- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Mark Bresciano believes Australia’s ability to cash in on their Dutch connections will help the Socceroos’ bid to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2010.
More football
Premier League lurches from one drama to another
Djulbic needs to keep cool says Mitchell
South Africa to showcase progress on 2010 Cup
Led by Dutchman Pim Verbeek, the Australians take on the Netherlands at Eindhoven’s Phillips Stadium in a friendly early on Sunday (AEST), four days before their World Cup Asia group qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
In preparation, the Socceroos have returned to Mierlo, the site of their training camp for the 2006 World Cup where, led by Verbeek’s compatriot Guus Hiddink, they reached the second round before losing controversially to Italy.
“We’ve got some memories here,” Bresciano said via teleconference from the small town just outside Eindhoven.
“We’re now here in Holland and playing against Holland which is good for us anyway because they’re giving us a hand to prepare the best way we can for the game coming up in Uzbekistan.
“It’s a bonus for us having these connections and being able to play a friendly match against Holland, which is a quality side.”
Australian assistant coach Graham Arnold also has strong ties with the Netherlands, where he is highly regarded following stints as a player at Roda JC and NAC Breda in the 1990s.
While the Oranje promise a stern test for the Socceroos, Bresciano said the team also expected Uzbekistan to be a tough prospect.
“They did extremely well in the previous Asian Cup,” Bresciano said of the team who reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 tournament.
“They play more a European style of football, so that’s probably a bit better for us as a team to play against.”
Scoring goals has been a problem for Australia and the absence of striker Scott McDonald with a groin injury for the Netherlands match will not help their cause, particularly with Tim Cahill and Mark Viduka also on the sidelines.
McDonald is also in doubt for the Uzbekistan game, putting pressure on players like midfielder Bresciano to produce goals.
“Not only myself, but we do have other players in the team that have that quality about them, they can score a goal here and there,” Bresciano said.
“That’s something that you’ve still got to be working on and hopefully get better.
“Having people miss out through injuries and stuff, that makes it even harder for us but we’ve got no excuses, we’ve got to just focus on what we have to do now at the moment, first Holland and then Uzbekistan.”
Bresciano scored Palermo’s only goal in a 3-1 loss to Serie A rivals Udinese in the opening match of the Italian season at the weekend.
“I wasn’t too happy because I did start off on the bench, I did come on after the first half, but I’ve just got to keep working and hopefully convince the coach to start playing me regularly and start playing me in the starting 11,” he said.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.