The Socceroos were emphatic in their victory over Bangladesh in Perth on Thursday night and Melbourne City’s own Aaron Mooy played an important part in the performance.
Mooy started in his regular position in the midfield, sitting next to Mark Milligan and Massimo Luongo with Tomi Rogic in the more advanced midfield position.
Mooy hit over 100 passes for the green and gold with an 87.6% passing accuracy which was more than half of the total Bangladeshi passes on the night.
Mooy also found the back of the net in the 61st minute, scoring the goal of the night in the rout. The strike was signature Aaron Mooy with poise and power that left Bangladeshi ‘keeper Sahidul Alam with no chance.
The midfielder partnered well with Milligan and is a big chance to play in the Socceroos’ second World Cup qualifier during the international break against Tajikistan in Danube on Tuesday.
Socceroos Head Coach Ange Postecoglou felt the match really gave him an insight to the attitude and professionalism of players like Mooy to maintain the team ethos no matter the situation.
“I think you learn about the player’s mindset.” Postecoglou said.
“We could have gone out there and scored some cheap goals but it shows the players are really focused on the team we are trying to be.
“There were easier avenues out there, (but) they still tried to do things our way which was a good lesson.
“Tonight we put out a team that I thought would be really mobile and test the opposition and give the opportunity to some guys that still really need some more experience at international level.”
Aaron Hughes’ Northern Ireland play tomorrow morning in their Euro 2016 qualifier against Faroe Islands as they look to qualify for their first European Championships.
