Australian media reacts to Kusini Yengi display as Portsmouth star features in 2-0 win v Lebanon
Portsmouth star Kusini Yengi played for 66 minutes as Australia beat Lebanon 2-0 in a World Cup qualifying clash at the CommBank Stadium in Sydney on Thursday.
Keanu Baccus and Kye Rowles scored in each half to secure a comfortable win for the Socceroos, who’ll play again versus Lebanon next Tuesday (26 March) in Canberra.
Yengi, 25, was replaced by Mitchell Duke not long after the hour-mark in Sydney and the Australian media, overall, didn’t seem too impressed by the Pompey forward’s performance.
Fox Sports’ player ratings gave Yengi just 4/10 for his display, noting that the effort was there but that he just didn’t provide enough quality.
“[Yengi] worked hard but didn’t have the kind of impact he would have hoped for. The connection between him and [Adam] Taggart up front is clearly brand new, so it’s understandable that it didn’t always click. Yengi was aggressive with the ball at his feet and took defenders on, but couldn’t quite make things happen. There were positive moments, with some good hold-up play, but he’ll look forward to Canberra and the chance to score a maiden goal there,” said Fox Sports journalist Zac Rayson.
Australia holds high hopes for Kusini Yengi despite Portsmouth star display v Lebanon
Fox Sports conceded that Yengi’s recent performances at Portsmouth makes him one of Australia’s most in-form forwards at club level so there are still high hopes surrounding the Fratton Park ace. The Sydney Morning Herald said the same about the 25-year-old, that he’s in “ripping form” in League One.
There’s no doubt that’s true either with Yengi scoring 11 goals in 24 appearances across all competitions since joining the Blues from Western Sydney Wanderers last summer.
However, his wait for a first international goal with Australia goes on after earning his fifth cap in the win over Lebanon.
The Guardian Australia (page three, 22 March) dubbed the Socceroos’ win as “chaotic” but noted that Yengi did well to play in Jackson Irvine at one point to create one of their best chances of the game. Unfortunately, Irvine’s resulting shot was blocked away.
Yengi’s inclusion in the Aussie squad has led to Portsmouth’s League One match this weekend against Barnsley being postponed.
Paddy Lane is with the Northern Ireland squad, who take on Romania on Friday (22 March) and Scotland next Tuesday.
Myles Peart-Harris was a surprise call-up for the Jamaica Under-23s squad, who will be at a Europe-based training camp and have already played Spanish second-tier club Espanyol this week and are set to face Guinea Under-23s on Friday.
In other Portsmouth news, a supercomputer has predicted Pompey’s automatic promotion chances.
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