Socceroo hopes familiarity will breed victory over Germany
CONFEDERATIONS CUP
MATHEW Leckie hopes half a decade in Germany might be about to pay off.
After three years plying his trade for now-relegated Bundesliga side Ingolstadt and other clubs before that, the Socceroos mainstay heads to Russia with valuable insight on how to tackle the world champions in Monday’s opening Confederations Cup clash.
And his intel tells him Australia can get off to a winning start if it eschews the kinds of they play. I know a few of them,” Leckie said.
“I’m excited to get out there and be able to go back to Germany and say we beat them.”
German coach Joachim Low last month named seven “We’re going to go away with the family and think about what’s going to happen. We have to sort it out — see what happens with the club, too, because I’m under contract, I’m not free. Real Madrid? They have been trying to recruit me since I was 14.” — Monaco and France wonderkid Kylian Mbappe wants to sort out his future this European summer, as Arsenal and Real Madrid circle. uncapped players in an experimental side missing the likes of Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos, Jerome Boateng, Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels. On Wednesday one of those debutants, RB Leipzig midfielder Diego Demme, was ruled out with a back injury four days after debuting in Saturday’s 7-0 World Cup qualifying win over San Marino. Yet in the same match another Hoffenheim striker, Sandro Wagner, marked his second cap with a stunning hat-trick.
“They haven’t taken their best team but (have) a lot of young talent who are going to be very motivated to perform for their nation,” Leckie said.
“It’s definitely going to be tough, but if we can play to our best and cancel out the small mistakes we’ve got a real chance.” Leckie played the last time Australia faced Germany in 2015, an impressive 2-2 away draw it could have won had Lukas Podolski not equalised late to cancel out Mile Jedinak’s cracking free-kick.
“That was a good game from us,” he said. “It’s never easy to play an away game and get a result — especially against world champions —— and we went there and got a draw and could have won it. “We take confidence from that.
“We believe that now, something maybe at the beginning that wasn’t there.”
The other element that wasn’t there is the Socceroos’ recently implemented 3-2-4-1 formation, a system requiring significant adaptation from winger- turned- wingback Leckie, given his traditional strengths higher up the field.