Defender Kye Rowles believes Australia will be energized by the hostile environment in Saitama as they look to halt Japan’s juggernaut charge toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup in an Asian qualifier today.
The Socceroos have built up a fierce rivalry with the Samurai Blue since switching to the Asian confederation in 2006, even if it has been somewhat one-sided in favor of Japan.
Rowles and his teammates would face a partisan crowd of about 60,000 at Saitama Stadium willing Japan on to a fourth straight win in Group C of the third round of Asian qualifying.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We’ve played in some pretty hostile crowds together as a group,” the centerback told Japanese reporters. “I think hostile crowds really get you going in a different way than home crowds. Home crowds makes it all nice and pretty, and you’ve got the support and it gives you that confidence. The hostile crowds really get your back up and you go: ‘Well now I’m not letting you have a party. I’m going to try and ruin it.’”
Japan have been in irrepressible form in the third round of qualifying as they target an eighth straight visit to the World Cup finals, thrashing China 7-0 and Bahrain 5-0 before beating Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jeddah on Thursday last week.
Australia have just a single win and a draw after being upset by Bahrain at home in their opener and held 0-0 by Indonesia in Jakarta.
However, Rowles thinks that they showed enough in a 3-1 win over China to suggest a first win over Japan in their past 10 meetings might be on the cards.
“Obviously, the last few years they’ve had our number,” he said. “There was plenty of positives [on] Thursday, [so] hopefully we can flip the script a little bit, and put in a good performance and get one back on them.”
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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