Australians wary of Saudi Arabia’s ‘games’ as teams fight for last automatic World Cup spot
Saudi Arabia must win their head-to-head match on Tuesday by five clear goals to qualify, while Palestine, Oman meet for second-chance spot
Australia’s Connor Metcalfe has warned his teammates to avoid reacting to Saudi Arabia’s gamesmanship when the nations face off in Jeddah on Tuesday with automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup finals on the line.
Tony Popovic’s outfit go into the meeting at the King Abdullah Sports City with one foot on the plane to North America after a 1-0 win over Japan on Thursday bought the Socceroos breathing room in their quest for a place at the finals.
Despite that advantage, Metcalfe sought to ensure the Australians do not allow their focus to slip ahead of a crucial 90 minutes that will be played out in front of more than 50,000 fans and in stifling heat.
“There’s going to be a lot of diving, a lot of acting, but it’s about just blocking the noise out, focusing on ourselves and doing the best we can,” said the midfielder with Bundesliga club St. Pauli.
“You can’t get affected by any of it, because if you get affected by any of their little games or noise or whatever it is, then it’s just going to affect the game, and they’re going to get that little advantage over you.”
Australia hold a three-point lead over Hervé Renard’s side and a large enough goal difference to leave the Saudis needing to win by five goals to climb into second and claim the last automatic berth from the current phase of Asian preliminaries.