Martin Boyle caps starting debut with a double and an assist for Socceroos

Hibs’ star Martin Boyle capped his starting debut for Australia with a double and an assist in last nights emphatic 3-0 win over Lebanon in Sydney.

On an historic evening where the Caltex Socceroos’ greatest goal scorer Tim Cahill said his farewell to the international stage, Boyle won the hearts of the 33,268 Aussie’ fans at the ANZ Stadium with a superb display which earned plaudits from the team manager Graham Arnold.

Speaking after the final whistle, Arnold said: “We look all over the world for players. When I went to Hibs to see Mark [Milligan] and Jamie [Maclaren] I spent a day there watching him train.

“It was a no-brainer, [to see] if I could convince him to play for Australia. To be honest I didn’t have to work too hard to convince him, he was very keen to do it.

“He’s fit into the group so well. He’s a fantastic kid and it was a pretty special night last night when we presented him with his debut jersey, and he got it from Timmy [Cahill]. I just said to him, you may have to be number four now!”

“You look at the way we play with three number nines and how many men we’re getting in the box to score goals,” he continued.

“Pace is a killer. It’s not easy when you play a team that plays a back five and sits so deep, the space is less.

“But I thought some of the combination play and runs in behind was excellent and the finishing will come.”