Australia vow to end Syria’s ‘fairytale’

melbourne — Under-pressure Australia have no qualms about taking the long road to Russia and stand ready to end Syria’s fairytale in the Asian World Cup playoff, according to Socceroos midfielder James Troisi.

The Melbourne Victory playmaker will join his Australia team mates in the unlikely destination of Malacca, Malaysia next week for the first clash of the two-leg series.

The plucky Syrians, forced to host their qualifiers away from the war-torn Middle Eastern nation due to security concerns, will be the sentimental favourites as they battle to overcome Ange Postecoglou’s side and continue their bid for a maiden World Cup appearance.

Australia’s failure to grab a direct ticket to their fourth successive World Cup has raised alarm bells at home but Troisi was confident the Asian Cup champions could produce the right performance at Hang Jebat Stadium.

“All credit to (Syria). They are in the position they are,” 29-year-old Troisi told Reuters on Friday at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, the Victory’s training base.

“They have an opportunity, just like us. In saying that, we want to go to the World Cup and we’ve got a bit of work to do. We won’t underestimate them.

“We’re in this position because we couldn’t get the job done for whatever reason and we left it in someone else’s hands which is not always a good thing, it didn’t work out.

“So now we’ve got a bit of a longer road but we’re pretty together and like I said, we know what we have to do. I’m quietly confident that we’ll get the job done.” Australia host Syria in the second leg at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on Oct. 10., with the overall winner to play the fourth placed team in North and Central American qualifying in November in another two-leg playoff for a berth in next year’s 32-team tournament in Russia.

The Socceroos lost only one match in the final phase of Asian qualifying but struggled to finish off opponents under Postecoglou’s new 3-2-4-1 formation. —