Socceroos have ‘room for improvement’ after China victory, insists Behich

Defender Aziz Behich believes Australia have plenty of room for improvement but are targeting a World Cup qualifying win against Japan.

The Socceroos came from behind to beat China 3-1 in Adelaide on Thursday to get their qualifying campaign back on track under new head coach Tony Popovic.

“We enjoyed it,” said Behich. “But international football games come thick and fast so we need to put that game behind us and be ready to go again.

“There’s room for improvement, but it was a positive start. We are only going to get better, that’s for sure.”

Former Australia and Crystal Palace defender Popovic took over from Graham Arnold after the Socceroos took a single point from their opening two qualifiers.

They fell behind just 20 minutes into his first game in charge, but goals from Lewis Miller, Craig Goodwin and a stoppage-time effort from debutant Nishan Velupillay earned them a crucial three points.

“We didn’t panic at all going down 1-0,” said Melbourne City defender Behich. “We always had the feeling we were going to break them down eventually.

“That’s one thing the boss made clear, keep calm and trust the process.

“We’ve only had a few days with him, the messaging hasn’t been overloaded but the messaging he has got across has been clear.”

Only the top two in the six-team group qualify automatically for the World Cup.

The win catapulted Australia from fifth to second place behind Tuesday’s opponents Japan, who have won their opening three matches, scoring 14 goals without reply.

“We are not going to take a backward step against anybody,” said Behich.

“We’ll analyse Japan and we are going there to get maximum points, but we obviously need to be switched on and make sure we are up to the fight.”