Month: February 2014

Australia will be targeting players playing in the A-League for the upcoming friendly match according to its manager Ange Postecoglou.

After suffering consecutive defeats in several competitions, Australia finally managed to rediscover form in the last two matches. Wins over Canada and Costa Rica are bound to have given them enough confidence to take on Ecuador in a friendly match in March.

Australia will be targeting players playing in the A-League for the upcoming friendly match according to its manager Ange Postecoglou.

After suffering consecutive defeats in several competitions, Australia finally managed to rediscover form in the last two matches. Wins over Canada and Costa Rica are bound to have given them enough confidence to take on Ecuador in a friendly match in March.

Postecoglou is aware that this will be the final friendly match for the team before the World Cup starts. Hence, he is prepared to make the most out of it by introducing some A-League players in the hope of discovering good talent for the national team.

Australia are now rank outsiders to progress to the knockout stages after being given a very tough draw at the competition. They will be up against Spain, who are the current world champions, Netherlands, and Chile.

Postecoglou, though, is confident that Australia can cause an upset and he wants to do it with locally based players. He says that the A-League is going through a critical period in the season with a lot of important games. There are also the Champions league matches as well. Hence, he feels that current form will be a good indicator that the players are good enough to play for the national team.

“This is the interesting part of the A-League season too, the games mean a little bit more and the pressure is bit higher with the finals around the corner and some of them will be playing champions league games. So good form in that kind of environment is a good indicator. There are probably two or three who’ll probably miss out who are pretty close and if they maintain their form they’re still well in the calculations,” said Postecoglou. Australia’s first match in the World Cup will be against Chile.

Australia’s manager Ange Postecoglou has said that he is very much confident that Robbie Kruse will come back from his season-ending injury much stronger.

Kruse has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, which is also likely to keep him out of the World Cup 2014 as well. The Bayer Leverkusen player is one of the important members of the squad, but he recently injured his anterior cruciate ligament during training with his club.

Australia’s manager Ange Postecoglou has said that he is very much confident that Robbie Kruse will come back from his season-ending injury much stronger.

Kruse has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, which is also likely to keep him out of the World Cup 2014 as well. The Bayer Leverkusen player is one of the important members of the squad, but he recently injured his anterior cruciate ligament during training with his club.

Postecoglou said that it was a very sad news for everyone concerned with the Australian national team since it meant that one of their important players will not be able to take part at the World Cup. The manager confirmed that Kruse was part of his plans for the World Cup, which will be a great test for Australia considering their recent form. Postecoglou was brought into the national team for in order to help the country do well at the World Cup, but he already has a mountain to climb with the injury to a key player.

Australia also face the prospect of being eliminated in the group stages itself after being paired along with Spain, Netherlands, and Chile. All three teams come into the tournament with hopes of winning the title.

“I heard last night (Sunday) and my primary concern is for Robbie as a player because he’s been denied the opportunity to represent his country at the highest level at the biggest sporting event in the world later this year. It is a tough break for Robbie, who was playing some great football and was certainly a massive part of our plans for the World Cup. It’s fine to say he’ll get another chance but you just never know and I feel for him as the 2014 World Cup was looming,” said Postecoglou.