They may be good mates off the football pitch but last night Brisbane Roar teammates Matt McKay and Kosta Barbarouses had to put their friendship aside as they did battle during Australia’s 3-0 win over New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval.
After playing a full 90 minutes against Mexico three days prior, Barbarouses was handed another start by All Whites coach Ricki Herbert in the Trans-Tasman clash while McKay was given a late 20-minute cameo as Australia fielded an experimental outfit ahead of their fixture against FIFA World Cup foes Serbia tomorrow night.
A constant nuisance in the New Zealand eleven, Barbarouses- performance in the attacking third was commendable and after McKay-s own strong substitute appearance, the two players marked their first international match-up by swapping shirts at the final whistle.
The home team started the stronger of the two sides and Holger Osieck-s men soon had just reward for their early pressure as striker Josh Kennedy was the grateful beneficiary of some uncertain defending from the Kiwis, pouncing on a loose pass at the back to score in his first national team appearance in eight months.
Former Brisbane Roar midfielder Dario Vidosic provided the perfect corner for Kennedy to claim a double on the hour mark before a penalty from local boy James Troisi in the final minute of the game secured the comprehensive 3-0 win for Australia.
Qantas Socceroos 3 (Josh Kennedy 10′, 59′, James Troisi 90+3′)
New Zealand 0
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Local kick-off: 5.00pm
Crowd: 21,281
Qantas Socceroos: 18. Nathan COE (gk), 3. Michael ZULLO (17. Matt McKAY 70′), 7. Brett EMERTON (c) (5. Dario VIDOSIC 46′), 8. Luke WILKSHIRE (5. Rhys WILLIAMS 46′), 9. Josh KENNEDY (13. Alex BROSQUE 60′), 11. James TROISI, 14. Brett HOLMAN (23. Robbie KRUSE 46′), 16. Carl VALERI(4. Mark MILLIGAN 65′), 19. Neil KILKENNY, 20. Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 21. Jonathan McKAIN
Substitutes not used: 1. Adam Federici (gk), 2. Lucas Neill, 4. Archie Thompson, 6. Sasa Ognenovski, 20. Mitchell Langerak (gk), 15. Mile Jedinak
New Zealand All Whites: 1. Glen MOSS (gk) (18. Jake GLEESON 77-), 4. Ben SIGMUND, 8. Tim BROWN ( 23.David MULLIGAN 85-), 9. Shane SMELTZ, 10.Chris KILLEN, 11. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 14. Michael McGLINCHEY (19. Marco ROJAS 56-), 15. Andrew BOYENS (13. Michael FITZGERALD 46-), 16. Michael BOXALL, 20. Chris WOOD (17. Aaron CLAPHAM 63-), 22. Jeremy BROCKIE.
Substitutes not used: 12. Mark PASTON (gk).
