Talented defender Alessandro Circati urges Socceroos to take a ‘risk’ against Indonesia

It’s not ‘a matter of life or death’ but the Socceroos are desperate to return winning ways against Indonesia in Jakarta.

Emerging star Alessandro Circati has called for the Socceroos to be “brave” in attack in a bid to get their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign back on track against Indonesia on Tuesday night.

Shock 1-0 losers to Bahrain last Thursday night on the Gold Coast, Australia can ill-afford another poor result in Jakarta, particularly with qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia looming in the not-to-distant future.

While Circati said Tuesday’s result would not be “a matter of life or death”, he understood the need for the Socceroos to bounce back and show some class after one of their worst performances in recent memory last week at Robina Stadium.

“Things like this happen in football,” the 20-year-old defender said.

“It (the loss to Bahrain) is not ideal, but we’ve got to move on. There’s no point in dwelling on the situation.

“I’d like to think in this game we can be a bit more creative, a bit more brave offensively, and maybe take half a risk to possibly get half an opportunity for a goal.

“Then when we play against the big teams, Japan and Saudi, we’ll go out there to beat them.”

Despite being a starter for Parma at centre-back in Italy’s Serie A competition, Circati was perhaps surprisingly used at right-back against Bahrain by national coach Graham Arnold.

“I have played there (right back) in the past, not at a professional level,” he said.

“I feel assured in any position I play on the field. Being a centre-back, I’ve got more experience in that position.

“Playing at right-back, I don’t feel less assured. I’ve still got the same confidence playing in that position, but I’ve obviously still got to get some experience in different scenarios.

“It’s purely a matter of time.”

Alessandro Circati (right) battles with Ruben Loftus-Cheek while playing for Parma in an Italian Serie A match against AC Milan. Picture: Piero Cruciatti/ AFP

Circati will reportedly remain at right-back on Tuesday night as part of a defensive unit wary of Indonesia’s pace.

“They’ve got some quick players that will try to hit us on the counter attack and be dangerous going forward, catching us maybe not ready, but we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.

While Circati is unlikely to receive many cheers from a pro-Indonesia crowd, he has been touched by the recognition he has received from locals at Australia’s training sessions in Jakarta.

“Parma have a well known name around the world, especially here in Indonesia,” he said.

“They (fans) have made themselves known to me. They’ve come to the training sessions, about 20 or 30 of them, with all Parma gear.

“I appreciate it. It’s a great memory of mine, and I’m sure it will stick with me for a very long time.”

Circati said he was relishing the challenge of coming up against some of the world’s best players each week at club level following Parma’s promotion from Serie B.

“It’s a bit more offensive (in Serie A), a bit more of a free-flowing game where clubs are willing to take a bit more of a risk because they know the quality they have offensively and defensively,” he said.

“It’s football that I love to play, and somewhere I’d like to be for a long time.”

Meanwhile, it has been reported from Indonesia that Australia’s training session that was scheduled to take place on Monday night at match venue Gelora Bung Karno Stadium was set to be shifted elsewhere due to torrential rain.

FIFA World Cup qualifier

Indonesia v Australia

Tuesday, 10pm (AEST)

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta