World Cup 2022: Australia v Tunisia news, teams and preview
From a childhood in war-torn Croatia to being unable to afford a winter jacket in Germany, Milos Degenek has made the World Cup the hard way but always with his “lion mentality”.
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In the middle of a vicious German winter, 16-year-old Milos Degenek calmly puts on a second pair of tracksuit pants to go with the four jumpers he has piled on to brave the sub-zero temperatures.
He’s getting ready to head to training for the Stuttgart youth team – a three-hour round-trip journey in the biting cold – which partly tells the story of where the “lion mentality”, which is driving both his and the Socceroos’ World Cup dream, was born.
Degenek, a fierce, no-nonsense defender, was born in Knin, Croatia to Serbian parents at the height of the country’s war of independence and was just 18 months old when his family fled the country in search of safety.
The Degeneks ended up in Belgrade, where the war had followed them and would later force his parents, Dusan and Nadia, to pack up their lives for a move to Australia when Milos was just six.
It was a brave decision that would ultimately lead him to a World Cup, by way of that $1000-a-month first contract with Stuttgart – a wage so paltry that he couldn’t afford a proper winter jacket, forcing him into the four-jumper outfit that became his trademark early on.
“I wasn’t earning big bucks and that’s where I learned the struggles and got that mentality,” Degenek explains.
“I thought to myself ‘I’m training with another 20 guys but I want to be that one to go on to make it.’
“I can say I’m fortunate enough that I am one of the ones that made it.”
Degenek’s incredible upbringing goes some way to explaining why he is perfectly representative of an Australian team that is willing to scrap and fight for every inch in a bid to become just the third Australian team to win a World Cup match.
The 28-year-old, who made his World Cup debut late on in the 4-1 defeat to France, is no certainty to start against Tunisia on Saturday night, but his influence over the team is undeniable.
From conversations he’s had with the team’s youngest players, to the inspirational speech he delivered before their successful final qualifying win against Peru, Degenek represents the beating heart of a Socceroos team that is batter, but not broken, after their French thrashing.
And it all comes back to the lion mentality, a phrase he’s referenced on social media since arriving in Doha.
“Lion mentality is… you either eat or you get eaten, and that’s the simplest way to put it,” Degenek explained.
“I used this term before the Peru game with the boys, I said ‘there’s bread on the table’.
“Either we eat tonight; my kids, my wife and my family eats tonight, or (Peru) eat and my kids go home to sleep hungry and my wife as well - and I don’t want that to happen.
“I think (the wider Socceroos squad understands). That’s my mentality.
“I’ve been trying to insert it into the younger players, especially the ones that are new here and that are constantly asking for advice every day.
“I don’t need to say things like that to Maty Ryan or Aaron Mooy, or Maty Leckie.
“They’ve got their own ways. But most of the other guys know what I’m talking about and they understand where I’m coming from.”
And so the Socceroos turn their attention to Tunisia, where another hard fought contest awaits against a team that frustrated world number 10 Denmark in a 0-0 draw.
But don’t call it must-win – not with Degenek in earshot.
“‘Must-win’ (implies) you think it’s pressure. But I said to the boys the other day that’s not pressure,” Degenek said.
“Pressure is me as a six-year-old being in the middle of a war. That’s pressure. Pressure’s not a must-win football game, because you can win or lose, but I don’t think anyone’s going to die.
“This is just a joy of wanting to get better; wanting to have something to say to your grandkids, to your friends back home when you have coffee and say you won a game at a World Cup, you got out of the group.
“That’s what the boys understand and that’s how we’re gonna take this.”
Australia are aware they’re going to be entering a hostile environment on Saturday, where Al Janoub Stadium will be packed to the brim with boisterous Tunisian fans – far removed from the gentile atmosphere on Tuesday, where for portions of the game you could hear a pin drop against France.
The large local Tunisian population in Qatar will make sure of that, with Degenek expecting an 80-20 split for the outnumbered Socceroos fans in attendance.
But they can feed off that, he believes.
“It brings out the best in you, because when you have a crowd like that behind you, it gives you a lot more energy and desire and passion,” Degenek says.
“You don’t feel pain, you don’t feel nothing.”
Tunisian threat Socceroos can’t afford to ignore
Socceroos midfielder Jackson Irvine believes there will be no trouble moving on from the heavy opening game defeat to world champions France.
Time moves quicker than ever at this World Cup between games, with the Socceroos having to refocus for Saturday’s pivotal clash with Tunisia.
“It’s a quick turnaround but something that most of us who have played in Europe are used to. For myself, this is pretty normal to try and back up.
The starting line-up from the night before had a light recovery session while the rest of the squad were put through a normal session, with creative attacking midfielder Ajdin Hrustic reportedly training strongly.
The chances of Hrustic, who has overcome an ankle problem but wasn’t used against France, coming into the starting line up for Tunisia are looking more likely.
“He’s a quality player. Obviously we want him out on the pitch as soon as he is available ... I am sure he will have a big role to play in these next couple of games,” Irvine says.
