#socceroos

#socceroos

Tony Popovic has called for his side to play with more confidence and belief in the second leg against New Zealand. But the Socceroos boss continues to insist that the young players need to earn their stripes rather than expect to be handed opportunities and international caps. The point of this exercise was to bring young, talented, potential players for the future and see where they fit in. We'll be happy either way.

"I'm certain it'll be a day he'll never forget," Popovic said of Balard. "[There were] a lot of young boys out there today who got their opportunity. It was nice to get the winner in that way. We got the win and a lot of boys got an experience of a lifetime. The first half, we found a little bit difficult, but we got there."

When you play for the Socceroos, it's an international, it's a cap that you can get. And if you ask any of these young boys that could debut now whether it matters to them if it's a friendly or not, I'm sure they say no. So we have to take this game very seriously. We're excited that we're playing New Zealand. We know how big that rivalry is in all our codes, so this should be no different. And also, congratulations to them. They've made the World Cup. So we're playing a World Cup opponent.

At half-time, the Socceroos were down but maintained calmness, focusing on the possibility of scoring in the 90th minute, which they ultimately did.