Socceroos given long odds to repeat history in England friendly

REMEMBER that time Australia beat England in a soccer match in England?

David Beckham was the English captain and a young Wayne Rooney made his debut for his country in what would be a day of infamy in Great Britain.

Crazy we know, but they Aussies will get the chance to repeat the dose after yesterday’s announcement that they would take on the Poms in England on May 27, this year.

It is 13 years ago this month when the Socceroos trotted out onto Upton Park and handed the English a 3-1 loss.

And, if you think they can emulate that score in May, sportsbet.com.au has offered a juicy $101 for the correct score to be 3-1, in a match Roy Hodgson’s men will be treating as a warm up for Euro 2016.

The bookie has the Poms heavy favourites at $1.33, while the Aussies are $8.50 rank outsiders.
A draw between the two teams is $4.50.

“It also looks likely to be an entertaining match, with three goals or more the $1.73 favourite and both teams to find the back of the net a $2.10 chance,” the bookie’s Will Byrne said.

“Ange Postecoglou’s boys repeating the feat of 2003 and winning 3–1 is an unlikely $101.

“A lot has changed since the two teams met in 2003.

“Wayne Rooney had hair, for one thing, but it’s probably taken them this long to get a team capable of beating the Socceroos to be honest.”

On that February day, the Poms fielded a strong side in the first half, featuring the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, but that did not matter as the Aussies went into the half time break 2-0 up after a superb header from defender Tony Popovic in the 17th minute and then a one on one with the goal keeper finish from Harry Kewell three minutes later.

English manager Sven Goran Eriksson had been under the pump from the Premier League managers to rest star players and, despite the 2-0 result at half time, he made good on a promise to bench his entire side and field a team of players aged under 26 – one of those players was a 17 year old Wayne Rooney on debut.

The young bucks looked far more plucky than their more seasoned counterparts an managed to peg one back off the head of then-wunderkind Francis Jeffers.

But the Aussie would not be denied and Brett Emerton made no mistake to make it 3-1 and cause one of the biggest upsets in soccer history.

Then Aussie manager Frank Farina struggled to find words after the match.

“I’m very happy. Happy doesn’t cover it,” Farina said.

“I thought we performed magnificently well and thoroughly deserved the three goals.

“We could have had more.”

The English fans were beside themselves at the result and the papers were merciless.

“The game was already lost at halftime and maybe the booing at the end was intended as a reflection on our first half performance,” then English captain David Beckham said after the game.

“We all get frustrated and I can understand that.

“But this has not helped morale and the fans have got to get behind us in the next game.

Eriksson said: “If England lose at home to Australia, you have to expect a reaction like that and even to accept it.”

England vs. Australia soccer friendly markets

Match betting

$1.33 England
$4.50 Draw
$8.50 Socceroos

Over/under 2.5 goals

$1.73 Over
$2.00 Under

Both teams to score

$1.66 No
$2.10 Yes

Correct score

$5.50 England 1-0
$5.50 England 2-0
$8.00 England 2-1
$8.50 England 3-0
$12 England 3-1
$26 England 3-2
$17 England 4-0
$23 England 4-1
$56 England 4-2
$175 England 4-3
$36 England 5-0
$91 England 6-0

$11 Draw 0-0
$7.50 Draw 1-1
$20 Draw 2-2
$101 Draw 3-3

$23 Socceroos 1-0
$61 Socceroos 2-0
$26 Socceroos 2-1
$251 Socceroos 3-0
$101 Socceroos 3-1
$91 Socceroos 3-2
$501 Socceroos 4-0