Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
If Australia are to get the job done against Paraguay, they know they need one man firing on all cylinders — Jordan Bos.
At his best, left wing-back Bos is devastating, with his speed, guile and skill terrorising opponents.
But so far, the Socceroos dynamo hasn’t hit his straps at this World Cup.
With a win or draw against Paraguay in Santa Clara on Thursday (Friday AEST), Australia will finish second in group D behind the United States, locking in a trip to Dallas next week to face the runners-up in group G.
A defeat would mean a nervous wait, but probably still progression through third place – bar a heavy loss and other results going against Australia.
“Look, Jordy Bos is an important player for us,” assistant coach Paul Okon said.
“I think it was a challenge certainly in the first half for Jordy, with the way America set up, and (Weston) McKennie kept coming into their pocket.
“And it meant that Jordy got dragged out a lot, which ultimately cost him a little bit of energy, extra energy through his legs.
“So maybe we didn’t see the best version of Jordy Bos. Second-half was a lot different for him
“And if we are to get to where we want to get in the tournament, starting with Paraguay, we’re going to need Jordy Bos certainly to give us that thrust going forward.”
Speculation will continue to mount regarding coach Tony Popovic’s starting line-up, as will the clamouring for young guns Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato to start, along with Connor Metcalfe.
“I can understand people want to see all of those types of players play the maximum minutes, certainly from the start of the game,” Okon said.
“But I guess every player is evaluated on how they are physically, mentally and tactically.
“Sometimes the decisions will fall on one of those three or all of those three.
“And I know that for the person sitting at home in front of the TV … certainly when the score’s not in our favour or not what that person likes, they don’t understand that. I also can understand that.
“But at the end of the day, as a head coach, you need to make a decision based on those three things and also the opposition.
“So all three of those players did fantastically well coming on and I’ve no doubt that we’ll see all of them feature in the next match at some stage.”
Central defender Cameron Burgess was hooked at halftime of the US game as an own goal headlined a rare down performance.
“Cam’s a pretty positive guy, quietly confident. He trained very well yesterday,” Okon said.
“We haven’t had to do too much with him in terms of rebuilding his confidence.”
