Meticulous off-field planning is paying off for the Socceroos ahead of the World Cup

THREE years of planning is falling into place for the Socceroos, with the final stages of their blueprint for the World Cup to be activated in coming weeks.

The Socceroos base camp in Kazan.

THREE years of planning is falling into place for the Socceroos, with the final stages of their blueprint for the World Cup to be activated in coming weeks.

While Friday’s draw for next year’s global showpiece pitched Australia against daunting opponents in France, Demark and Peru, the logistics of landing in Group C have been far kinder off the field.

A small group of Australian officials flew out of Moscow on Saturday to visit the three cities where the Socceroos games will be played - but a databank of information is already in place, thanks to a combination of previous intelligence gathering and the details of the draw.

The Socceroos base camp in Kazan.

The fact Australia will play its first game in Kazan, the city where the team will be based throughout the tournament, is being seen as a major advantage, eliminating two flights and maximising recovery and training time.

The city was one of 50 options put forward by FIFA as potential base camps, 12 of which were inspected by Australian officials before they settled on Kazan.

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There are small details still to be clarified, but it’s understood the Australian side won’t have to move from its hotel into one of the FIFA-sanctioned “match hotels” in the city.

The team’s hotel is literally a matter of metres from the entrance to their training ground, with the sense of familiarity engendered by playing in the city seen as a significant step in ensuring the players are not overawed by playing at the World Cup.

The other major logistical advantage in the draw is the fact that the Socceroos played in the city of Sochi at the Confederations Cup - and which will be the venue for their third game against Peru.

It means that the Australian players have already trained and played at the Fisht Stadium in the city, while Socceroos officials took the opportunity to scout several of the hotels in which FIFA billet teams playing in the city.

Socceroos at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia.

The second game, against Denmark, is in Samara, a city just 360km from Kazan - though Australia will still almost certainly have to fly there and back on charter flights that FIFA lays on for each team to and from every game.

It looks increasingly likely that the 23-man squad selected by the new head coach will travel directly to Kazan after a send-off game in Australia in late May - pending the approval of that new coach.

The team is likely to play at least one friendly in Russia, possibly against a side from the other side of the draw - following the blueprint used four years ago in Brazil, where Australia took on fellow qualifiers Croatia in a warm-up game in the city of Salvador.

Originally published as Meticulous off-field planning is paying off for the Socceroos ahead of the World Cup