Socceroos defender Mark Milligan says Australia has to suffer some short term pain for long term gain on the international stage.
In the wake of their first-ever 1-0 loss to 96th-ranked Qatar and scoreless draw with United Arab Emirates earlier this month Milligan said such results were disappointing but not entirely unexpected.
It was coach Ange Postecoglou’s seventh defeat in 11 games, with just two wins, since taking charge of the Socceroos a year ago this week.
“I know for a long time so many people were calling for change at a national level,” the Melbourne Victory skipper said on Wednesday.
“They wanted players to come in and be blooded and to get game time and at the moment that’s exactly what’s happening.
“We’re doing it whilst on the road; through Europe, through Asia, and it’s really the only time you can give new players good game time.
“We’re playing friendly matches for a reason and, though we’re disappointed as well in the result, hopefully being able to play a number of new players is going to give them more experience and confidence when we do come to the big show in January.”
The Socceroos only have one more warm-up game – away next month against Japan – before January’s Asian Cup back on home soil.
Milligan said a win would ease some pressure on the side.
“It’s a massive match, there’s no doubt about it, against Japan,” he said.
“It’s away so it’s going to be difficult again but we want to make sure that we get a good result for ourselves leading into the Asian Cup form-wise.
“We also want to make sure we get a good result for the fans.”
Milligan said the players still had belief that they were on the right path despite the run of poor performances.
“Obviously we don’t like losing but the boys definitely believe and trust in what Ange is trying to do,” he said.
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