Asian Cup 2015: Ange Postecoglou pays tribute to Socceroos after UAE semi-final victory

SOCCEROOS coach Ange Postecoglou believes it may have put a dampener on the tournament if the Socceroos hadn’t reached the Asian Cup final.

Australia v UAE: Semi Final - 2015 Asian Cup - Newcastle

SOCCEROOS coach Ange Postecoglou believes it may have put a dampener on the tournament if the Socceroos hadn’t reached the Asian Cup final.

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Ange Postecoglou was full of praise for his players after their win.

Two first half goals against the UAE in soggy Newcastle sealed the semi-final win and Postecoglou hopes the brand of football the Socceroos have played throughout the tournament has been embraced by the Australian public.

Just over 20,000 fans attended the match at Hunter Stadium, but now the Socceroos have the prospect of playing in front of 80,000 people in Sydney.

“It will be a big game - it’s a final in a major tournament and we’re not going to host another one in a while, that’s why it was really important for us,” Postecoglou said.

“I think it’s been a fantastic tournament and it’s been great for our game. I think it would’ve put a dampener on it if we weren’t in the final - it would have taken that bit of lustre off it. We can dream now and if we win it it will be fantastic for our country and our code.

“We want our teams to be really aggressive, proactive and take the game to opponents and I think we’ve really done that this tournament. We’ve scored more goals than any other nation, we’ve only conceded twice and I think the supporters are loving watching this team play.

“If we’ve got a good 80,000 strong crowd behind us that can create a lot of energy and it’s fantastic. I think the Australian sport public will embrace the team and enjoy the way we play football.”

Defenders Trent Sainsbury and Jason Davidson got on the scoresheet for the Socceroos, taking Australia’s total goal tally to 12 for the tournament. For Postecoglou it shows goals can come from anywhere.

“Obviously there’s been a lot of emphasis on Timmy (Cahill) this week because he was fantastic in that quarter-final, but this tournament has proven that we can score goals from other areas,” he said.

“We’ve scored 12 goals and we must have a fair few goalscorers, which is a positive sign. Trent deserved his goal, he’s been outstanding this tournament and it was a great reward for another good performance tonight.

“Our defending was really brave and we kept a good line. Overall a really good job by the players.”

The Socceroos head to Sydney for the final and Postecoglou says he will let the players just enjoy the next few days leading up to the final.

“It’s going to be a great few days - it’s all part of getting to a final,” he said.

“You need to enjoy it and embrace it.”