Asian Cup 2015: Ange Postecoglou says he wants Socceroos to ‘challenge the world’
ANGE Postecoglou said the Socceroos’ Asian Cup final will just be a staging post in their ongoing revolution. In other words, there is more to come.
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THE Socceroos’ Asian Cup final will just be a staging post in their ongoing revolution, coach Ange Postecoglou has declared.
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While emphasising his “whole career has been based around winning things”, Postecoglou said that the final would also be another key step for his team on a journey to the next World Cup - “not the end but just the beginning”, he said.
Speaking on the eve of a sell-out final against South Korea at ANZ Stadium, Postecoglou said his goal was to “challenge the world”, to dominate teams across Asia and so make strides towards qualifying for the next World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Australia will be favourites in front of a home crowd, in a unique position to win silverware.
“I like winning - my whole career has been based around winning things, not some ideological desire to change the landscape,” Postecoglou said.
“So there’s a trophy up for grabs and I want us to win it. But it’s important for the growth of these players too.
“We’re still making decisions that will hold us in good stead for the next four years - the way we train, the way we play, the selections, all are about winning this tournament and building a really strong foundation so we can grow from this. It will be great to win, but that’s not the end goal.
“The end goal is to challenge the rest of the world. As I sit here now that sounds ludicrous when we’ve been ranked 100-and-something, but that’s got to be the end goal. Winning would show we’re improving in our region, but I’m not a big one on titles alone - or rankings. What do they mean? It’s what you see is more important, how we’re playing, how much we dominate - there are many ways to win a football game.
“If we play poorly on Saturday, jag a win and get the trophy, it won’t change what I think of where we’re at. For us to be the best in Asia, I want us to dominate teams in our region - not just hold the title.
“We’ve got to a good point but Saturday night is not the full stop, not where it ends. It’s just the beginning.”
Postecoglou said he had made no attempt to rouse his players for what he has already dubbed “the biggest game of their lives”, because the quality of opponent faced since the World Cup, and the intensity of training, had been designed to forge his players’ strength long before they reached this defining fixture.
Professing to have enjoyed the time “in the trenches” instilling a style and mentality into the players since his appointment in November 2013, Postecoglou said there was nothing he could do at this stage to make his players any more ready.
“The whole thing is there’s nothing you can do in the last three or four days to get people up for it,” he said.
“You prepare them well before that. You make sure training intensity is always high, it’s always competitive within the group, there’s an edge with everything - so when you get to the final step the pressure isn’t anything they’re not used to.
“At club level there was always an edge to everything I did, sometimes to a ridiculous extent, because I figure when you get to the end of the year I want these guys to be ready, battle hardened before the actual point. The excitement and hype will be there, there’s nothing I will say in the last few days is going to alleviate it.”
Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Ange Postecoglou says he wants Socceroos to ‘challenge the world’
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