Former Socceroo Harry Kewell stars in commentary box as Australia surrender to France in World Cup opener

Joshua Thomas

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Former Socceroo Harry Kewell stars in commentary box as Australia surrender to France in World Cup opener image

As the Socceroos surrendered a promising early lead against France in their 2022 World Cup opener, a familiar name was left reeling from the commentary box. 

Former Australian forward Harry Kewell has swapped the boots for a microphone in Qatar and was the co-commentator for SBS' coverage of the France match. 

Having starred on the pitch for the Socceroos in years gone by, the current Celtic assistant coach did just that off it as he called the game with brutal honesty and great insight.

Kewell was by no means perfect and at one stage happily admitted he got a call completely wrong after seeing a replay that contradicted one of his comments. 

MORE: France prove too strong for Australia | How to watch every World Cup game for free in Australia 

But just like he was as a player, Kewell made up for any shortcomings with some razor-sharp commentary and evident passion for the national team. 

Like every Socceroos fan, the 44-year-old was disappointed to see Australia sit back after a strong start and stressed throughout the need for Graham Arnold's side to be more aggresive with and without the ball.

"We’re not even attempting to play forward...when we do we seem to be causing them problems," Kewell said during the second-half. 

"Our frontline is all in a straight line which is what you don’t want to see.

"If we had have got them on the back foot we could’ve caused them more problems. It turned into such an easy game for France."  

As the full-time whistle blew, Socceroos fans were left scrambling for some silver-lining and many felt Kewell was a standout from the commentary box. 

While his main focus is on coaching and learning off former Australia coach Ange Postecoglou in Scotland, Kewell has very quickly become a firm favourite behind the mic. 

The Socceroos next face a clutch match against Tunisia on Saturday night where three points will be vital to keep their hopes of a place in the knockout stages alive. 

Tunisia held Denmark to a 0-0 draw prior to Australia's match against France and showed why they aren't a team to take lightly. 

Joshua Thomas

Joshua Thomas Photo

Josh has been covering sport for nearly a decade now having fallen in love with football at a young age. A UTS graduate, Josh has previously worked for GOAL and now covers football closely for The Sporting News.