Socceroos primed to face the best

THERE might be a changing of the guard at the top, but the core message from the Socceroos remains a determination to face down the big guns at the World Cup.

As the 32 qualified teams begin gathering in Moscow ahead of the draw early on Saturday ( AEDT), assistant coach Ante Milicic promised that Australia had a squad “ready to make an impact” despite the exit of head coach Ange Postecoglou.

Echoing the creed that Postecoglou continually preached to his players, Milicic said the Socceroos wanted to “face the best” and be able to measure their progress four years on from the World Cup in Brazil.

Milicic will represent the Socceroos at the Kremlin Theatre in Moscow for the draw after Postecoglou’s dramatic resignation, with Football Federation Australia likely to appoint a successor early in the new year.

After drawing Spain, Holland and Chile four years ago the Australian team is hoping for a kinder draw — although Milicic was confident the experienced Socceroos could handle whatever teams land in their pool for Russia.

“There’s a lot of leaders within the squad, and while it’s obviously down to the new head coach to pick the final 23, a lot of our influential players didn’t even make the last World Cup,” Milicic said.

“The new coach will have a similar time frame to what Ange had, but what he will inherit is a squad that’s ready to make an impact in Russia.”