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The Socceroos have paid tribute to cancer patient Craig Moore at their final full training session before Wednesday night’s (0200 Thursday AEDT) World Cup qualifier against Bahrain.
All the players trained in shirts with Moore’s name and number on them in honour of the Queensland Roar captain who was ruled out of the match after the shock news he had testicular cancer.
Moore underwent surgery last week to remove a cancerous testicle but is expected to return to training with the Roar on Wednesday.
The players decided upon the gesture as a show of support for Moore, who returned for the Socceroos side in last month’s 4-0 win over Qatar.
“Now hopefully we can get the three points tomorrow night and dedicate the win to him,” said teammate Mark Bresciano.
Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek put his team through their paces on Tuesday night at the Bahrain National Stadium, where the match will be held tomorrow night.
A win will put Australia in a strong position to qualify for South Africa 2010 but Verbeek is refusing to let the side get ahead of itself and take Bahrain lightly.
Australia sit atop the group with two wins from two games while Bahrain are in fifth place with just one point.
“I think we all know how important this game is not only for us, but for Bahrain because it can make a big difference if you get three points or zero,” Verbeek said.
“It’s an interesting game and obviously there are are no easy games any more in international football so it will be a hard game for us also and we will try everything to win the game tomorrow.”
Bahrain coach Milan Macala is without five of his key players due to suspension and injury.
“Of course our opponent is at this moment the best team in Asia,” Macala said.
“I think that for my colleague Pim Verbeek it would not be a big problem for him to have two or three teams and they play in the best competitions in the world.
“We have respect for them but we are dreaming about qualification and we need points.”
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