- Who: Australia v United Arab Emirates, Asian Cup semi finals
- When: Tuesday, January 27
- Where: Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
- Kick-off: 8pm
- Weather: Showers in Newcastle (22 degrees)
They might be enduring a brutally short turnaround between their Asian Cup matches but Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou is confident he's successfully staved off squad burn-out before their semi-final with the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With the memory of the World Cup still fresh in his thinking, Postecoglou has taken a fierce approach to resting his players - even the biggest names, like Tim Cahill and Robbie Kruse - with a view to going all the way in this tournament.
Despite this being their fifth match in a little over two weeks, the coach is confident he and his medical staff have pulled off a minor miracle to get the squad as fresh as they are at this stage of the tournament given many players did not arrive in ideal condition.
"We have been pretty focused on making sure the team we put out there we think is going to give us the best chance for a result for this game and that has meant managing players," Postecoglou said at the team hotel in Newcastle on Sunday.
"People forget, we had [Ivan] Franjic, [Trent] Sainsbury, [Alex] Wilkinson, [Jason] Davidson, [Tim] Cahill and two-three others had not played for two or three weeks coming into the tournament. Mark Milligan was another.
"We knew that our planning had to to go right to the end of the tournament. There is no way we were going to be able to get a top-level performance for six games from every player in the squad. It hasn't just been about rotating, it's just that we feel the teams we were putting out were giving us the best chance of success."
Postecoglou has barely any injuries to worry about, with his only real concern how much time some players have had to endure. "Everyone is pretty good, others are a bit sore than others, particularly people like Franjic, Sainsbury and [Massimo] Luongo who have carried the majority of the load," he said. "In terms of recovery, and where we're at, we're pretty pleased. Nothing untoward and everyone should be available for Tuesday."
The coach would have liked, in particular, to have given Ivan Franjic a rest but a pre-tournament injury to Chris Herd has meant the Dynamo Moscow right-back has had to play every minute of each game, a tough ask in his energy-sapping position.
"The way we play, the full-back position is quite physically demanding," Postecoglou said. "That's why it wasn't ideal that Chris Herd dropped out because if he was fit, we probably would have given Ivan a rest at some point. That's the reason we've rotated on the left-hand side.
"All I've got is the physical data to go by and from what they're telling me, all the signs are good. The physical data from the last game showed there was no drop-off in how much work he'd been doing. The Russian league stopped a little bit earlier than the other leagues, so we gave him a program, which he stuck to rigidly. He's coping well with it."
Jason Davidson seems to have edged Aziz Behich for that left-back role for the knockout stages, with the medical staff now satisfied with Davidson's match fitness.
"Jason, coming into this tournament, hadn't played for a very long time and it was a matter of saying, 'Would we get six games out of him? Probably not'," Postecoglou said. "Aziz had done well in the past couple of games and was playing regularly.
"Again, whoever plays, we'll have a look at it and we'll have a look at the opposition and what they've done and what they've got to offer and we'll make a decision. We knew Aziz was in good condition but Jason has had two really good games now and is ready to go."
While Mile Jedinak and Mark Bresciano were below their best as they returned to the starting side against China, they will most likely keep their spots against the UAE, with Postecoglou backing both to improve.
"Mile is fine, if anything he just needs more games rather than less games. He's OK. Bresh did a job for us the other night. He came in, although we knew we wouldn't be able to get a full six games out of him," he said. "I still think [Bresciano] shows the qualities we'll need in certain games. We saw the other night every one of his set pieces was dangerous."
In October, the Socceroos had a 0-0 draw with the Emirates in Dubai but Postecoglou said he wouldn't read too much into that game.
The United Arab Emirates
The UAE is located in the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran.
The national football side is known as Al-Abyad or "The Whites". They made the World Cup in 1990 and finished runner-up in the 1996 Asian Cup.
They are currently ranked 80th in the FIFA world rankings, twenty spots away from Australia who entered the Asian Cup ranked 100th.