Aussies believe Russia sure bet
MAYBE it’s not a surprise that Ange Postecoglou remains so confident the Socceroos will qualify for the World Cup. History is on his side.
As he prepares for the qualifier with the UAE tomorrow night now described as “must win”, against a backdrop of alarm over his radical new tactics, there is one reason to suppose he could play 10 goalkeepers and still have a chance.
“Home advantage is a big thing,” Postecoglou said yesterday and he’s not wrong.
The Socceroos’ home record in World Cup qualifiers just might be one of the strongest in world football.
Through 14 national coaches, dozens and dozens of players, countless venues and every tactical system under the sun, Australia have lost just once in a World Cup qualifier on Australian soil since 1981.
That game 26 years ago was against New Zealand, with Eddie Krncevic and Gary Cole on the Australian team sheet.
Since then, only China in 2008 have managed to win a World Cup game here – and that was in the dead rubber in 2008, when Pim Verbeek gave just about every senior player bar the club-seeking Harry Kewell a day off and played what was the Olympic team.
It’s that record which partly underpins Postecoglou’s belief that, with three of four remaining qualifiers at home – UAE tomorrow in Sydney, Saudi Arabia in Adelaide in June and Thailand at home in September, enough points will be gained to get a position in the top two of Group B and earn a direct spot at Russia 2018.
“We’re in a tough group, no doubt, and every game has its challenges,” Postecoglou said.
“We’ve had four tough away trips, it’d be great to have some more points, but it was always going to come down to these last few games, especially at home.
“It’s still in our hands, but it has to be part of the overall process of making sure we don’t deviate or cower now just because people are anxious about qualifying.”
That “overall process” is the tactical evolution of the side, the latest stage of which was implemented for the first time against Iraq last week, with very questionable results.
But Postecoglou has more prosaic issues on his mind. Once again, he is infuriated that Australia can’t make that home record even more daunting through the provision of the tools his side needs.
“I haven’t seen the pitch (at Allianz Stadium) yet but our people say it’s not what it should be,” he said. “I talk about how tough the away games are and it’d be great if you came home and got exactly what you wanted.”