The honeymoon is well and truly over for Tony Popovic.
After going unbeaten in his first 11 games as Socceroos coach, Popovic has now lost three on the trot as Australia were outclassed 3-0 by Colombia in New York on Wednesday (AEDT).
The Socceroos defended stoutly against the world’s No.13 team for the first 73 minutes.
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The Socceroos complain about the penalty decision. Paramount
But Colombia’s pressure eventually told as Callum Elder gave away a penalty for contact on Santiago Arias amid a mass of bodies in the box.
Captain James Rodriguez had no trouble converting past Socceroos goalkeeper Paul Izzo before Bayern Munich star Luis Diaz got in on the act.
Popovic will be filthy as Colombia’s goalkeeper Camilo Vargas simply hoofed a route one ball up the centre of Citi Field – home to baseball’s New York Mets.
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Luis Diaz scores for Colombia. Paramount
Rafael Santos Borre beat Socceroos defenders Milos Degenek and Kai Trewin to the ball and it became an embarrassing mess which Izzo unsuccessfully tried to clean up.
Ex-Liverpool ace Diaz found himself picking up the scraps and firing home for 2-0.
“One of the best on the planet, just helping himself to an empty goal,” Andy Harper said on Paramount +.
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Jefferson Lerma then rubbed salt into the wound by scoring Colombia’s third from a corner in added time.
Popovic blew up at referee Tori Penso’s decision to award the penalty in his post-match interview.
“I think for 75 minutes we did really well,” he told Paramount +.
“The first goal, we never get that penalty. That was clear that only Colombia would get that penalty. There is no way that we could ever get a penalty like that.
“I’m very disappointed in that decision. Unfortunately, at the end there, the result blows out with two soft goals.
“It is a shame for the players because they were very good. They were never really a threat, aside from those shots outside the box.”
Popovic also revealed that the entire squad had been struck down by a virus before the match.
“I have to mention for the players… they didn’t train on Sunday,” he said.
“The whole group was sick in bed. So we kept that quiet, because the players wanted to keep that quiet. So that’s a credit to them. I was happy to mention that, but the players wanted to keep that quiet.
Paul Izzo of Australia makes a save. Getty
“We had a virus through the whole squad, including the staff, so we were unable to train Sunday – so the entire day, everyone was in bed.
“We flew three hours on Monday, came here and put up a really good, brave performance.
“I’m actually surprised at how well they did, because physically, though, clearly nowhere near it.”