Australia started very well with Kasey Wehrman the centre of attention. Within the first 10 minutes he has hacked down three times, and all three times needed attention from the medical staff. It was a case of Kasey putting his body in front of the ball, where the South Africans didn't want him, attacking their goal.
Marco Bresciano too was very busy early on, on the right hand side. A position virtually reserved for Olyroo captain Brett Emerton who again missed tonight's match due to injury. Marco setup a low cross on the edge of the Sth African penalty box, and Jason Culina put in a crisp first touch shot, giving the Olyroos a quick start on the scoreboard.
As the match wore on South Africa picked up their own tempo, and got back into the match. Nicky Rizzo and Stan Nicky Rizzo and Stan Lazaridis worked well on the left hand side, and look certainties for the first XI come next Wednesday against Italy at the MCG. Zane and Curcija did get a few touches up front, and Zane missed a great header opportunity after good work from Bresciano.
Raul Blanco brought on three substitutes in the second half at different periods of the match, as Australia appeared to be happy with their 1-0 lead. Most of the second half run came from Stan Lazaridis and my man of the match, Nicky Rizzo. Archie Thompson came on with half an hour to play and did get into the game, and have a decent impact.
South Africa did have their chances, most of those freekick opportunities which they wasted, and with about ten minutes to spare had a great chance to equalise on the counter attack, but they only managed to hit the crossbar.
Archie Thompson and Jason Culina set up Michael Curcija in the dying minutes for great chance, but the shot hit the keeper and rebounded out for a corner.
With Viduka, Skoko, Emerton, and one of Foxe and Blatsis to come into the team, Raul Blanco's squad has shown competition for places is extremely tough. It may well be the depth of the squad that delivers Olympic success to the Olyroos.