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Martin Boyle stepped up and converted, putting the Socceroos ahead, and on the balance of play, it was probably deserved.
McGree had another good chance in the opening minute of the second half, set up by Jordan Bos, but his attempt was deflected; from that moment onwards, it was all Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan’s Azizbek Turgunboev heads to score against the Socceroos.Credit: AP
The White Wolves thought they’d nabbed an equaliser on the hour mark, but Umar Eshmuradov’s header was disallowed due to offside. But their pressure finally yielded a dividend deep into the second half, when Jaloliddin Masharipov’s terrific lofted cross was met at the back post by Azizbek Turgunboyev, who rose over Aziz Behich to head in Uzbekistan’s first-ever senior men’s goal against Australia.
Fortunately for the Socceroos, their search for another was unsuccessful.
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Arnold made five changes to his starting line-up, bringing in McGree, Yengi, centre-back Kye Rowles, right-back Nathaniel Atkinson and midfielder Keanu Baccus all brought in for the injured Mitch Duke, Cameron Burgess, Gethin Jones, Aiden O’Neill and Connor Metcalfe.
The tweaks helped the Socceroos discover a bit of rhythm going forward, but it was short-lived. McGree was at the heart of all of their best moments in the first half, setting up a move which saw Yengi nod the ball in only to be disallowed due to an offside infringement in the build-up.
Defensively, they were mostly solid, but a couple of Harry Souttar’s passes were picked off by the Uzbekistan midfield. But for a little more quality, and another last-ditch rescue tackle reminiscent of his miracle recovery against Tunisia at the same venue, they might have taken advantage. The warning signs were there.
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