Mo Toure's Miss in World Cup Warm-Up
Mo Toure has been in prolific goal-scoring form for Norwich City, but missed a golden opportunity to help Australia kickstart their World Cup preparations with a positive result against Mexico.
The Socceroos were beaten 1-0 by the tournament hosts in front of nearly 80,000 El Tri fans at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles overnight on Sunday.
Toure had a gilt-edged chance to equalise on the stroke of half-time, but hooked a shot wide of an empty goal from 20 yards after Mexico keeper Raul Rangel was caught out by a long ball upfield. That came as a surprise given his form in the Championship, which saw him net nine times in 11 matches for City, but perhaps proved the striker is human after all.
Second-Half Performance Shines
Despite the miss, the 22-year-old was pivotal in an impressive second-half performance that will have pleased boss Tony Popovic.
The City striker played 80 minutes as their build-up for the World Cup took a step up and admitted frustration over the defeat.
"Definitely disappointed with the result, especially how we conceded and the chances that we had after. I just felt like we could have got something much better from here," Toure told the Socceroos official channels.
"We have to learn from this and get back to the training pitch to keep working," he added. "It's getting close now. We have to just keep working to make sure that by the first game, we're in top shape and ready to go."
Popovic Defends Toure's Efforts
Aussie boss Popovic defended Toure after the game, feeling his second-half contribution more than made up for the miss on the stroke of half-time.
"We had a good chance, a very good opportunity with an open goal, but he (Toure) did very well in the match," said Popovic. "We always felt like we were a threat with Mo Toure. He looked very dangerous throughout the whole game."
However, that praise was delivered with a firm warning ahead of the start of the World Cup next month. "The players just need to believe a little bit more. You're not going to get many chances at football," Popovic cautioned. "It's a World Cup we're preparing for - you don't get many chances," as reported by The Pink'un.