Socceroos defender Harry Souttar says Asian football deserves more credit that it’s given
World rankings suggest the Socceroos should comfortably deal with Indonesia, but the Australians have promised not to underestimate their rivals.
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The Socceroos won’t fall into the trap of complacency against Indonesia on Sunday night, with key defender Harry Souttar slamming the “disrespect” shown towards Asian football nations.
Despite having lost two of their three Asian Cup pool matches, the Indonesians qualified for the round-of-16 as the lowest ranked of the four third-placed group teams to reach the Qatar-based tournament’s knockout stages
On paper, the Socceroos – ranked 25th in the world – should have little trouble dealing with the Merah Putih, whose FIFA ranking is a lowly 146, at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
However, Souttar said results in the tournament’s group stages, including a Japan loss and South Korea twice being held to draws, proved that the standard of Asian football was improving across the board.
“There’s a lot of disrespect towards Asian football from other parts of the world, (and) from certain people as well,” he said.
“I don’t think a lot of people gives teams from Asia the credit they deserve. You’ve only got to look at the results in the group stages and where certain teams have finished in the group stages.
“You don’t want to be going over excuses, but it’s not as simple as going out there and beating these teams three or four-nil, which people think should happen.
“No game of football’s an easy game. The standard’s getting better and better each year.
“There’s more money going into a lot of the teams and … tactically and technically, all the teams are getting better, and it’s such a strong competition.”
The most recent meeting between the Socceroos and Indonesia was an Asian Cup qualifier in March 3, 2010 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
A goal from current Adelaide United assistant coach Mark Milligan was the difference in a 1-0 win to the Australians.
It was one of 14 Socceroos wins from the 18 matches between the two nations that date back to November 17, 1967.
Indonesia’s only win over the Socceroos was a 1-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier on August 30, 1981 in Surabaya.
“We know it’s knockout football from now on, so there’s no room for error,” Souttar said.
“There’s a little bit of added edge to it, knowing that you’ve got to win to go through.”
Should the Socceroos beat Indonesia, a much tougher test will await them in the quarter-final against either Saudi Arabia or South Korea.
The Saudi Arabians – who are coached by former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, who also guided Italy to European Championship glory three years ago – topped their group with seven points from three matches, the same record and achievement the Socceroos accomplished in their pool.
The South Koreans, whose side features Tottenham star Son Heung-min, had been expected to top Group E, but they had to settle for second spot with five points, one adrift of pool winners Bahrain.
“The chemistry within the team has improved so much since we came in (to camp) on the first of January, and it’s just going to get better and better hopefully,” a confident Souttar said.
Originally published as Socceroos defender Harry Souttar says Asian football deserves more credit that it’s given
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