Socceroos playmaker Massimo Luongo said Australia’s trademark passing game was off and they were caught too easily on the counter in their 2-0 loss to Jordan on Friday morning (AED).
Jordan took the lead in the first minute of the second half with an emphatically taken spot-kick after striker Hamza Al Dardour was brought down.
Socceroos' Jordan curse strikes again
And Al Dardour deservedly sealed the win with a cool finish with just minutes left to leave Australia stunned with their first loss in qualification.
Jordan have now leapfrogged Australia into top spot in Group B of FIFA Russia World Cup 2018™ qualification, leading on 10 points with the Socceroos still on nine.
“It was difficult. There were a lot of misplaced passes,” the QPR midfielder told Fox Sports.
“Unforced errors but overall we controlled the game. We keep possession better than the other team and create opportunites.
“Obviously we are vulnerable to the counter attack as we’ve seen in the previous games. But unlike in the previous games, we dealt with them a lot better in those previous games than we did today.
“We learn off this and use it as a bit of experience for the next few games.
“No excuses. With a pitch like this you need a little extra quality coming from someone. We didn’t offer as much as we’d like.
“It’s difficult with these teams. They back off all the way and have a few players who can get us on the counter attack.
“Next time we’ll deal with it a lot better.”
