Japan’s Asian Cup elimination doesn’t mean favourites are out, says Socceroos’ Robbie Kruse
JAPAN’S Asian Cup elimination doesn’t mean the favourites are out - because Australia deserve that mantle, winger Robbie Kruse has claimed.
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JAPAN’S Asian Cup elimination doesn’t mean the favourites are out - because Australia deserve that mantle, winger Robbie Kruse has claimed.
As Asian football digests the quarterfinal exit of a side widely expected to face the Socceroos on Tuesday, Kruse said his side would not have to recalibrate their mental approach to play the UAE instead in the semifinal.
Despite Australia’s 1-0 defeat to South Korea in the group stage, Kruse said his side’s “dominating” performance in that game meant they would have had the edge over Japan - and will over UAE.
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Depicting a camp “rising high on confidence”, Kruse said his team’s high-octane style would remain unchanged for the semifinal, unperturbed by the attacking threat of UAE playmaker Omar Abdulrahman.
“I think even if we had played Japan we’d have been the favourites,” Kruse said. “We’ve played some great football this tournament and even in the Korea game we made a lot of changes and still dominated and put them under a lot of pressure. We created a lot of golden opportunities and they had maybe a single one-on-one at the end when we were pushing forward.
“That’s one of the strongest teams in the region and we still tore them apart. The way we’re playing at the moment we’re so confident, and the level of our fitness is so high - we’re pressing teams from the front to suffocate them and in the last 30 minutes they’re dying on their feet. Japan last night were very jaded and fatigued.”
Kruse watched the closing stages as the UAE hung on in the face of incessant Japanese pressure, and saw enough to know they will provide a substantial challenge in the semifinal. But still, he said, Australia had the capacity to take one step closer to winning the tournament at home.
“It was a big surprise, but you can’t take the UAE lightly - they deserve every respect for getting to where they are now,” Kruse said. “They have great individual talent, and their No 10, Omar, is a special player. But we’ve said all along if we stick to our game plan we’ll be alright.
“We won’t pay any particular attention to him [Omar] - our game plan is about keeping the ball, pressing and in the last 30 minutes they usually fall off their feet. It’s been happening in all the games, so if we press like we do I’m sure we’ll create opportunities. If they want to go long, we’ve got the boys at the back who can bring the ball down. It’s been working so far, and we’ll stick to the basic principles.
“UAE depended very well, and though Japan created chances it was a lot from setpieces and knocking crosses in. That’s not normally what Japan do, they usually play in and around the box and the one time they did it they scored a great goal.
“I’m sure we’ll get chances, it’s about taking them and everyone’s rising high on confidence. If we win this game we’re in the final.”
Originally published as Japan’s Asian Cup elimination doesn’t mean favourites are out, says Socceroos’ Robbie Kruse
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