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Socceroos must rise to the occasion: Ange

7th January, 2015
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Coach Ange Postecoglou is demanding his Socceroos rise to the occasion of hosting the Asian Cup.

Postecoglou’s Socceroos open the tournament on Friday night against Kuwait in Melbourne, and he has left players in no doubt about his expectations.

Captain Mile Jedinak says after a dozen games in charge for just two wins, Postecoglou is increasing the pressure to perform on his players.

“Obviously when you first come in as a new coach you want to see what your squad can do and you want to implement a style,” Jedinak told AAP.

“And we have to get used to that style, absolutely.

“But as any good manager does, he expects players to perform. And has the bar been lifted? 100 per cent.

“You need to be challenged … it’s part and parcel of playing for your national team. If no one knew that before, they definitely know it now.”

After a day off training, the Australians return to practice on Wednesday with Jedinak echoing Postecoglou’s message of purely focusing on Kuwait.

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“Being in situations similar to this before, you can never look too far ahead,” he said.

“Kuwait are the first opponents in front of us and then on to the next one.

“From what I have learnt throughout my career, that is a very good way of approaching things.”

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