34 mins: Antonisse cuts into the area on the right and gets on to the end of a lovely curling pass from Bacuna. He takes a touch before firing straight into Ryan.

32 mins: The start of a beautiful play there with Juric turning on the ball surrounded by defenders in the centre of the field. He passes it off to O’Neill whose pass forward to a sprinting Trewin is too heavy.

30 mins: Curaçao’s turn to charge at the area where they are held up relatively easily. Keep prodding and they might get through though.

28 mins: Australia have been pressing high all game and after that turnover on the touchline that will likely continue. Hrustic makes a run cutting in from the right but something isn’t timed right and he ends up just toe-poking the ball towards goal, which Room easily picks up.

26 mins: Sounds like AAMI Park has picked up the energy a bit too. Mabil picks up a pass from O’Neill at the centre circle and finds Trewin on the right but his cross is misfired over the far post.

22 mins: End to end with the long balls for a minute. Curaçao have a rare few moments of possession. They’ve been turning up the pressure but not holding on the ball.

20 mins: This time the long ball comes back to Herrington who finds Hrustic. He tries to connect with Mabil but the ball flicks up into his hand.

18 mins: And we’re back, Ryan restarting play. He sends a long ball forward which goes out for an Australian throw and then it’s back at Ryan’s feet again.

16 mins: A brief pause as Curaçao’s Comenencia has clashed heads with the referee! No foul given they are sad to learn.

14 mins: The back five hastily pass it across the line, Curaçao not giving them a lot of space though. Antonisse probes into the area edging past Herrington but cut short with a sliding tackle from Circati.

12 mins: We can probably expect plenty of substitutions tonight – the teams have agreed for up to 11 changes each. The Socceroos made eight against Cameroon.

10 mins: Juric darts forward on the left and reaches the edge of the box before he is disposseed. Behich has another chance and flings himself down dramatically but Curaçao make haste down the other end. Ryan is forced into a diving save and the rebound is hammered straight back before going out for a goal kick.

8 mins: Juric is looking more comfortable too, he’s working well with Hrustic and Mabil leading the line. Juric was not able to make much of his first half last game, often out on his own.

6 mins: Herrington is a revelation … I was about to write and then he hoofed the ball forward and out for a throw-in. But he does look comfortable in that backline.

4 mins: The energy is significantly higher tonight, that is a relief. Australia look much hungrier.

Reporter Jack Snape is on the ground: “As the firework smoke cleared, the stands at AAMI Park revealed themselves to be only half full. It’s something of a disappointment for the team’s final match on Australian soil before the World Cup. But there is strong Socceroos support in a full bay behind Mat Ryan’s goal, and the first “Auu-strayyy-leee-ahhhh” chant has already gone round.”

2 mins: Australia press high straight from kick-off, putting the Curaçao defence and goalkeeper under a little pressure early.

Trewin is tackled late by Gaari and Australia settle back into possession at the back before Curaçao dart forward and cause a brief scramble of four defenders in the area.

Anthems have been sung, hands high-fived, fireworks blasted. We’re nearly there.

The players are walking out. Curaçao are in their white Addidas kit with black accents.

On the new strip. I admit I kind of like the away kit. The colours are fun and it’s something different. The keeper kit is especially cool.

The home kit on the other hand, I do not. I know it seems classic and simple and surely all you could ask for from a green and gold kit? No, I say. The only thing that’s right is the gold. The green is too light, and the two-tone shorts look like they’ve been for a swim up to their thighs. And why are the necks so big?

James has sent through an email:

G’day Jo and all,

Nice to have you with us for today.

Surely Curaçao will give us a run tonight, they did qualify after all. But we all know what’s coming for Australia – 8 at the back, nothing through the middle and quite possibly the most negative team going to this World Cup? Anyway … let’s just beat the Yanks and I’m happy. Prediction for tonight: 0-0. Sorry guys. But hey we’ll keep a clean sheet!

Thanks James. Popovic has certainly not opted for a more attacking lineup. Perhaps an he’ll offer an injection of Irankunda again, maybe a debut for Ante Suto … and … Alex Robertson, surely.

It’s happening. They are breaking out the new away kit. The pinky-orange faded into turquoise kit. Thoughts? Please, please, let me know how you feel about the strip.

Slightly off topic from the current sitch but overnight we will find out who will be the fourth team in the Socceroos’ World Cup group along with hosts USA and Paraguay. It will be either Turkey or Kosovo who play each other tomorrow morning (AEDT). The Balkan nation only became Fifa members in 2016, but a win over Turkey would secure their first World Cup finals place. Nick Ames filed this preview from Pristina:

Now to get things started like this …

A little more on Curaçao and their coach Fred Rutten who has only been in the job since February:

Australia’s opponents tonight are the tiny Caribbean nation of Curaçao. If you haven’t come across them before, it’s worth taking a look back at their World Cup qualification in November last year. They are the smallest nation to ever qualify for the tournament, so you can imagine the magnitude of the celebration when they booked their spot.

The current team also have a surprising connection to the Socceroos, which John Duerden explains here:

‘Twas the match before the World Cup,
When all through the squad,
The Socceroos jostled,
To receive Popa’s nod.

As I said, tonight is all about getting a ticket to the US for the individual players. Obviously they want to win with the team, but a spot in Tony Popovic’s World Cup squad is the real prize on the line. Jack Snape has you covered with this football-Christmas-in-June/July-themed match preview:

Ya boi Joey Lynch was on the ground at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Friday to catch the action. Key takeaways from his match report include the much-needed spark brought by Nestory Irankunda and Awer Mabil at half-time, plus the skill and composure of debutant Lucas Herrington.

If you want to catch up on the minue-by-minute detail from that game, you can check out Martin Pegan’s blog.