needed response to that meek effort: the Australians demonstrating a greater ability to retain the ball, putting their bodies into their opponent, and refusing to allow themselves to be dominated.
"The aggression. That was what the boss said after the Venezuela game," defender Kai Trewin told ESPN.
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"Obviously, there were a lot of things that we said we needed to improve on, but the aggression was one thing that's easy to fix. Individually being more aggressive and then with our press, picking our right moments to go, but then once we do go, we need to be aggressive, and everyone can get closer to people, put more tackles in.
"I think we did that, especially in the first half. That was probably the main thing we changed. And then with the ball, we'll probably be better as well; we kept the ball a bit longer in parts, which was, which is a positive, but after 75 minutes it was really disappointing."
That they did all this despite the illness that went through the entire playing group, plus several staff, adds a new level of character to the performance. After being forced to cancel training in an attempt to recover enough to make the flight to New York, to be able to not only hold out for 75 minutes against an outfit that started James Rodríguez, Luis Suárez, and Luis Díaz up front, but to actually bring a greater level of intensity and aggression than in the loss to Venezuela last Friday, in which the group was nominally healthy, reflects well on the players.
"They didn't train on Sunday; the whole group was sick in bed," Popovic said. "I'm actually surprised at how well they did, because physically, they were clearly nowhere near it."
Per their coach, it was ultimately the decision of the players not to reveal the illness ahead of kickoff; those speaking in the mixed zone only acknowledging their adverse preparation once they'd been told by the team's media manager that Popovic had already spilled the beans in his post-game press conference.
"We were really hot and cold," Aiden O'Neill said of the virus. "The body aches [all over], and it was in your throat. We tried to stop it spreading across the whole team, but it went pretty quickly, and a few of us were quite sick. But we can be proud that we were still able to go out and perform like that for most of the game."
The penalty that ultimately turned the contest also bears noting, given that it was rather suspect: referee Tori Penso determining that Callum Elder had fouled Santiago Arias as a ball was delivered into the box and setting the scene for Rodriguez to deftly finish past Paul Izzo. Popovic and his players didn't hold back on the decision, with the former suggesting that his side wouldn't have benefited from such a marginal call.
"It's never a penalty," said the coach. "It's the softest penalty you can see. I'm sure we don't get that tonight. It's unfortunate to say that, but I'm sure it's true. Without VAR, that's such a soft penalty to give."
"I've got no idea. I don't know what they've seen, what they've found, what they've heard. I don't know," Izzo added to ESPN. "It was just incredible. It's just such a shame, because, obviously, we didn't dominate the game like we wanted to, but I think we stayed in the game long enough to be dangerous, so that we could have stolen something and got a positive result. Unfortunately, that penalty is the beginning of the end for us."
Yet at the same time, regardless of the silver linings that can be read into this game in a vacuum, the late collapse also means that the Socceroos have now lost three games for the first time on the bounce for the first time in over a decade and that, across these defeats to the United States, Venezuela and now Colombia, they have managed to score just a single goal. That's a trend.
As it stands for Australia's men, looking at their recent performances, especially against better opposition, it appears the current path to success exists on a razor-thin margin for error. They can almost always be counted on to defend doggedly, make their opponents earn everything they get, and work to control the game without the ball -- especially under Popovic -- but their struggles to reliably progress through the midfield, or to create clear, consistent, and reliable looks on goal mean that these heroic defensive efforts have become almost a necessity lest they fall into a deficit and be forced to open up and chase a game.
This issue is longstanding, one that predates the current staff, but one in which Popovic, as the current coach, is tasked with solving. And with just two international windows -- four games -- until next year's World Cup commences and just a single window remaining until he names his 26-player squad for that tournament, the need for the coach to address this issue and find a way to put his side in a position to score enough goals to relieve the pressure on the backline is becoming increasingly pressing. You have to be willing to suffer to win, but suffering isn't a goal in and of itself.
Admittedly, Graham Arnold faced similar criticisms and found a way to lead the Socceroos into the knockout stages of the last World Cup. And this current side probably possesses a higher floor than that unit four years ago did, as their wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia (even China) during qualifying demonstrate. The talent is there to be utilised in the pursuit of goals, too: the return of Riley McGree this window was promising, and Mohamed Touré and Nestory Irankunda gained more valuable minutes at senior international level.
But, if this team is going to deliver on their coach's goal of making a mark in North America, one would think that something seemingly needs to change, kick into gear, or slot into place when this side has the ball, sooner rather than later. It's about finding ways to put games to bed, rather than grimly hold and then steal them like a thief in the night.
Because for all the admirable bravery and guts on display in the Big Apple, the harsh spotlight that comes with a looming World Cup also brings a harsher assessment of the side's trajectory.