Subway Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold hailed the performance of defender Alessandro Circati on a night another young West Australian was remembered by the Perth crowd.
The Socceroos wrapped up the second stage of their FIFA World Cup 2026™ qualification campaign with a 5-0 win over Palestine on Tuesday at HBF Park.
It was the sixth clean sheet the team recorded in this round of qualifying seeing them finish atop the group with 18 points and 22 goals from the six games.
Two goals from Kusini Yengi and one each from Adam Taggart, Martin Boyle and Nestory Irankunda sealed the three points in front of 18,261 fans in what was the Socceroos' first game in Perth in almost eight years.
And at the back former Perth SC junior Circati, alongside another West Aussie in ex-ECU Joondalup player Cameron Burgess, showed his class and huge potential. The 20-year-old Parma defender, making his first start for the Socceroos, did not put a foot wrong and made a terrific block when the score was 1-0.
Arnold said: “Circati was incredible. He’s so mature for his age, but I think that’s the tip of the iceberg.
“He’s going to next year be playing in Serie A in Italy against some incredible strikers, so he’s going to get better and better.”
Arnold made eight changes to the side that defeated Bangladesh last week and the rotated squad got to work quickly.
A penalty was awarded in the third minute when Yaser Hamed fouled Aziz Behich in the box. Kusini Yengi stepped up and slotted home to make it 1-0.
Both wide players were involved early on with Martin Boyle and Mathew Leckie both pinging crosses into Yengi and Perth Glory's hometown hero Taggart.
Despite a few forays from Palestine, the Socceroos were in control of proceedings and in the 26th minute they doubled the advantage.
2023/24 A League top scorer and Perth-local Taggart finished neatly in the corner after receiving a well-placed cross from Boyle.
In the 38th minute, across HBF Park, fans applauded to remember Dylan Tombides, the Perth-born, Australian youth team star who sadly passed away in 2014 after a three-year battle with testicular cancer.
Yengi doubled his tally in the 41st minute when he slammed home from close range after Boyle twisted and turned his way through two defenders in the box before finding the pass.
At the break it was 3-0 after what was a strong half of football from Australia, finishing with 60% possession and seven goal attempts.
The Socceroos started the second half with the same enthusiasm and scored again in the 53rd minute, this time Taggart returning the favour with a cutback to Boyle allowing him to tap home into an empty net.
Soon after, Arnold made his first substitution of the night, bringing on Apostolos Stamatelopoulos for his debut, making him Socceroo #644. He replaced Taggart, while Connor Metcalfe came on for Baccus.
In the 70th minute Nestory Irankunda came on to the pitch for his debut on Australian soil, replacing Boyle who finished on two assists and a goal.
More substitutions followed 12 minutes later with Jordy Bos and Cammy Devlin entering the fray for Yengi and Leckie respectively.
Palestine started to threaten with a few dangerous attacks as the match went on however this left them open at the back.
And after some quick passes, Australia got the ball into the attacking box where it deflected off a defender’s arm and the referee awarded another penalty in the 87th minute.
Up stepped Irankunda who smashed his penalty into the corner to make it 5-0 and make him the second youngest goal scorer in Socceroos history at the age of 18 years and 123 days.
The final whistle blew shortly after and brought to an end this round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which fittingly starts two years to the day.
Looking ahead to a possible sixth successive World Cup finals appearance for the Socceroos in 2026, Arnold said of Taggart: “There’s a certain couple of players in the squad that are 33 today and we still have two years to go.
“There are question marks and it’s up to them, how hard they work and how much they want it to still be involved.
“Tags is 31 and I think he has the capabilities to get through those two years with his experience; that’s why I started him next to (Yengi), I wanted his leadership out there.”
Australia: 5 (Yengi 4’, 41’, Taggart 26’, Boyle 53’, Irankunda 87’)
Palestine: 0
Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Venue: HBF Park, Perth
Subway Socceroos: 18. (GK) Joe Gauci, 2. Gethin Jones, 6. Martin Boyle (Nestory Irankunda 70’), 7. Mathew Leckie (Cameron Devlin 83’), 9. Adam Taggart (Apostolos Stamatelopoulos 65’), 11. Kusini Yengi (Jordan Bos 82’), 13. Alessandro Circati, 16. Aziz Behich, 17. Keanu Baccus (Connor Metcalfe 64’), 21. Cameron Burgess, 22. (C) Jackson Irvine.
Substitutes Not Used: 1. (GK) Paul Izzo, 3. Ryan Strain, 10. Ajdin Hrustic, 12. (GK) Lawrence Thomas, 15. Daniel Arzani, 19. Harry Souttar, 23. Joshua Nisbet.
Yellow Cards: Keanu Baccus 48’, Connor Metcalfe 67’, Jackson Irvine 75’.
Red Cards: N/A
Palestine: 22. (C)(GK) Rami Hamada, 3. Mohammed Rashid (Ameed Sawafta 59’), 4. Yaser Hamed, 5. Mohammed Saleh, 12. Camilio Saldana, 13. Omar Faraj (Oday Dabbagh 59’), 15. Michael Termanini, 17. Mousa Farawi, 18. Jonathan Zorrilla (Mustafa Zeidan 66’), 20. Ameed Mahajneh (Mohammed Darwish 66’), 21. Islam Batran (Samer Jondi 82’).
Substitutes Not Used: 1. (GK) Baraa Kharoub, 2. Mohammed Khalil, 7. Musab Battat, 9. Tamer Seyam, 16. (GK) Mahdi Assi, 19. Ali Rabei.
Yellow Cards: Amid Mahajna 39’.
Red Cards: N/A