SYDNEY, March 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Two goals in two minutes helped Australia secure a 
5-1 thrashing of Indonesia on Thursday to inch closer to World Cup qualification as Dutch 
legend Patrick Kluivert was well beaten in his first game in charge.

Indonesia missed an early penalty before a Martin Boyle spot-kick and a Nishan Velupillay strike 
inside a frantic opening 20 minutes did the damage at Sydney Football Stadium.

A brace from Jackson Irvine and another by Lewis Miller sealed the win.

"The result today was very important and the fact that we did it with five goals, really pleased," 
said man-of-the-match Irvine.

But Australian skipper Mat Ryan was not entirely satisfied.

"I think the scoreline flatters us a little bit to be honest," the goalkeeper said. "At the start of 
the game they had two big chances, and if they put one of them away, it could have been a 
different game.

"But momentum is an important thing in sport and we've kick-started that winning momentum 
now in an important (FIFA) window, and it's important we learn and get better."

The win was a huge boost for Tony Popovic's men in the race to come second in Asian Group C 
behind runaway leaders Japan and automatically qualify for the 48-team tournament in North 
America next year.

Australia now have 10 points, four clear of Indonesia, with three games to play, including a 
crunch away fixture against China on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia and China, who meet later in Riyadh, both have six points, as do Bahrain who clash 
with Japan in Saitama. Japan will book their place at the World Cup if they win.

Just the top two progress automatically, with third and fourth forced into another round of Asian 
qualifying.

Defeat reinforced the scale of the task facing former Barcelona forward Kluivert, who was 
appointed in January after South Korea's Shin Tae-yong was sacked.

His side head home for a must-win showdown against Bahrain next week in their bid to reach 
the World Cup for the first time since independence in 1945.

Australia were without a handful of injured regulars, including Leicester defender Harry Souttar 
and Middlesbrough midfielder Riley McGree.

But they still got the job done against a team featuring 10 players born in the Netherlands and 
naturalised to play for Indonesia.

In a breathless start, Ryan pulled off a spectacular save to deny Jay Idzes' glancing header and 
minutes later Indonesia won a penalty when Kye Rowles took down Rafael Struick.

But Kevin Diks' spot-kick hit the post.

Ten minutes later and it was the Socceroos' turn when they were awarded a penalty after a VAR 
intervention and Hibernian striker Boyle made no mistake.

With momentum on their side, the hosts doubled their lead two minutes later when Adam 
Taggart found Velupillay who calmly chipped in over advancing goalkeeper Maarten Paes.

Irvine made it 3-0 in the 34th minute, forcing a fine save from Paes but converting the 
rebound.

Both Miller and Irvine added to the tally in the second-half from Craig Goodwin corners before 
Indonesia's Ole Romeny pulled one back late on.