By N D Prashanth/Doha
 |
| Australia’s soccer team players taking part in a training session ahead of their match against Bahrain in the Asian Cup at the Al Sadd stadum today |
With the top two spots still up for grabs, the contest Group C category at the Asian Cup goes down to the wire. Australia take on Bahrain in their crucial last group fixture at the Al Sadd Stadium today and both sides cannot afford to lose.
The Socceroos are currently ahead of South Korea, with whom they drew 1-1, on better goal difference and a draw today will assure them of an easy passage into the last eight.
However, with South Korea taking on minnows India today, the men from ‘Down Under’ will be keen to make sure they come up trumps with a better goal difference if they have to avoid Asian big wigs Iran in the quarterfinals.
“Tomorrow is a decisive game for us as we play Bahrain. It has been unexpected and the final decision on who goes through from the group will be played out after our third match. We are positive and confident of putting our best foot forward. We are in a good position and if we perform well, we can qualify,” said Australian coach Holger Osieck, who warned his side against being complacent.
“If you think about a draw, then it can become dangerous. We don’t consider anything else but victory. Whenever you try to play a tactical game you may lose your strength and individuality. And we want to go out there and perform and do well,” said Osieck.
Bahrain, on the other hand, with three points from their narrow 2-1 loss to South Korea and a 5-2 win against India, are far from their best.
It’s will be an herculean task for the Gulf side going in the do-or-die match as some of their key players are on the injury list. They will also be missing the services of their ace midfielder Faouzi Aaish following a red card during their last match against India.
Australia and Bahrain will clash for the first time ever in the AFC Asian Cup Finals. Though this is their first meeting in this tournament, they have played four times on the international stage, with the Socceroos winning all the encounters - twice, in the qualification campaigns for the 2007 Asian Cup as well as the 2010 World Cup.
“We know that the match with Australia is important and we’re talking of winning because it is decisive. We know the potential and capabilities of Australia and of our own team and we will try to do our best to reach our goal and try to win.
“We have to win to qualify for the next stage and a draw is the business of the Australian team and not ours. We have had injuries and these have increased in the last few days, but the players I have at my disposal are enough to do the job,” said Bahrain coach Salman Sharida.
There are injury concerns for the Australia side as well. Most likely Jason Culian, Luke Wilkshire and David Carney will all miss this outing due to injuries. Australian defensive pair Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski, however, will have to keep a close watch on Bahrain’s striker Ismaeel Abdulatif, who scored four goals against India. It was only the third time that a player had scored four goals in Asian Cup history.
“To score four goals against any team is not an average performance as many players are chasing the opportunity to score that many goal in their entire career. We have to take Abdulatif into consideration for sure,” said Australian coach Osieck.