Australia One Goal Short of a Stunner as Brazil Salvages 1-1 with Late Header

With seconds left before the final whistle, Townsville was already dreaming of an upset. The dream lasted right up until the last ball of the match: a header from substitute Rayan, on from the bench, that snatched away a victory Australia seemed to have written for themselves. The 1-1 draw against Brazil leaves a bittersweet taste, though no one at Queensland Country Park can say their Socceroos didn't fight for it until the very end.

The hero of the night, for 67 minutes at least, was Nestory Irankunda. In the 68th minute, when Douglas Luiz brought down young Paul Okon-Engstler near the box, the 20-year-old winger didn't hesitate: he placed the ball just so and curled a free kick that was impossible for Hugo Souza to reach. He celebrated with a backflip in front of a packed stadium, well aware of what the goal meant: only Australia's second ever against the five-time world champions.

You have to go back a long way to find anything like it. In 12 meetings between the two nations, the Socceroos had only won once before, back in 2001, in the third-place playoff at the Confederations Cup, courtesy of a goal from Shaun Murphy. With that history, any positive result against Brazil already sounds like a heroic feat.

The match, however, hadn't started well for the home side. Brazil went ahead first through a goal from Estêvão, the Chelsea gem, but the goal was overturned after a VAR review: Bruno Guimarães had fouled Harry Souttar in the buildup that ended in the net. That first half also produced a clash of heads between Jacob Italiano and Douglas Santos that briefly stopped play, though both were able to continue.

What stood out was Australia's approach. Far from sitting back as they did for much of their World Cup run, Tony Popovic's side chose to go toe to toe with the world's number 5. As early as the second minute, a rejuvenated Italiano dispossessed Vinícius Júnior and fed Connor Metcalfe, whose shot sailed over the crossbar. Then it was goalkeeper Patrick Beach's turn, denying a deflected effort from Estêvão in the 6th minute before Australia broke forward quickly on the counter. Irankunda had also given a warning before his goal with a long-range effort that forced Hugo Souza into a stretching save.

Both squads arrived at the game still stinging from early World Cup exits, and that showed in the lineups. Carlo Ancelotti, in charge of Brazil, called up just nine players who had been at the World Cup among his 26 selections for the Queensland tour. On the home side, Popovic handed a starting berth up front to Tete Yengi in place of the injured Mohamed Touré, and moved Irankunda back to his natural spot out on the left. There was also a debut: former A-League standout Marcus Younis came on in the 84th minute in place of Metcalfe.

With this draw on the scoreboard, Australia still has that second historic win over Brazil to chase. The chance to go after it will come soon: Popovic's side travels to Brisbane to face the Brazilians again on Tuesday at Suncorp Stadium.