Australia, Cameroon & Chile all suffer losses in final Confed Cup warm-up games
Australia, Cameroon & Chile all suffer losses in final Confed Cup warm-up games
After clinching a vital 3-2 World Cup qualifying win over Saudi Arabia last week, Australia slumped to a 4-0 home loss against Brazil in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Socceroos’ boss Ange Postecoglou made eight changes to the team that beat the Saudis, but his men went down to Brazilian goals from Diego Souza after just 12 seconds and subsequent strikes from Thiago Silva, Taison and Souza again.
Postecoglou gave debuts to 25-year-old defender Dylan McGowan and 20-year-old midfielder Ajdin Hrustic.
READ MORE: Australia claim vital World Cup qualifying win over Saudi Arabia
The Aussies suffered a blow ahead of the game, however, when it was announced that captain Mile Jedinak would miss the Confed Cup in Russia due to a persistent groin injury.
Uncapped James Jeggo, 25, of Austrian team Sturm Graz, has been called up to replace Jedinak.
The Aussies also lost Bradley Smith during the win over Saudi Arabia, with the Bournemouth defender suffering a hamstring injury. His place has been taken by 20-year-old Alex Gersbach, who has two caps to his name.
The team will now head to Russia, where they start their Confed Cup Group B campaign with a game against world champions Germany in Sochi on Monday.
Meanwhile, fellow Confed Cup Group B opponents Cameroon fell to a 4-0 defeat in their final warm-up game against Colombia in Getafe, Spain, on Tuesday.
Real Madrid man James Rodriguez was on the scoresheet for Colombia, as were Yerry Mina – who scored a brace – and Jose Izquierdo.
‘The Indomitable Lions’ were forced to play most of the second half with 10 men, after forward Robert Ndip Tambe was sent off.
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Hugo Broos’ Africa Cup of Nations winners headed to Russia after the game, where they face South American champs Chile in Moscow’s Spartak Stadium on Sunday.
Chile went into a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes thanks to goals from Eduardo Vargas and Leonardo Valencia, but we pegged back by Bogdan Stancu’s goal on 31 minutes and had Gary Medel sent off for violent conduct on 33 minutes.
Goals from Nicolae Stanciu and Alexandru Baluta gave Romania the win.
READ MORE: Russia 1-1 Chile: Stalemate in Moscow in pre-Confed Cup friendly
La Roja now return to Russia to face Cameroon on Sunday.
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