Australia are confident they can put aside a disrupted buildup to todays qualifier for the FIFA World Cup against Japan and keep alive their hopes of booking an automatic ticket to the finals in Qatar later this year.
Victory for Japan at Sydney’s Stadium Australia would send the Samurai Blue and Saudi Arabia through to Qatar, leaving Australia to negotiate a tricky path through two playoffs if they are to make it to a fifth straight finals.
A draw would keep Australia in the chase mathematically ahead of their final qualifier in Saudi Arabia next week, but realistically the Socceroos know they must beat Japan — a feat they have not achieved in more than a decade.
Photo: AP
Adding to that challenge is the absence of a string of players, including influential midfielders Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic, and the potential absence from the dugout of coach Graham Arnold, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
Assistant coach Rene Meulensteen performed Arnold’s media duties yesterday and said that the players were excited at having the opportunity to write themselves into the history of the Australian game.
“These are the games that players will be talking about in many years to come,” Meulensteen said. “These are the games that you want to be remembered by. Yes, everybody knows what’s at stake, but the excitement of what you can achieve will get the players to play at their very, very best, I have absolutely no doubt about it.”
A draw today would leave Japan needing one more point in their final Group B match at home against Vietnam next week to secure a spot in Qatar, but coach Hajime Moriyasu said his side wanted to seal the deal in Sydney.
“Our plan is to win, not to draw. As the game goes on our plan might change ... but we are going out there to win,” Moriyasu told reporters. “We have to want it more than the Australians.”
Regardless of the result, Australia are guaranteed to finish at least third and move to a playoff against the third-placed team in Asian Group A, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon and Iraq scrambling for that place after Iran and South Korea qualified from Group A.
The winner of that playoff faces a team from South America for a place in Qatar.
Elsewhere in Group B, China face Saudi Arabia in the UAE, while Vietnam are to play Oman.
The UAE are to play Iraq today before hosting South Korea. Lebanon, who are three points behind the UAE, host Syria and then play away against Iran.
Additional reporting by AP
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