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The A-League Men All Stars have made light work of a youth-filled Newcastle United team, cruising to a 8-0 win at Marvel Stadium.
With Socceroos coach Graham Arnold watching from the stands, the A-League Men All Stars have thrashed a youth-filled Newcastle United team 8-0.
Wellington's Ben Old scored in the fifth minute, with the impressive Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney) adding a second 20 minutes later.
Socceroo Adam Taggart netted in the 34th minute at Marvel Stadium while Newcastle Jets gun Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, eyeing a maiden national call-up, scored in the 62nd and 74th minutes.
Jake Hollman, Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Bozhidar Kraev scored late to round out the thrashing.
"It's easy to see a younger team and go through the motions, but we didn't. I was very happy to see that," All Stars coach Patrick Kisnorbo said.
"I told Stama and Taggs they'd have 45 minutes each and to go and leave nothing behind - and they did. Both of them were exceptional.
"Also there's obviously other players that might be in the fold for the Socceroos.
"End of the day, it's up to Arnie to pick, but the application was everything tonight and they showed that."
Taggart joked about how Kisnorbo, famously a brutally tough trainer, had put the All Stars through their paces with a double session this week.
Bayern Munich-bound Nestory Irankunda, arguably the headline act, was surprisingly limited to a 20-minute cameo off the bench by Kisnorbo - and was electric.
Newcastle's senior players largely departed after Wednesday night's friendly with Tottenham at the MCG while Kisnorbo fielded an experienced team.
It was a rough game for a young Newcastle team that was often physically bullied by the All Stars' plethora of experienced heads.
After debuting against Spurs, fringe Socceroos youngster Garang Kuol started Friday evening's game and showed some glimpses of form for his English club.
"He's probably one of those players that's difficult to assess because he's a front player and he's needing service and quality into him that wasn't there today," Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said.
"But he has to look at his own performance and reflect properly on what he could have done better.
"There was flashes from him, flashes of quality, moments where he showed what he's capable of. But yeah, the team probably didn't help him there."
The All Stars quickly took control, snatching a 3-0 lead by half-time.
Irankunda entered in the 71st minute and had an almost immediate impact.
The teen sensation was released down the right, burst forward and squared the ball for Stamatelopoulos to tap home his second.
Kuol should have had a late penalty when he was cut down by Scott Wootton but nothing was forthcoming.
Irankunda played a role in Hollman's goal in the 82nd minute, before Courtney-Perkins and Kraev completed the rout.
"You can see the difference between the experience of the All Stars - and I thought they played very well - and the inexperience of some of our players," Howe said.
"Probably the biggest difference was physically in the last part of the game where they could bring substitutes on. They looked good and they looked stronger for it. And we tailed off quite badly."
