SOCCER-AUSTRALIA/:Soccer-Popovic desires win over ‘finest staff
The Australians face Hajime Moriyasu’s much-changed squad in Perth realizing a win would take them to the verge of securing a ticket for subsequent 12 months’s 48-team finals in North America as runners-up in Group C behind the already-qualified Japanese.
“A win is something that we’re pushing towards,” mentioned Popovic, who led his staff to a 1-1 draw when the edges final met in October.
“We really feel assured we are able to present an improved efficiency from what we did in Japan, albeit that was an excellent one.
“We’ll have to be at our best to beat the best team in Asia. That’s where we want to get to and to be the best we have to beat the best and they clearly are.”
The Japanese confirmed their ticket for the finals in March and, in consequence, head coach Moriyasu has named a squad that includes eight uncapped gamers for the journey to Perth.
While Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo and Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo have been included within the 27-player line, the Japanese are lacking key gamers akin to Kaoru Mitoma, Hidemasa Morita and Ayase Ueda.
Australia go into the sport in second place within the group, three factors forward of Saudi Arabia with two video games remaining, though Popovic will likely be with out goal-scoring midfielder Jackson Irvine, who’s sidelined after foot surgical procedure.
“It’s not their best squad, I wonder what that will look like because when we played them in Japan they had their starting 11 all playing in Europe,” Popovic mentioned.
“We can see that they have a mixture of J-League players and European based players in their squad. We haven’t beaten them often and I’m sure they’ll be strong regardless of who they play.”
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