“Play to be remembered” – it’s the message being drummed into the Socceroos as they bid to beat Japan for the first time in nine meetings to maintain a genuine hope of automatic World Cup qualification.
In all likelihood, the Socceroos are going to need to beat Japan on Thursday night in Sydney and Saudia Arabia in Jeddah next Wednesday morning (AEDT) to avoid having to win two sudden-death playoffs to reach this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
A loss to Japan would condemn Australia to third place in Group B of the AFC’s third round of World Cup qualifying, sending them to June’s playoffs and making the result of next week’s game in Saudi Arabia irrelevant.
It’s a scenario the Socceroos don’t want to be facing at full-time on Thursday night at Stadium Australia.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake,” said Socceroos assistant coach René Meulensteen, who along with fellow assistant Tony Vidmar, has been in charge of training this week while national coach Graham Arnold has been in isolation after testing positive to Covid-19 last Thursday.
“These are the games that players are going to be talking about in many years to come. Those are the games you want to be remembered by, and the message for us is play to be remembered.”
Victory over Japan for the first time since 2009 will undoubtedly be memorable considering the disruptions the Socceroos have encountered in the past week.
Not only has Arnold had Covid-19, he was also fined a hefty $25,000 by Football Australia for breaking NSW health protocols by exiting isolation to go for a brief swim on Sunday to treat his allergies.
The Socceroos are also without the playing services of Aaron Mooy, Jackson Irvine and Kye Rowles (all Covid-19), Craig Goodwin (Covid-19 close contact), Riley McGree (calf injury) and Tom Rogic (ankle injury).
Add to that the long-term absence of first-choice defender Harry Souttar (knee reconstruction), and it’s a weakened starting 11 on Thursday night.
“More than anything, I think courage will win us the game – the courage of the players to do the right thing, to show their talents which will cause a lot of problems for the Japan team,” Meulensteen said.
However, if sheer bravery isn’t enough, and the Socceroos require a touch of magic to win the game, the man for the occasion could very well be the classy Ajdin Hrustic.
In the absence of Rogic and Mooy, the main playmaking responsibilities are likely xjmtzywto fall to Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hrustic.
Without Rogic and Mooy in a bracket of qualifiers last June, Hrustic was superb for Australia and he also showed his skill in scoring with a sublime free-kick in the Socceroos’ 2-1 loss to Japan at Saitama Stadium in October.
“Ajdin plays in a very strong league in Germany, the Bundesliga with Eintracht,” Meulensteen said.
“He probably would have wished to have more minutes than he’s played, but Ajdin is a very talented player that has got the ability to make things happen, to play players through, to put them into one-v-one situations, to create assists and to score goals himself.
“Besides that, he got a fantastic set piece delivery as well, so it is an opportunity and that is what is going to be presented for all the players, and this is the opportunity for them to step up and show how good they are.”
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 AFC Asian third-round qualifiers
Australia v Japan
Stadium Australia
Thursday, 8.10pm (AEDT)
TV: Live on Network 10
TAB odds: Australia $2.80, Japan $2.60, draw $3.10
Possible Socceroos XI: Mat Ryan, Rhyan Grant, Trent Sainsbury, Milos Degenek, Aziz Behich, Jimmy Jeggo, Connor Metcalfe, Martin Boyle, Ajdin Hrustic, Awer Mabil, Mitch Duke.
