Australia vs New Zealand

A first-half goal from Awer Mabil lifted a scratchy Australia to a 1-0 win over New Zealand on Thursday in their farewell fixture ahead of the 2022 FIFA ...

It's a local derby, you have to be physical, you have to be ready for the fight. Up top, [Mitch Duke](https://www.espn.com.au/football/player/_/id/156119/Mitch-Duke) made way for a fit [Adam Taggart](https://www.espn.com.au/football/player/_/id/155209/Adam-Taggart) at the tip of the Socceroos spear. Arnold has already indicated that it will be a much different Socceroos lineup in that contest, with most of Thursday's starting XI not even expected to make the flight to the Land of the Long White Cloud. At the end of the day, a win's a win. A lot of aspects of the game we can do better, we know that. Nonetheless, Thursday's was not the type of performance that those hoping to force their way into the team would have watched with dread. In the second half, things opened up a bit more and a greater volume of chances and moments came Australia's way, but that comes with the caveat that the Kiwis had them as well. Indeed, the way the Socceroos play under Arnold has become well established at this point, and to expect any major adjustments in the limited time before the World Cup would be folly. And thanks to Mabil's goal, the 25,392 fans in attendance at Lang Park -- a bit of a disappointing figure for a World Cup sendoff given the venue holds approximately 52,000 -- were sent home happy. Further, the contest was used to commemorate the 100th anniversary of both the Australian and New Zealand national teams: the two squaring off in their first-ever international games in 1922. Thursday evening's game was a time to celebrate for the Socceroos. Unlucky to have not opened the scoring after some sloppy moments from the Australian defence, coach Danny Hay's All Whites continued to take it to the Australians and arguably had the best of the game but were ultimately left disappointed.