Australia expects but Popovic not underestimating Indonesia in crunch qualifier

SYDNEY: The Australian public has every right to expect a victory in Thursday’s crunch World Cup qualifier but nobody is underestimating the improvement Indonesia have made in recent years, Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said on Wednesday.

Japan have all but locked up top spot in Group C and Australia’s hopes of securing the second automatic ticket to the finals from the group will rest on how they fare against Indonesia in Sydney and China in Hangzhou next week.

Indonesia, who stand with three other nations a point behind second-placed Australia in the group, have experienced a significant upturn in fortunes due to an influx of mainly Dutch-born members of the country’s diaspora.

They drew 0-0 with Australia in a qualifier in Jakarta last September, stunned Saudi Arabia 2-0 in November, and in January brought former Dutch international Patrick Kluivert on board as coach.

Popovic accepted that Australian fans would expect a victory over a nation that has not played World Cup finals football since 1938, but said there would be no complacency from his squad.

“I think it’s quite clear why,” he told reporters at the Sydney Football Stadium.

“We drew with them away, the group is very tight, so there is no reason to underestimate Indonesia. Their last result proves that against Saudi Arabia. So that’s not happening.

“(But) the expectation of the Australian public, that’s what it should be. They should expect the national team to produce and to play good football.”

Failure to finish in the top two of the group after the remaining four matches of the third round of Asian qualifying would still leave the possibility of passage via a fourth round or intercontinental playoffs.

Popovic has made it clear since taking over from Graham Arnold late last year, however, that automatic qualification should be the path to Australia’s sixth successive finals in 2026.

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“I think the players know the magnitude of the games and how important they are, but we also know that we’re in a position that we can retain our second spot,” he said.

“We have to be patient. If they press, we have to be able to exploit the spaces left there. If they sit deep, we need to exploit the spaces between the lines and trying to penetrate around the box.

“We just have to be prepared to do whatever the moment allows us. And if it’s not on, be patient and wait for the opening.”