Van Marwijk pleased by winning response to frank half-time feedback
Caltex Socceroos boss Bert van Marwijk took encouragement from his side's reaction to an honest half-time assessment that ultimately led to a second successive victory.
Daniel Arzani netted his maiden international goal before Tamas Kalas put through his own net in stoppage time to give Australia a 2-1 friendly win over Hungary in Budapest on Sunday morning (AEST).
REPORT: Arzani fires first goal as Caltex Socceroos top Hungary
The second-half strikes came either side of an unfortunate Trent Sainsbury own goal and ensured van Marwijk's men head to the FIFA World Cup™ with two wins in as many warm-up outings, having dispatched the Czech Republic 4-0 last week.
WATCH THE MATCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE VIDEO ABOVE
Though frustrated by a first-half performance he said was affected by a heavy training camp workload, the Dutchman was pleased with his team's positive response to forthright feedback.
"I told them at half-time I was not satisfied," van Marwijk said in his post-match news conference.
"In the second half we did, in my opinion, much better. A lot of things we did well. Not all the things.
"But in the second half, for a big part, we had control in the game."
Australia's victory was heavily influenced by exciting teenager Arzani, who broke the deadlock with an audacious effort barely a minute after his introduction.
The 19-year-old then played a key part in the stoppage-time winner, combining with fellow substitute Jackson Irvine prior to Kalas' error.
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Van Marwijk praised his team's desire to push on in search of a winner following the disappointment of Hungary's equaliser.
"You saw they didn't think about [settling for] 1-1," he said.
"They wanted to win and that's positive.
"We played two games in preparation, won 4-0 and 2-1. That's good for morale."
Australia now turn attention to the all-important tournament opener against France in Kazan on June 16.
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