The Socceroos have played just one game in their World Cup Qualification Asia group and know they need to finish top of the standings to automatically enter the next stage of qualifying.
Goals from Crystal Palace midfielder Mile Jedinak and Ipswich Town winger Tommy Oar helped Australia kick-off their road to Russia with a 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan back in June.
Socceroos manager Ange Postecoglu is looking forward to leading his team out in Perth and although three points is a must he also wants to entertain the supporters.
Postecoglu told FootballAustralia.com:
“There’s always a little bit of excitement amongst the players. It’s their first home game since the Asian Cup and we haven’t been to Perth for a long time.
“We had a great turnout at the fan day and I’m sure there will be a buzz in the stadium. A perfect night for us would be to play well and also entertain the crowd but the most important thing is we keep progressing our football.
“We want to put on a show. It’s three important points and the more points you get earlier in this campaign, the less likely of a banana-skin down the track.”
Postecoglou has revealed he will not name his full starting line-up until the morning of the game, although he has said young goalkeeper Alex Cisak will not be starting the match, while former Everton star Tim Cahill is expected to captain the side in place of Jedinak.
The Greece born coach knows talk is cheap and results are the only thing that matters in football. He added:
“This is a World Cup qualifier, it’s not a friendly game and the sole focus is on the game and that’s it.
“We’re under no illusions if it doesn’t go well tomorrow night, no-one’s going to care about anything that’s been discussed over the last 48 hours, all they are going to care about is how come we didn’t win a game of football in a World Cup qualifier. That ain’t going to happen on my watch.”
Bangladesh have played two World Cup qualifiers already in Group B with just one point from a possible six and they cannot really afford to drop many more points.
They opened up their campaign with a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Kyrgyzstan in June, while their last qualifier saw them held to a 1-1 draw at home to Tajikstan.
Bangladesh are ranked 170 in the world and manager Lodewijk de Kruif is well aware his side have already been written off, but he is adamant they will not go to Perth and lie down.
He said:
“We know [Australia] is number one in Asia, a good team, a lot of good players that are playing in Europe so we are absolutely the underdog.
“Of course we have our tactics. We will start the match very motivated and very eager to get a good result. It’s a wonderful experience for my team and anything can happen in football. My players are not afraid. They have respect but they are not coming as a tourist here.”
Australia versus Bangladesh lock horns in Group B of their World Cup Qualifying group at the nib Stadium in Perth with a kick-off time of 1200 BST.
source:football-news.com
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