Socceroos forward Brandon Borrello says they want to beat Saudi Arabia, not just qualify for World Cup

West Australian

2 days ago

Australia might simply need to avoid a thrashing in Jeddah to secure World Cup qualification — but in the minds of Brandon Borrello and his Socceroos teammates, they are going to Saudi Arabia to win.
The relief of Aziz Behich's late winner against Japan to put Australia within a whisker of a sixth-straight FIFA World Cup has subsided, even if the glow is yet to.
But it has already been replaced within the Socceroos' camp by a laser-focus on Wednesday morning's (WST) against the Saudis.
Behich's 90th minute goal to rescue an undeserved win for the Socceroos after they were put to the sword by Samurai Blue has deservedly grabbed the headlines all around Australia.
After Saudi Arabia's overnight win over Bahrain, all the Socceroos have to do to officially rubber-stamp their ticket to next year's World Cup in North America is avoid a five-goal thumping.
Tony Popovic's side have a +8 advantage on goal difference over their third-placed rivals, meaning even a 4-0 win to Saudi Arabia would not be enough for them to usurp the Socceroos in the standings.
Had Behich not found the net and Australia merely clung on for a 0-0 draw against an impressive Japan, it would have meant they only had a one-point lead heading into the Saudi Arabia game.
'It was just euphoria at that time. But then the realisation sets in, there's still a game to be played in terms of not us, but Saudi and Bahrain,' he said.
'The boss spoke to us about moments; it only took one moment for us to win the game, and we celebrated in that moment.
'And then, it was straight back to the thought process of 'we have to go to Saudi now and get a result regardless.''
Borrello said they would head to Jeddah imbued with confidence having not just kept a clean sheet against Japan, but also a first win over the Asian powerhouse since 2009.
'If I'm being honest, without sounding arrogant, our intention was to beat Japan. That was the way we spoke, that was the language we used around it, we're going to win and obviously, last night, we created a bit of history,' he said.
'Playing World Cup qualifiers, every goal you score counts, and every goal you don't concede counts so it's a great feat for the boys as a team that can sort of band together and grind out a result like that.'
However, Borrello also said any talk of simply avoiding a heavy defeat is banned in the Socceroos camp.
'If they have to win by five, that shouldn't be the talk of the town. We're going there to win regardless,' he said.
'I don't want to speak about going over there and losing. That's not really the language we want to use, we want to go over there and win.
'It feels embarrassing to go over there and say, 'Saudi need to beat us 5-0'. It's this mentality of 'we're winning, we're going to qualify for the World Cup, we're gonna celebrate together and it's going to be great for the country.'
With the Saudis' overnight match against Bahrain having kicked off at midnight, Borrello said the squad were permitted to stay up and watch the game, but Popovic had stressed the importance of recovery, given the grueling nature of the Japan game and the looming, arduous 15-hour flight to Jeddah.
'When we go to Saudi, it's business as usual. We haven't achieved anything yet, and our eyes are on the prize of qualifying for the World Cup,' he said.
At the squad's training at HBF Park on Friday morning, only those not involved in the previous night's match trained fully.
After just his third 90-minute game back from a torn ACL, Perth-raised young gun Alessandro Circati spent time speaking with the national team's physios.
He did not even join his teammates in a light jog and was instead restricted to gingerly walking laps alongside right-back Lewis Miller and midfielder Connor Metcalfe.
Popovic will not want to break up his back three of Circati, Milos Degenek and Cameron Burgess, but might opt to safeguard the former given his only recent return to action.
Borrello admitted Saudi Arabia's 2-0 win over Bahrain was frustrating, given the emotional highs they had experienced a few hours before.
But all that frustration will flicker and fade quickly is the final whistle blows in Jeddah and Australia's place at next year's marquee tournament is confirmed.
'I don't think it matters how you qualify, as long as you do qualify,' Borrello said.
'That's football sometimes, and obviously, with our results going the way they've gone, we could have qualified earlier, we could have qualified later, but this is just our route.'