The Socceroos on Saturday will kick off an Asian Cup campaign they believe can deliver the team’s second-ever title – but their warm-up win over Bahrain proves they still have to address a worrying issue.

The Socceroos laboured past a physical and defensive-minded Bahrain, ranked 12th among Asian confederation teams, struggling to break down a low block in defence that stifled Australia’s creativity and attacking output.

But Australia emerged 2-0 victors thanks to an own goal from a Craig Goodwin cross before veteran striker Mitchell Duke nodded home from close range after a cross was directed back across goal by Goodwin.

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After 2023’s schedule was dominated by tough friendlies against attacking opposition, such as world champions Argentina, England, and Mexico, playing against a team dedicated to sitting deep in defence and hitting on the counter was a crucial learning experience.

“For us, I think, for us, it’s the perfect fixture to have before the Asian Cup,” coach Graham Arnold said. “You know, when we play against these types of nations, they sit back. Most nations we played against in the last twelve months haven’t really done that.

“I think, you know, they’re a strong nation that’s getting stronger, and like a lot of the Middle Eastern nations, physically, they were quite bigger than what we expected.”

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For years, the Socceroos have laboured against teams that sit deep in defence, lacking creativity or incisive passing in the final third to break down packed defences.

Scoring goals is arguably the biggest weakness in this Socceroos squad entering the tournament.

Consider this: just seven of the Socceroos 26-man squad have scored for the national team, contributing a combined total of 36 goals.

Group rivals Uzbekistan have 12 different international scorers with 55 combined goals in their squad, while first opponents India have an all-time great in captain Sunil Chhetri, who boasts 93 goals by himself. That’s fourth-highest on the all-time international scoring charts behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Ali Daei of Iran, and Lionel Messi.

Australia managed just three shots on target against Bahrain, but Arnold is confident that his team took the right lessons out of the match.

“You know, it’s very, very hard to train players against that type of opposition in that until you do it real.

“You saw that we were getting better and better as the game went on, breaking them down, but also making sure that we weren’t hit on the counter-attack, which they liked to do … So, as I said, it was probably the perfect fixture to have before we go into this Asian Cup. No doubt, we’ll get quite a number of teams playing like [Bahrain] as well.”

There have been some positive signs in the Socceroos’ recent matches – two World Cup qualifying wins over Bangladesh (7-0) and Palestine (1-0) in November, before the Bahrain game on Sunday.

Chief among those has been the form of Mitch Duke, who has scored three in as many games, while winger Goodwin has assisted in each of the trio of matches.

Duke echoed Arnold’s thoughts after the Bahrain game, but promised Australia ‘can be better’ at breaking teams down in the Asian Cup.

“I think we had a bit of a test of everything in that game and we got to learn how to deal with each experience. During the game when they sit in back in the block, not to get frustrated, and open them up and shift the ball side to side and know how to break teams down,” he said.

“We’re going to expect that in the Asian Cup with some Asian teams that we’ll be playing against. And they’re probably just going to try and get us on the counter.

“We can be better at that for sure. Finding pockets and maybe being a bit more ruthless as well, like when we’re in crossing areas, maybe to hit the ball in more and put it into dangerous areas.”

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It’s clear that effectiveness in the final third against the low block has been a focus for Arnold in improving this team, which is at its best against teams that press high and allow the Socceroos to play in transition.

But it’s still a work in progress, as the Bahrain game attested. The Socceroos were often ponderous in possession in dangerous areas, with Arnold urging them to play faster and stretch defences.

Goodwin said: “There’s going to be a lot of times, I think, especially in the group stage where we might dominate possession, and we need to be patient, and at times, you know, have to move the ball around a lot more and just be patient for those opportunities.”

“I think it’s something that we’ve started to work on,” he said.

“That combination football in the final third, and obviously coming into this Asian Cup, we’re going to have a lot more of the ball. So we need to be very good in those areas. Be patient and be decisive.”

Luckily for the Socceroos, as the tournament progresses they are more likely to come up against teams willing to play a more possession-based approach.

That could create more opportunities for the Socceroos in attack.

In the early stages of the tournament, however, they will need to sharpen up offensively.

But in a promising sign, right-back Gethin Jones showed plenty of promise on debut, bombing up the right flank as he habitually does for Bolton Wanderers.

For Australia’s second goal against Bahrain, Jones cantered into space and drew three defenders, which opened up the defence and created Duke’s scoring chance.

Jones said: “What we do here is exactly the same as Bolton – attacking football.

“Arnold told me that when the ball is on the left side and the space on the right in front of me, I need to just make those runs, and I’ll get the space.”

“When I get in the wide areas, I try and get as many crosses into the box while obviously doing my defensive duties as well.”

But if the Socceroos are struggling to score from open play, at least they have a not-so-secret weapon: height.

Centre-back Harry Souttar, listed by the AFC at 200cm and 101kg (other sources claim 198cm), is a man mountain – and he uses that heft from corners and wide free kicks to head home plenty of goals.

He now boasts 10 goals from 22 appearances in the green and gold, which is remarkably second-most in the team behind Duke’s 12 in 33.

But the crosses from the likes of Goodwin and Riley McGree – and Australia’s clear height advantage – could be the primary path to goal this tournament.

Besides Souttar, the Socceroos squad includes defenders Cameron Burgess at 1.94m, Lewis Miller at 1.87m, and Kye Rowles at 1.85m. In midfield, Jackson Irvine is 1.89m tall.

In attack, recent debutant Kusini Yengi is 1.89m, potential debutant John Iredale is 1.88m, and veteran forward Mitchell Duke 1.87m.

All eight of those players are taller than any of India’s outfielders, while Australia’s eight players at 1.85m or taller is more than Syria (four) and Uzbekistan (five). The latter two opponents both have 1.90m strikers – but that’s still comfortably shorter than Souttar and Burgess.

So dangerous is the combination of Souttar and Burgess at set pieces, that the pair were marked by two defenders each by Bangladesh at times – and even that didn’t stop Souttar from scoring from a Goodwin corner, just as he did against Palestine.

Bangladesh coach Javier Fernandez Cabrera demonstrated just how much rival teams respect Australia’s skill at set pieces, when he declared before that match: “For us, Australia as a whole is definitely one of the best teams in Asia and one of the best teams in the world.

“When we talk about set plays, probably if not the best, it’s top five in the world, no doubt.”

Australia coach Graham Arnold told Channel 10 after the Palestine game: “Set pieces are crucial, especially when you’ve got someone of Harry Souttar’s size, height.

“Then the delivery’s important and Craig Goodwin’s delivery on that corner was fantastic.”

Or there was Mitch Duke, who summed up Souttar even better: “To be fair, on set pieces he seems to be a bit of a cheat code.”

Chasing just a second Asian title after the Socceroos sealed success on home soil in 2015, it could be the key to fixing Australia’s struggles in front of goal.