Socceroos aim to banish pain of 2019 in Asian Cup quarter-final against South Korea
Five years after watching their Asian Cup title defence go up in smoke, the Socceroos are determined not to suffer a similarly devastating quarter-final exit when they face South Korea in Qatar on Friday evening local time (Saturday 2.30am AEDT).
In 2019, Australia crashed out with a 1-0 loss in Al Ain to the tournament hosts, the United Arab Emirates, but only skipper Mat Ryan, Jackson Irvine and Aziz Behich remain from Graham Arnold’s squad.
All three are likely to start against South Korea at the Al Janoub Stadium in Doha, determined to vanquish memories of 2019 and seal a semi-final berth against Tajikistan or Jordan.
“It was a kick in the teeth, to be honest,” Behich said. “We went in there as reigning champions, a lot of expectation – and then it didn’t go to plan.
“So it did hurt at the time. When you get knocked out of any tournament, it hurts and I felt the same at the World Cup, even losing to the world champions [Argentina].
For their part, South Korea insist they don’t need to worry about the Socceroos’ height and physical presence as they expect their speed to prove too hot for Australia.
Centre-back Harry Souttar, who is more than 2 metres tall, headlines the big men marshalling the Socceroos and is a threat at both ends of the pitch.
Cam Burgess (194cm) midfielder Jackson Irvine (189cm) and striker Mitch Duke (186cm) are among the other aerial threats for Australia for Arnold’s men.
But striker Cho Gue-sung, who himself stands at a respectable 189cm, insisted it wouldn’t faze South Korea, whose stars Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in are capable of causing plenty of headaches with their speed.
“Australia are a very solid team. They’re a very strong team. Very solid in defence,” Cho said. “They’re very physical, they’re strong, they’re big. But we have our strengths.
“There’s no pressure on us. We have plenty of quality going forward, we have speed up front. We have very quick players that can utilise the strength of myself and the others in the team.
“So for us, it’s about how we play to maximise our strengths against a good Australian side.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann added: “Hopefully, we can create chances against Australia and utilise them at the same time.
“We have to be very awake for their counterattacks.
“They are very dangerous in that area, they are very dangerous at set pieces as we saw throughout the tournament, but also in their previous games over the last year too.
“We have a lot of respect for Australia but we have also our strengths in which we believe and, hopefully, we can play to our strengths.”
Arnold said his team would be wary not to get caught out by quick throughballs and counterattacks, promising plenty of pressing and physicality.
“It’s also about the pressure that we put on the players that play the ball and play those balls in behind,” Arnold said.
“That’s our intent – to be in their faces for 90 minutes and put pressure on.
“Obviously, one of their strengths is their technique and to take away the technical side of things and again, the way we’re doing that is pressuring them.”