World Cup 2018: Socceroos face internal pressure test in Russia, says former Roo Mile Sterjovski

AUSTRALIA go to Russia 2018 united — but the internal competitiveness to claim a starting berth can make the World Cup a combustible experience, says former Roo Mile Sterjovski.

Even the Aussies face internal pressures. (Toby Zerna)

FOR now there is only a sense of relief — but over the next two weeks, competitive tensions in a World Cup squad can easily take root.

As the 23 players who made Bert van Marwijk’s final World Cup selection begin to dream of glory in Russia, former Socceroo Mile Sterjovski is a subtle but guiding influence in their Turkish base camp.

After 42 caps for Australia and a 19-year career at the top, Sterjovski knows what fissures in a squad can look like.

Watching for hints of personality clashes as the pressure builds with the approach of the tournament, Sterjovski’s mentoring role has become a significant one in a squad where 17 of the players are at their first World Cup.

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Sterjovski understands the pressure of competition.

He understands the pressures, after his dramatic selection for Guus Hiddink’s World Cup squad in 2006 as an inclusion few saw coming, and in a squad full of enlarged characters.

“Now that the squad has been cut down to 23, the next target for them is to make the starting XI, so there’s still tension,” Sterjovski said.

“There are players who expect to be starting, there are others fighting to be starting.

There might be a few surprises, so there will be tension leading into the first game — and rightly so.

“You have to be training with a purpose, pushing yourself to the limit and getting the best out of yourself. Normally it’s only a friendly rivalry.

Even the Aussies face internal pressures. (Toby Zerna)

“At the moment I’m just watching training, watching how players interact with each other — trying to spot any problems that might come up.

“It can be different personalities, or how the younger players mix with the older boys, and how best they deal with it.

“The job is making sure the players are all mentally on the same page, and getting on well at training.”

Expectation and anticipation is ramped up. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

An easy source of those tensions can be the pressure players feel as the enormity of a World Cup strikes home — whether internal pressure to succeed, or the weight of external expectation.

Sterjovski felt the former in 2006, after coming into the World Cup squad as an unexpected inclusion.

“Being out of the squad for a while and then coming in, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he said. “I didn’t feel a great deal from the outside, I don’t think people expected much of me.

“You can put pressure on yourself to perform, to get into the team. Because it’s the biggest stage, you feel you have to do more.

“The reality is that you need to continue with what you’ve been doing all season, because it’s worked to get you there.

“In my career I found in the lead-up to games there might be nerves, but as soon as you are on the field they all melt away.

“Personally I love feeling the pressure, love feeling the butterflies in my stomach because I felt they gave me more energy.

“If you channel it the right way, it can be of benefit.”

Originally published as World Cup 2018: Socceroos face internal pressure test in Russia, says former Roo Mile Sterjovski