MELBOURNE: Australia’s Nestory Irankunda scored a second-half double as his side thrashed Curacao 5-1 in a friendly in Melbourne on Tuesday, giving fans a sweet farewell in their final home match before heading overseas to continue their World Cup build-up.

Livewire forward Irankunda struck twice as the Socceroos ran riot with four goals in a 17-minute blitz after the break against the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup.

Jordy Bos and Alessandro Circati also grabbed second-half goals at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium after Curacao’s Arjany Martha scored for the visitors in the 50th minute, cancelling out Awer Mabil’s 23rd-minute strike.

It was a more assured performance for the hosts, who laboured through a 1-0 win over Cameroon in a friendly in Sydney last Friday.

They were also disjointed for much of the match against the Caribbeans, needing goalkeeper Mat Ryan to save them twice and an injection of their first-choice players to turn the tide after the visitors levelled at 1-1.

“I guess they (substitutes) turned the game,” said Australia coach Tony Popovic, who brought on Irankunda, Bos and Riley McGree after Curacao’s goal.

“They made a wonderful impact ... You could see that when they (Curacao) fatigued and we looked a bit sharper.”

Circati opened the floodgates, with a diving header for his first international goal after 67 minutes before substitute Bos, who scored late to sink Cameroon, produced a lovely finish, curling in a right-footed shot four minutes later.

Irankunda wrapped up proceedings with a flourish, dribbling past defender Jurien Gaari before smashing a fierce shot that deflected off keeper Eloy Room and rolled into the net.

Four minutes later, he soaked up another round of cheers from the home fans with a crisp finish into the left corner.

Australia’s win was soured slightly by an injury to Ajdin Hrustic, with the midfielder having to come off with an apparent hamstring strain before the break after sending a cross to Mabil, who thumped a volley against the post.

Mabil made no mistake earlier though, poking the ball into the right corner with the help of a deflection off a defender and a Deni Juric back-heel in the box.

Australia play their opening World Cup match on June 13 against Kosovo or Turkey.

Curacao, who lost 2-0 to China last week, face Germany first at the World Cup, and coach Fred Rutten conceded they had work ahead of them.

“It’s disappointing for me,” he said. “I think we were good in the game for almost one hour. We also have to learn, if you are defending, you are defending for your life.”

In the friendly on Monday, a last-gasp Deniz Undav goal saved Germany’s blushes in an unconvincing 2-1 win over Ghana in Stuttgart.

Germany dominated possession and field position against the visitors but needed a Kai Havertz penalty to break through just before half-time.

A counter-attacking Abdul Fatawu goal drew the visitors level and the lifeless match looked on track for a draw until Stuttgart striker Undav’s 88th-minute effort put Germany back in front.

The home fans chanted Undav’s name until the striker was brought on at half-time. The former Brighton forward told ARD: “It was crazy to hear how the fans stood behind me,” adding “it was a perfect evening. Got the win, scored a goal — top. We were completely in control in the first-half, but we have to make more out of our chances,” Undav said.

Despite a seventh win in a row, it was an inconsistent performance from Julian Nagelsmann’s men against an out-of-form Ghana side.

“We didn’t play in position. There was a lot of ‘freestyle’ play again, like against Switzerland, which left us very vulnerable to counter-attacks,” Nagelsmann said.

Former Arsenal player Thomas Partey lined up in midfield for Ghana, making his second international start since telling a London court he would plead not guilty to two new charges of rape, with a trial set to take place in November.

Before the game, Nagelsmann seemed unfazed despite Germany’s leaky defence in Friday’s 4-3 win over Switzerland on Friday, telling reporters “a clean sheet is nice, but above all we need to be winning.”

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2026