SOCCEROOS OFF TO 'A NEW BEGINNING'

Australia open coach Popovic's reign with 3-1 win over China; look forward to Japan

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ADELAIDE - Australia came from behind to beat China 3-1 on Oct 10 and resurrect their World Cup Asian qualifying campaign, ensuring Tony Popovic's reign as coach got off to a winning start.

The Socceroos went into the game at Adelaide Oval in a perilous position in Group C after a shock 1-0 home loss to Bahrain and a scoreless draw in Indonesia in September.

It led to the departure of coach Graham Arnold and Popovic being installed as his successor.

Goals from Lewis Miller, Craig Goodwin and debutant Nishan Velupillay did the damage on Oct 10 after they went behind against the run of play in the 20th minute in front of 46,291 fans.

It secured three crucial points ahead of a tough away match against Japan next week and consigned China to their third straight qualifying defeat.

"We did really well even in the first half," said Goodwin, who was the Man of the Match.

"China were very, very compact. We maybe forced it a little bit... we talked about that at half-time and we showed big character to respond in the way we did." Only the top two from the three six-team groups secure direct passage to the 2026 World Cup with the third- and fourth-placed sides facing another qualifying phase.