Australia shocked many with their stunning World Cup win against Turkey on Sunday, opening their World Cup campaign in style.

Two brilliant counterattacking goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe headlined the victory, as did the heroics of new goalkeeper Patrick Beach.

The Socceroos’ defence, though, was the cornerstone of the victory, a trademark of coach Tony Popovic.

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So, what made this strategy so effective against Turkey, and will it work again in the Socceroos’ remaining group stage games against the United States and Paraguay?

How is Popovic different to previous Socceroos coaches?

Popovic’s main strategy is a strong defensive structure based on a deep block (in which teams drop into their defensive back third of the pitch to close down the space in and around the 18-yard box), and an extremely disciplined group of players to mainly prevent any goalscoring opportunists and force shots from long range.

It is a system based on counterattack: defend in numbers and then aim to pass balls behind an........

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