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Australian and Oman players clash after Josh Kennedy is knocked down during a FIFA Asian Cup qualifying match, played at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. Australia beat Oman 1-0. AAP Image/Joe Castro
The story of Pim Verbeek being hired to steer Australia to the World Cup finals has been done to death. We all know that the Asian Cup was originally somewhat of an afterthought for the laconic Dutchman.
Qualification for the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar may not have been high on the agenda when Verbeek put pen to paper in December 2007, but it’s at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts going into Australia’s clash with Oman on Saturday.
The Socceroos can breathe easier following their laboured 1-0 win over Oman at Etihad Stadium last month.
Indeed, another win in Muscat would virtually seal qualification – barring unforeseen disaster – to Australia’s second successive Asian Cup finals.
Yet, the match is unlikely to reveal anything particularly new, at least in terms of tactics, with Verbeek set to field his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation.
We’re likely to see Bruce Djite receive at least some game time up front, with Josh Kennedy ruled out by a back injury, while on-loan Plymouth Argyle defender Shane Lowry and Sydney FC striker Alex Brosque are late additions to the squad.
Vince Grella is still missing through his thigh injury, but the big news of course was the decision to drop Celtic striker Scott McDonald.
Whether that means McDonald’s dreams of going to South Africa are over is anyone’s guess – although it doesn’t look good for a striker yet to open his account for the national team – but why Verbeek didn’t select the pacy Nikita Rukavytsya is a frustrating source of mystery.
Much could rest on the talismanic shoulders of Harry Kewell, who has been in goal scoring form for club side Galatasaray of late, while the usual crew of big names will also be expected to leave their mark – including the fit-again Brett Emerton.
How much longer Australia can rely upon the likes of veterans Emerton, Kewell, Chipperfield et. al. remains to be seen, and the squad that travels to Qatar in 2011 is likely to be much different from the one that finishes the tournament in South Africa twelve months earlier.
But the loss of target man Josh Kennedy in Muscat could prove a more immediate blow, in what is only Australia’s third Asian Cup qualifier on foreign soil.
Missing their usual target man, Australia may need to find another source of inspiration – including, one would imagine, a source of goals not derived from knock-downs and winning second balls in dangerous positions.
It would be marvellous to see some fluid interplay involving Brett Holman, not to mention some accurate set pieces from Mark Bresciano, and no doubt we would all love to see Jason Culina pass the ball forward every once in a while!
But with coach Verbeek sticking steadfastly to his “results-first” mantra, we may just have to settle for another dogged performance against a team that didn’t necessarily sit back as expected in the corresponding clash in Melbourne.
I just wonder whether this trip to Muscat might not prove somewhat of a banana skin for the Socceroos.
The win over Oman last month was professional, but it was hardly a showcase of attacking football, and the Omani’s will be fired up following last month’s Gary Moretti debacle.
It’s a long trip to the Gulf, conditions will be hot, and the Socceroos may just have to take the game to the Omani’s if they are to come away with all three points.
So far he’s ticked all the boxes, so there’s no reason to doubt that Pim Verbeek can get the job done once again in Muscat.
But he may just need to be on guard, as an Australian team that likes to talk the talk, looks to finally walk the walk in another tricky-looking Asian Cup qualifier.