Popovic vows Socceroos will embrace Saudi challenge
Excited and ready to embrace the challenge.
That was the message from Australia coach Tony Popovic and cult hero Aziz Behich as the Socceroos prepare to clear the final hurdle in achieving automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup finals.
After the 1-0 win over Japan last week even a modest defeat in Jeddah will take Australia to North America, but Popovic insisted the team will be aiming to win, not just defend for 90 minutes and aim to keep the score down.
"We have put ourselves in a very good position and we have the chance to finish the job against a tough opponent," said Popovic.
"We understand how difficult it will be but we are confident we can win the game.
"We have to have the attitude - and I know we will - the mentality, the approach, to win the match. It won't be easy, Saudi Arabia are a good side and at home with their support it will be more difficult. But these are the moments you want as a footballer, that you want as a nation.
"We are in a very good position. We understand we have to work extremely hard but we are confident we can finish the job."
Australia's superior goal difference means the Saudis need to win by five goals to leapfrog them and join Japan as the automatic qualifiers from Group C in Asian Zone qualifying round three.
It does not seem likely. In nine games in the group so far Saudi Arabia have scored six goals and Australia conceded six.
Moreover the teams have played three times in the last five years, all in World Cup qualifiers, and only one goal has been scored, by the Saudis in a 1-0 win in 2022.
Behich, who sent Australia into raptures with his 90th-minute winner against Japan in Perth, echoed Popovic's words.
"We have worked hard to put ourselves in this position," said the Melbourne City defender.
"We know it will be a difficult game but we have prepared really well and we are are very confident with the ability and the squad we have that we can get the job done.
"We know what is up for grabs and we can't wait to kick off."
In an effort to create a full house and a partisan atmosphere tickets are being given away, but Behich, who had a loan spell with Al Nassr in the Kingdom last year, said he relished the prospect.
"I'm expecting a great atmosphere," he said.
"This is what we play for. Japan was a hostile environment but the boys embraced that. You don't want to play in empty stadiums.
"It is exciting, you get that extra buzz, playing for your national team in a full stadium, and on top of that qualifying for a World Cup automatically, which we haven't done for a while.
"You can see the excitement in the boys and I am looking forward to it."
Popovic, who stressed the need to play the match, not the occasion, added: "These are the challenges you must face at this level of football.
"We have faced many together since I became the coach, starting with China - needing to win the first game to get off to a good start. Then all along the journey. We had one against Japan a few days ago, big pressure, a full stadium. We overcame that. I'm sure the young boys will embrace it.
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Bozza wasn't happy when Beckham was sent off for a high challenge on Jose Milian, claiming the opposition player had feigned injury to get the megastar dismissed. 'It was pathetic from the Mexican player,' Bosnich said. United were already on the back foot and their campaign went to hell with a 3-1 loss to Vasco da Gama, in which Romario scored a brace. Hellas, meanwhile, got a flash of glory in their match against Necaxa. Anastasiadis walked on to the Maracana with a simple pre-game message from Postecoglou: 'Go out and score today.' He did. 'When I scored, I pointed to him. It was an unbelievable moment, to see your name on the Maracana scoreboard,' Anastasiadis said in Angeball. It was a 3-1 loss for South Melbourne and with the top team of each group progressing to the final, both Hellas and United were out of contention before playing their last match. Ferguson was by then clutching for niceties. 'It's been fantastic here – what a chance for us to come out and get some sun,' he told the BBC. 'Back home we would have been freezing our toes off. Playing in the Maracana stadium – that's an experience that probably 90 per cent of the top players in the world don't get. 'It's been well organised, the Brazilian people have looked after us very well. On the playing side, we wish we had been better.' Criticism of the Red Devils' presence in Rio reached fever pitch back in England as the Hellas showdown approached. The Daily Mirror branded it 'the most meaningless football game in history … the result is irrelevant, as neither team can make the final of this absurd tournament anyway. Nobody will turn up to watch it, nobody will tune in to see it and nobody cares what happens.' Yet for Postecoglou, it was invaluable. He got to spend about 15 minutes with Ferguson. 'He was kind with his time when he didn't have to be, and there are plenty I've come across that aren't kind with their time,' Postecoglou told 'That leaves an impression on you as well, because you go, 'I don't want to be like that'. You realise that and think, I don't want anyone to think that about me. So the fact that he spent 10, 15 minutes talking to a young manager, I was 34 at the time, it was significant. 'We were walking to a press conference, and he said, 'You're never going to like this stuff, I hate it'. 'So I hung on his every word, but more important was the impression he made on me that if you can do that to a person, that person then leaves thinking or feeling like you've given them that time of day, and that has an unbelievable effect, because you're not just representing yourself. 'He's representing his football club at the time and all these other things. So yeah, those kinds of things leave a mark on you.' Ferguson wasn't so generous as to field a full-strength team, with his tournament effectively over. Jonathan Greening, Danny Higginbotham and Ronnie Wallwork were a few of the names on the team sheet for a fixture that United's yearbook later deemed to have 'an unmistakeable aura of anticlimax'. The game drew 25,000 fans, allegedly. Yet it was a big moment for Postecoglou and an early nod to his philosophy. He refused to be conservative and though Hellas fell to 2-0 via a Quinton Fortune brace inside 20 minutes, his side played attacking football throughout and created chances. Coveny and Curcija very nearly scored in the second half. Coveny lobbed United goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw, only for his shot to inexplicably hit both posts. Ferguson noticed. 'He said to me that we did very well,' Postecoglou said, per the Herald Sun. 'He also said, 'I bet you I get a question about Beckham, even though he was only on for 14 minutes'.' Having given a good account of themselves, South Melbourne's players marched to the United dressing room to swap jerseys. They weren't met entirely well by the big-money stars, until hard-nosed captain Roy Keane told them to pull their heads in. 'There was a bit of sarcasm from the United players when we came in,' Lozanovski said. 'Would you believe Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] and Andy Cole were giggling, going, 'Look at these amateurs'. 'But Roy Keane walks in and really put them in their place, telling them to be respectful. I have the utmost respect for Roy, he was a complete gentleman.' Panopoulos got Beckham's jersey. Becks and his United teammates were by then sick of their Brazilian holiday. The tournament ended with a scoreless draw between Vasco da Gama and Corinthians; Vasco da Gama won 4-3 on penalties to become the inaugural champion. 'I couldn't wait to get back to some mud, wind and rain, to get on with the rest of the season,' Beckham said. 'We might not have had the FA Cup to look forward to but while we'd been away, no other team had been able to catch up: the premiership was there to be won.' And it was. United defended their Premier League crown in a canter, despite being second at the turn of the new year, finishing 18 points ahead of Arsenal. South Melbourne, meanwhile, weren't able to go on to a hat-trick of NSL titles. Postecoglou remembers the season being a write-off around the excitement of the Brazil adventure. 'There was a fair bit of prize money at stake for a club like ours,' Postecoglou said earlier this year ahead of an FA Cup clash against Tamworth. 'Qualifying for that tournament probably destroyed our domestic season because from the moment we qualified our players just didn't want to risk getting injured and were just not interested in our league season. We had a disaster that season, they just didn't want to miss out on playing. 'We ended up losing 2-0 on the day [against Manchester United] but we gave a decent account of ourselves considering the difference. 'Some of my players, who were semi-pro but good footballers, probably played the games of their lives that day.' And Postecoglou tasted the big time. So began his remarkable ascent in the world game. It was incredible symmetry that his finest moment in club football came against United, 25 years later, when he led Tottenham Hotspur past the Red Devils in the Europa League final. Ferguson was there watching.
