Traditional Aussie grit will be needed in spades
There is no doubt that whatever the result on Saturday, having already booked their space in the World Cup Finals, the trip to Brazil will turn out to be very beneficial for Holger Osieck’s team.
Some firsthand information about culture,atmosphere humidity, even something as simple as hotel quality, could make a big difference come next summer.
While Australia undoubtedly have some good players in their squad, Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer, Mile Jedininak and Matt Mckay to name but a few. The talk of springing a surprise on the Brazilians is a very long shot.
While Felipe Sclari’s men did slip up against Switzerland a couple of weeks ago, they also demolished Spain over the summer, breaking their hopes of doing ‘the quad’ of Euro, World Cup, Euro and Confederations cup.
While as the Swiss showed Brazil are most definitely not infallible, It’s worth noting that in the five games the two sides have played, Australia have only scored one goal ( in their one and only win against Verde-Amarela in June 2001.)
On paper, with Brazil on home turf, the odds of Aussie success lengthen and while Osieck’s men are right to have confidence in themsleves,
If Neymar and friends are on the top of their game, there will be very little they can do about it.
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