Harry Redknapp's verdict on the Socceroos

Dom Farrell

Harry Redknapp's verdict on the Socceroos image

Harry Redknapp felt Jordan suffered due to Australia's superiority in all departments after watching his side slump to a 5-1 defeat in Sydney.

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Redknapp's first game in charge of Jordan ended in an 8-0 thrashing of Bangladesh but the concluding part of his two-match World Cup qualification brief ended in vastly different circumstances.

Victory would have secured Jordan's place in the next stage of the AFC section but a first-half brace from Tim Cahill set the hosts on the way to a dominant triumph.

Jordan must now wait on other results to see if they progress as one of the four-best runners up, and Redknapp believes the team has plenty of progress to make on all fronts.

"It was as difficult as I expected it to be," he told a post-match news conference. "There was a big gulf in class, in all honesty. We stepped up a level and it was difficult.

"They looked much fitter. Australia looked great tonight. But if Australia played Spain next week you'd be looking at them and thinking, 'they’re not very good'.

"That's how the game is. Australia have been in the big competitions over the years and the quality was the difference.

 "We lost our way [after Cahill opened the scoring]. You need to be solid to not concede another goal but we did."

Irrespective of whether Jordan now progress, Redknapp insists the country's football association must review an international set-up that left him largely unimpressed.

"The whole structure of the setup needs work. There is so much work needs doing," he added.

 "We had no analyst on the opposition, no sports scientist.

 "The players all play in Jordan, most of them. They are short on fitness. So when they play better teams they struggle for fitness.

 "What can you do?"

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.