Socceroos back Ange

SOCCEROOS leaders have backed Ange Postecoglou leading into their cut-throat World Cup playoffs, starting with Syria on Thursday.

The Socceroos boss came under fire after failing to qualify for Russia 2018 directly, leaving a fourth-straight berth precariously placed.

Veteran Tim Cahill, who is among the players that has already arrived in Melaka, declared that Postecoglou’s impact would not be appreciated until later.

“I think you see that anyway, we’re all on the same page. My favourite saying is ‘you miss someone when they’re gone’,’’ Cahill said.

“His effect on the game, in years and years to come, people will sit there and go wow, an Australian coach did that to our country in four years — won us an Asian Cup, undefeated in the qualifiers other than the Japan away game, and he changed the footprint of football in Australia.

“I’m talking A-League (too), everyone plays Ange’s style, it’s nothing new. Now our Socceroos are playing and dominating games but that will be the case for him, they’ll miss him when he’s gone.

“We have to have the siege mentality on (October 5 and 10), going into camp. It’s all or nothing, and that’s (just) for the first bit, there’s another section (intercontinental playoffs) after that. I’m confident with this group of lads and confident we’ll go through to the next phase.”

Mark Milligan, who will captain Australia if Cahill starts on the bench and with Mile Jedinak (groin) absent, said it was a case of deja vu.

“It’s just this time of year, it seems to be a trend in qualification. Last time we qualified directly and we were attacked for being too defensive minded and not proactive enough,’’ Milligan said.

“Most important thing is that us players believe in the way we’re heading, the path we’re on and we still believe it’s the best way for us to get suc- cess. First that success is to qualify for the World Cup. I’m sure if Ange didn’t have every single player believing in (the style), I don’t think we’d be doing it that way. It’s good that everyone’s talking about it and has an opinion on it.

“We have a good culture within the national team and that’s important, something we’ve all tried to build over the last few years. If you have that strength and belief going into these sorts of games and situations, it gives you the best possible chance to perform.’’