Kusini Yengi sent a clear message to Graham Arnold during Australia's 5-0 triumph over Palestine as he strengthens his case to earn a permanent spot in the Socceroos starting line-up.
The Socceroos piled on the points in the first half of the FIFA World Cup qualifier as Yengi opened the scoring via a fifth-minute penalty before adding a second to leave Palestine trailing 3-nil into the break.
The 25-year-old forward has scored four goals in his past three matches for Australia and has now staked a compelling claim to be Arnold's first-choice centre forward.
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Yengi then turned provider, sending a beautiful through ball to set up Martin Boyle to claim Australia's fourth in the 53rd minute.
Bayern Munich-bound Nestory Irankunda joined the party late on, coming on as a substitute before getting on the scoresheet, netting his maiden goal via a 87th-minute penalty.
The Irankunda penalty resulted from a controversial call from from Saudi Arabian referee Khalid Al-Turais, who had previously been questioned by a furious Palestinian team after he pointed to the penalty spot that saw Yengi net the first goal.
With no VAR in operation, Palestine could not challenge the decision, with Yaser Hamed fuming as his side conceded another goal due to his error.
The result at HBF Park meant Australia ended the second round qualifying stage with a perfect record of six from six.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has a big call to make ahead of the next stage after making eight changes to the side following their 2-0 victory over Bangladesh last week.
Arnold praised Yengi's performance revealing he believes this is only the start of his success.
"It's about the depth that we've been creating," Arnold said.
"Everyone probably panicked when I made eight changes but if we played 11 v 11 [with our squad members], it would be a very tough game to win.
"But I think if you've got too many young ones – that's when mistakes and play start to fall apart.
"I think [Yengi] is only going to get better. He's playing in the [EFL] Championship now."
Despite the team's recent success, Arnold issued a warning for the squad to avoid replicating the dramatic two-legged playoff the Socceroos endured in 2022.
In that cut-throat scenario, Australia faced Peru before ultimately progressing to the World Cup finals in Qatar via a dramatic penalty shootout, clinching their World Cup ticket thanks to the heroics of specialist penalty stopper, the 'Grey Wiggle' Andrew Redmayne.
"When we went through the last campaign we won the first 11 (matches)," Arnold said.
"It's another goal that I've set the boys to achieve something special – winning more than 11 games straight.
"The most important thing is that we keep growing as a team
"I have high expectations all the time and I drive those high expectations to the boys and I don't want to go through another Peru game. That's the last thing that I want."
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