Postecoglou demands his players more of the same
Sydney (IraqiNews.com) Ange Postecoglou will ask his players to deliver more of what has taken the Socceroos to the final of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 as the host nation prepares to take on Korea Republic in Saturday’s continental championship showpiece in Sydney.
Australia will play in their second consecutive AFC Asian Cup final after losing 1-0 in extra time to Japan in Qatar in 2011 and, with a full house expected at Stadium Australia, the former Brisbane Roar coach wants his team to continue to show the form that has secured wins over Kuwait, Oman, China and the United Arab Emirates.
“We’ll just do what we’ve been doing,” said Postecoglou. “It’s been successful so far and we’ll continue to do that.
“There won’t be any secrets about how we go about it tomorrow (Saturday), we’ll take the game to the opposition, we’ll put pressure on them and it’s up to them to stop us from creating opportunities and scoring goals.Nothing’s going to change from that perspective.”
Australia’s lone defeat in the tournament so far came against the Koreans in the final group game in Brisbane, when Lee Jeong-hyeop scored the only goal to ensure Uli Stielike’s side finished top of Group A.
That loss, believes Postecoglou, will have little bearing on the outcome of the final.
“At the end of it, we lost but we felt we preformed really well on the night so from our perspective there were no negatives to come out of it,” he said.
“We finished second in the group but it didn’t cost us too much from the tournament perspective. In many ways, it helped us because we managed to stay in Brisbane and we didn’t have to travel for the quarter-final.
We know that at our best we’re certainly a match for the Korean team.
“All these kind of things become irrelevant when it comes down to a one-off game, because it’s a big occasion.
“The previous game goes out the window. You realise every moment is so crucial in a big game. It’s about which team can execute the best on the day. Having been involved in a few finals, you know it doesn’t always go according to the script.”
Postecoglou was waiting until after Friday evening’s final training session before assessing the fitness of right-back Ivan Franjic, who is the only injury doubt going into a game that comes at the end of an arduous tournament.
“I can’t speak more highly of their professionalism over this last month, it’s a long time to be together and live in each other’s pockets 24/7 and it’s something that only international football brings out,” said Postecoglou of his players.
“The players, every single day are making sure they’re doing the right things. We’ve got some fantastic, experienced players who are well led by the skipper and everything I have seen suggests we will be ready for tomorrow.
“It’s a big game, a big day and there’s always that possibility (of not winning) but I have a great deal of faith in this group of players to perform the task tomorrow (Saturday).” /END/