BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
CELTIC favourite Tom Rogic endured a chastening international experience as Australia played out a “pathetic” 2-2 draw against Thailand.
The Socceroos fell behind to the Asian minnows, ranked 146 in the world, twice on Tuesday afternoon and required penalty kicks from skipper Mile Jedinak to even rescue a draw.
Rogic, tipped as the next golden boy of Australian football after eight goals for Celtic this term, played the full match but failed to shine on his 23rd appearance for the national side.
Aussie legend Mark Bosnich pulled no punches in his assessment, telling Fox Sports “the worst performance I’ve ever seen by the Socceroos under [manager] Ange [Postecoglu]. The less said the better. Pathetic.”
The draw allowed Japan to leapfrog the Aussies into second spot in their World Cup qualifying section, with Saudi Arabia leading the way.
Only the top two are guaranteed to advance to the next stage of qualifying.
“To come away here with less than three points is a real shame,” added Jedinak. “We have to move forward – but I think we need to assess what’s gone wrong here.
“I’m sure we’ll do that but we’ve got to rectify it quickly.”
