Verbeek backs his defence
The Qantas Socceroos may be set to field one of most inexperienced defensive line-ups of this World Cup campaign but Pim Verbeek has every faith his new-look back four can do the job against Japan on Wednesday night at the MCG.
The Qantas Socceroos may be set to field one of most inexperienced defensive line-ups of this World Cup campaign but Pim Verbeek has every faith his new-look back four can do the job against Japan on Wednesday night at the MCG.
Australia will have a completely different back four than that which confronted Bahrain last week with Mark Milligan and Luke Wilkshire already back with their clubs and yellow cards set to rule out Chris Coyne and David Carney.
It will mean skipper Lucas Neill will anchor an otherwise rookie defence likely to contain Jade North and two of Matthew Spiranovic, Rhys Williams and Shane Stefannuto. But the lack of experience does not concern Verbeek who sees it as a chance to see what his other defensive options can offer.
"I have the confidence they can do that. All they have to do is show it. It's a big chance for the defenders. We play with totally new defence last week against Bahrain. We play three games in a row with three different defending, it's good for me, it's a great test for the players, it's a great test, I look forward to the great opportunities," he said.
Japanese coach Takeshi Okada, who himself will field a less than full strength XI for the match, believes, the Japanese might be able to exploit Australia down the flanks.
"We will be looking to attack in the same way we usually do. We'd like to make play down the wings and get in good crosses. Along with dead ball chances, we see this as our best hope of scoring," he said.
If Japan was to score, it would be the first team to breach Australia's defence in seven games this campaign.
Australia's defence was the highlight of the last game against Japan in Yokohama in February, holding on under a Japanese barrage to grab a point with a 0-0 result. But Verbeek does not take much credence from that result and expects a different match on Wednesday.
"I think every game is different. We have a totally new team on the field. Like Japan has, I think the preparation is different, so, we can't compare games in February with games in June, it will be a tough game," he said.
Meanwhile, Verbeek was hopeful the Australian public would appreciate the efforts of the Qantas Socceroos in qualifying for the World Cup and the sacrifices that have been made by the players.
"If you see what they've done so far in the past one and half years, the trips they've had to make, for the second time or more, for some players it's the fifth time that they've had to give half of their well deserved holiday away to play for the national team," he said.
"I think we should give them a little more respect for what they do, they love to do it, but still they did a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances and they deserve a little more respect."