The 27-year-old needed to replicate that sort of performance – or at least find the back of the net – to give himself the strongest possible chance of making the cut for the Socceroos.
He had his moment early in the second half when a wonderful lobbed pass from Nectarios Triantis put Cummings through on goal with only Wanderers goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas to beat. However,the Scottish-born striker fluffed his lines,couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet,and had it taken off him by Western Sydney skipper Marcelo - the sort of miss that could easily stick in Arnold’s mind come decision time.
Cummings also had a shot saved by Thomas in the first half and hit the woodwork in injury time,so could be considered somewhat unfortunate to not have taken more out of the game individually - especially since he also set up the Mariners’ third goal,a long-distance effort from youngster Sam Silvera.
Unless he has a change of heart,Arnold plans to name three out-and-out strikers for the World Cup,and,with Mitchell Duke and Jamie Maclaren,who bagged another two goals for Melbourne City earlier on Saturday,seen as certainties,the last spot could be a battle between Cummings and 16-cap Socceroo Adam Taggart,who didn’t feature for Cerezo Osaka on the final day of the J1.League season.
In the afternoon A-League match,Melbourne City smashed a hapless Perth Glory 4-0,with their three main Socceroos contenders all getting on the scoresheet.
Maclaren’s double included one from the penalty spot,taking his season tally to seven goals from just five games,while Marco Tilio and Mathew Leckie added the others in the final 10 minutes.
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Tilio could have also had a brace of his own,having created the chance for City’s opening goal,but failed to pull the trigger,with Maclaren pouncing on the loose ball that spilled his way after he was tackled.
Tilio,21,is an outside chance of making the squad but is likely competing with Kuol for a role as an impact player off the bench.
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