Postecoglou relishes Tajikistan challenge and urges Adelaide to turn out

Postecoglou relishes Tajikistan challenge and urges Adelaide to turn out

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The Socceroos have settled well in Adelaide for their upcoming World Cup qualifying game against Tajikistan, but boss Ange Postecoglou says he will not be deciding who will take field until he sees them take part in their final training session tonight.

Postecoglou was adamant addressing the media today, stating all 23 selected players would be up for the job regardless.

“It’s good, I think everyone’s excited to be back in. it’s been our longest break since November in the international calendar, for the boys not too bad, they keep playing and doing their business,” said the coach.

“For us, on the staff it gets a bit frustrating not getting a game, it just means we’re really well prepared because we’ve had plenty of time to prepare for it, the vibe is good, the staff and the players it’s good for them to reconnect.

“The players will be looking forward to it. They love playing at home, the last two games in Perth and Canberra have been really good games for us with the way we’ve performed

“The games we should have won, it wasn’t just about winning. The players have felt really good about that, our home games will be crucial moving forward, we always have to perform strongly and because you know how hard every away games going to be.”


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Postecoglou also urged South Australian football fans to get down to Adelaide Oval on Thursday night to witness the spectacle.

It is predicted to be a full house at the iconic stadium and the coach believes it could favour the Socceroos.

“The test is tomorrow night, if there’s a good turnout and we get a good vibe,” he said.

“Let’s bring more games here, that’s the challenge, at the end of the day we want to make our home games as intimidating and as hostile for the opposition as it is for us when we play away from home, the crowd play a big part in that.

“It’s not just the venue or the city, it’s the people, I said we had a good vibe in training yesterday, but if the South Australian people show the passion football fans in Australia can show, that helps us. We’re happy to play more games here.”

While Postecoglou had recreated a completely different World Cup Squad, he was still strong on the importance of being able to perform rather than grinding out an ugly win.

“I’ve said all along this qualification process is not just qualifying for a world cup, we’ve already done that three times in a row,” he said.

“My view is no one was happy with us just qualifying last time and that was evident because they changed the coach, if I’m just focused on qualifying I might not even be there at the world cup.

“That’s not why I took on the job, that’s not why these guys are doing what we’re they’re doing. It’s not just about qualifying, it’s about getting to a world cup and making an impact.

“It’s about performing strongly, setting high standards and preparing a team to progress to a level we haven’t before.”

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