The Tunisia clash will be an entirely different prospect to the France game, played in a quiet atmosphere against a team that went from a slow tempo to the speed of sound when Kylian Mbappe, for one, got involved.
Tunisia don’t have a player of Mbappe’s quality - no-one does - but the North Africans play with red-line intensity, a trademark of their 0-0 draw with Denmark when willed on by 40,000 screaming countrymen and women.
That same crowd will fill Al Janoub Stadium on Saturday with a deafening effect.
“The game will flow in a very different way,” Irvine says.
“Of course now the stakes are higher for the second game. Coming into this tournament you know you’re going to have to get two positive results to progress and we have still got full belief that is more than possible and achievable.”
“The mentality has already switched into focusing on the next game and using last night as a platform to build for Saturday.
“There is nothing (better) in a group environment than having those mates around you that can lift you back up to that level straight away and we have that in abundance here. For us, we are not feeling down, we don’t need to over-think.”
SOCCEROOS STAR REVEALS SHOCK ACL DIAGNOSIS
Socceroo Martin Boyle has revealed the injury which ruled him out of the World Cup is far more serious than first thought, with the star requiring surgery to repair his ACL.
The Scotland-born winger was named in coach Graham Arnold’s initial 26-man squad, and flew to Doha where he attempted to prove his fitness — only to be ruled out over the weekend, with Melbourne City’s Marco Tilio joining as a replacement player.
And the severity of Boyle’s injury, suffered while playing for Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League, can now be revealed, after a routine operation on Monday became much more severe, requiring a full knee reconstruction with a lengthy recovery now awaiting.
“Not the news I expected after an emotional roller coaster of 3 weeks to learn I needed my ACL repaired,” Boyle posted on Instagram on Wednesday.
“Only visible when I needed my (operation) and surgeons done what was best for me!
“I’ve great support around me and I’ve been through it all before and no doubt be back stronger than ever.”
Boyle will remain with the Socceroos squad through the rest of their campaign.
CAN BATTERED, BRUISED SOCCEROOS RESCUE WORLD CUP?
Graham Arnold faces one of the greatest challenges of his career to drag his battered Socceroos off the canvas and rescue their World Cup campaign from another disaster.
In the wake of Australia’s crushing 4-1 humiliation at the hands of defending champions France, Arnold conceded his team had been beaten by a side that was “bigger, faster and stronger” – and admitted every option was on the table for the Socceroos to arrest their tournament from quickly spiralling out of control.
And he needs to move fast. Tunisia – who jagged an impressive draw against the more fancied Denmark earlier on Tuesday – lie in wait in just three days.
The fear is that much like the Socceroos’ 2010 tournament was wiped out almost before it began when Germany pounded them to the tune of 4-0, so too does this campaign feel doomed after the Australians were demolished by Kylian Mbappe.
For the opening 25 minutes, Australia embodied the buzz words that Arnold has attempted to hammer home this week: Belief. Energy. Focus.
When Craig Goodwin hammered home from close range in the ninth minute to open the scoring, Australia believed.
“The way we started I think they believed, and that we just got punished by our mistakes,” Arnold said.
The mistakes opened the door for Mbappe to barge his way through, when he rarely needs an invitation.
The 23-year-old was in a mood, showcasing his elite mix of blistering pace and stunning skill in a five-star performance – setting up veteran Olivier Giroud for one of his two goals, while scoring one of his own.
Having already banned “fatigue”, “pain” and “France” from the Socceroos’ $1.3 billion training facilities last week, Arnold might want to add “Mbappe” to the list – because several players, including young right back Nathaniel Atkinson, will be having nightmares about the Frenchman and his dazzling feet.
“He did his best against one of the best players in the world,” Arnold said of Atkinson’s efforts in one of the most undesirable tasks in all sport.
“But how do you stop someone so quick? It’s very difficult. It’s a great lesson for the kid. He’ll move on from it.”
France’s $1 billion man ripped through Australia’s right side like a tornado to in a monumental performance that highlighted the gulf in talent between the world champions – genuine contenders to go back-to-back – and Australia, who for 70 minutes looked like a whole lot like a team that was simply happy to have qualified for the World Cup.
In truth, as French coach Didier Deschamps expressed after the match, it could’ve been much worse for Australia – with Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles repeatedly saving the day, before the floodgates opened late.
Souttar was tremendous at the back in his first Socceroos match since tearing his ACL 12 months ago – displaying all the qualities that have him earmarked as a future captain – and alongside Rowles, despite a sloppy second-half, it appears Australia has found their centre back pairing of the next ten years.
Arnold has three days to fix it – and changes could yet come.
Striker Mitchell Duke came off after copping a blow to his hip, opening the door for Jamie Maclaren or Jason Cummings, while further changes could come in the defensive line.
“That’s why we’ve got 26 players. We’ve got the option of changing players and making sure we get some fresh ones out there,” Arnold said.
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