Barber stands tall as CommBank Pararoos hold USA to exciting draw
The CommBank Pararoos played out an exciting 0-0 draw with USA in front of 1,027 fans at Cromer Park on Saturday afternoon.
In the team’s second home fixture since Sydney 2000, Australia went toe-to-toe with the world number four-ranked nation in a stalemate packed with close calls.
While the visiting nation created a handful of half-chances early, it was Australia’s Daniel Campbell – first goalscorer last time the side played on home soil back in 2019 – who went closest in the opening half.
The midfielder won the ball high up the pitch and found himself through on goal, only to be denied by a strong save from American goalkeeper Sean Boyle.
The second half was headlined by Australia’s talismanic leader David Barber.
Earning his 106th cap, 97th as captain, the outfield player-turned-goalkeeper stood tall time and time again to ward off a wave of USA attacks.
Barber and his backline defended admirably to ultimately ensure Australia kept a clean sheet, and nearly stole the victory late on as Connor Bunce flashed a powerful effort that was parried to safety by Boyle.
In a heartwarming moment, youngster Rafferty Bacon was introduced for his international debut in the closing stages – and so nearly grabbed the winner as he nearly guided an effort goalward.
While the match ended scoreless, the healthy crowd on Sydney’s Northern Beaches rose as one to applaud the CommBank Pararoos’ almighty effort against one of the international powerhouses of CP Football.
“USA are a world class team and our guys really dug deep today,” Australian captain Barber said post-game.
“We really worked hard, stuck to our process, and stuck to our game plan which was to work hard, be disciplined and wait for our chances.
We almost pulled off an upset – while it wasn’t a win, we are really proud of the draw on such an incredible day.”
Coach Kai Lammert similarly full of pride for his side’s defensive effort.
“What a performance, defensively I think that was one of our best performances in over 20 years,”
“What I’m more pleased about is that we had our moments – there was three or four moments where we could have really won it.
“For us, this is just the start. It’s exciting, we have so many young boys coming through and these boys are doing an awesome job.”
CommBank Pararoos v United States of America
February 4, 2023
Cromer Park, Cromer
Kick off: 3pm AEDT
Crowd: 1,027
Australia Lineup: 7. David Barber (GK) ©, 2. Ben Roche, 3. Taj Lynch, 4. Alessandro La Verghetta, 5. Daniel Campbell, 10. Connor Bunce, 17. Kaylan Van Heer (12. Benjamin Sutton 47’ (13. Rafferty Bacon 67’))
Substitutes not used: 1. Christian Tsangas (GK), 6. Timothy Blowes, 8. Riley Stubing, 9. Luc Launder, 14. Augustine Murphy, 15. Noah Bremmer-Bell, 16. Joshua Beekes, 18. Christian Bitsikas
USA Lineup: 1. Sean Boyle (GK), 3. Jacob Crumbley, 5. John Sullivan, 10. Frankie Lowery, 11. Jonah Meyer-Crothers (14. Shea Hammond 29’), 13. Joshua Brunais, 16. Wesley Pincince
Substitutes not used: 12. Hugo Komoransky (GK), 2. Kevin McCandlish, 4. Chileshe Chitulangoma, 6. Jacob Kaplan, 7. Kyle Montgomery, 8. David Bremer, 9. Michael Ruiz, 15. Ethan Haussmann