Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou says he hopes expectations of the Socceroos have changed among the Australian public since the 2014 World Cup.
The Green and Gold kick off the next phase of 2018 World Cup qualifying on Thursday night at nib Stadium against Iraq, and are once more a firm favourite to be one of the Asian sides to progress to Russia.
Since famously qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in 34 years in 2005, the Socceroos qualified for a further two in 2010 (South Africa) and 2014 (Brazil). Ironically, it was a Josh Kennedy header against Iraq at ANZ Stadium that secured Australia’s progression to the South American nation.
However, Australia did not progress beyond the group stage in either tournament.
With a third World Cup on the horizon, Postecoglou, now in his third year in charge of the squad, wants fans to expect more from the team, dismissing claims they would not understand the difficulty of qualifying through Asia.
“I think they (the fans) know exactly how difficult it (qualification) is going to be,” Postecoglou said.
“It’s not like we’ve coasted through them (previous campaigns), especially the last one. We had to fight tooth and nail to get there.
“It’s not that long ago that we didn’t get there (World Cup).
“They understand how difficult this will be and they understand that for us, we’re going to have to overcome some challenges.
“Maybe the expectations, and I hope the expectations of the Australian football public, have changed.
“It’s not just about qualifying anymore, it’s greater than that and hopefully, that’s what gets people out to come and see us, is that we’re building something special.”
So confident is Postecoglou in the current crop of players, he believes “four of five” different starting combinations could get the job done against Usood Al-Rafidain.
“We’ll see how they (the players) train today and as always we’ll put out a team that we think will get the job done,” he added.
“The beauty of the work we’ve done over the last 18 months or so is that I’ve literally got four or five starting XIs I could put out tomorrow, and I’d feel confident about all of them getting the job done.
“Today is our first session where everyone’s in and we’ll make a decision after that.”
Postecoglou reported no injury concerns ahead of the match.
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