PLUCKY AUSSIES ON RED ALERT

THE players know what is coming. Graham Arnold too. A great wall of red noise.

The World Cup showdown between Australia and Tunisia is more than just a game, with the North African nation’s infatuation with football about to manifest itself in a cauldron of 40,000 screaming fans, and 11 players ready to do anything for success.

“They are aggressive and they’re going to have 40,000 fans behind them and it’s going to be a truly amazing experience again for everyone,”

Arnold said in Doha. “We’ve got to be ready for that war. Fight fire with fire, especially from the start, and then when we’re up, put the fire out.”

The defeat to France is behind them. “It’s a two-game tournament now,” Arnold said, adding that the squad was dwelling on little more than the chaotic scenes at Fed Square in Melbourne when Craig Goodwin’s opener went in.

“We showed them a great video of the energy of the fans back at home when (Goodwin) scored,” Arnold said. “That special moment will stay with those fans forever.”

Time has been an enemy since the France game, which ended at midnight on Tuesday, meaning Wednesday was a write off. Thursday included recovery and a tactical session and Friday a final preparation.

Everyone is available for selection, including Ajdin Hrustic, who is likely to play. Arnold gave nothing else away in terms of personnel changes and shed no light on a change in shape to meet the Tunisians, who played a compact five at the back in a 0-0 draw with Denmark that they were unlucky not to win.

“They’ve played that (system against Denmark) only once,” Arnold said. “They went into this first game against Denmark more defensively minded with a back five, but I expect them to play a 4-3-3.”

Tunisian midfielder Ellyes Skhiri looms as the man to stop.

“He runs the show. We’ve identified that and we’ll come up with a solution,” Arnold said.

When asked if a player like combative midfielder Cam Devlin comes into calculations, Arnold just grinned and confirmed he’s in good shape. Everyone is in contention.

This game, though, is about more than x’s and o’s. Tunisia, buoyed by their opening draw against Denmark, are backed by a 30,000-strong diaspora in Doha, which has grown to 50,000, filling up spare rooms and couches of family and friends who live in the Qatari capital.

Football is the only thing that truly unites the North African nation, which is presently going through political turmoil again a decade after the Arab Spring.

The Socceroos are about to walk into a wall of red noise, where they are the most hated people on earth. Everything is on the line.