AUSTRALIA coach Holger Osieck was satisfied with the way his team dealt with India at the Asian Cup, but the Socceroos know they need to step up a gear against South Korea.
The Australians swept aside the Indians 4-0 to get their tournament off to a decisive start on Monday, with Everton attacking midfielder Tim Cahill scoring twice.
Despite the scoreline, Australia spurned several chances and Osieck knows they cannot afford any errors against the Koreans on Friday in a game that should determine who tops Group C.
“We scored three goals, which was encouraging, and to start with a 4-0 all in all is good and should give us confidence for the next games to come,” said the German, who led Japan’s Urawa Reds to AFC Champions League glory in 2007.
“There were a number of opportunities that we could’ve scored from but sometimes it’s not always easy to finish them all off.
“You never can force it. I think the boys themselves know what they have to do when we play our next game.”
South Korea beat Bahrain 2-1 in their opener, with Koo Ja-cheol striking either side of half-time, as Cho Kwang-rae’s team bid to end a 51-year continental title drought.
Ranked 40th in the world to Australia’s 26th, the Koreans are led by Manchester United star Park Ji-sung and fared better than the Socceroos at the South Africa World Cup, reaching the round of 16 before losing to Uruguay.
Kewell, now playing for Turkey’s Galatasaray, knows only too well how dangerous they can be.
“It’s going to be a big test for us but if we’re going to play the best teams, we might as well play them early, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
“They’re going to a very dangerous opponent.”
No comments:
Post a Comment