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
As my colleague Mike Tuckerman wrote earlier this week, Australia’s Asian Cup qualifier in Muscat on Saturday could be a banana skin for the Socceroos and there’s no doubt experienced Oman boss Claude Le Roy will be greasing up his side in the hope of an Aussie slip-up.
Le Roy is quite the unforgettable type and he certainly made an impression on Australians last month when Oman came to play the Socceroos in Melbourne.
The 61-year-old Frenchman’s physical appearance alone sparked much debate about his cartoon alter-ego, while some of his comments garnered a fair bit of discussion too.
He began the trip lamenting the fact out of their Asian Cup qualifying group, only his Omani side had to face the Socceroos at full-strength. And they had to do it twice!
And then came the actual match where Oman went down 1-0, despite enjoying the better of the first-half chances and having a stonewall penalty waved away late in the game.
Le Roy clearly wasn’t happy at the post-match conference, where not only did he express his frustration at the result, he also revealed Gary Moretti’s now infamous half-time slur whilst labeling Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell as ‘assistant referees’.
It is fair to say Le Roy didn’t have the best of trips to Australia last month and it would be easy to believe he’d be keen for some form of retribution this weekend.
But the wily French boss has been strangely quiet in the lead-up to the return-leg, with most of the local newspapers preferring to focus on the mouthwatering clash with world heavyweights Brazil, which will occur three days after the Socceroos match.
In fact, the Oman Football Association chairman Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi told a busy press conference crowd this week, “Do not forget Saturday is important for us because if we can win against Australia then we can all enjoy a beautiful match against Brazil on November 17.”
Indeed, perhaps all the external hype about the Brazil match will be just what Le Roy wants as he tries to focus solely on readying his side for Saturday.
The well-travelled Le Roy, who led Cameroon to the 1998 World Cup, would know the Oman FA would expect, at the least, their national team to qualify for the Asian Cup.
And while the Frenchman guided Oman to success in the Gulf Cup earlier this year, Asian Cup qualification is crucial for his future with an FA clearly wielding some financial power considering their ability to attract the Brazilian national team to town for a friendly.
So Saturday’s qualifier against the Socceroos is a very important match for Le Roy.
In his rant about facing a full-strength Socceroos side twice, Le Roy said; “I think that we need 10 points to qualify, maybe 11, but I think 10 will be enough.”
Currently, Oman sit second in the group with 4 points behind Australia merely on head-to-head record, with Kuwait third with 3 points and Indonesia fourth on 2 points (although the latter two have a game in hand).
A loss against Australia on Saturday would leave Oman with two matches (a tough away trip to Jakarta and a home tie against the A-League-Roos’ conquerors Kuwait) to reach their 10-point target.
Indeed, getting something out of Saturday’s match would be great for Le Roy, whilst on the other hand, the Socceroos realistically need the three points considering those who will be unavailable for the final two qualifiers.
The A-League-based Socceroos sides hardly filled Australian football fans with confidence in their previous games against Indonesia and Kuwait.
And while the likes of senior Socceroo regulars Jason Culina, Craig Moore and Mile Sterjovski should now be available for the final two qualifiers, the trip to Kuwait won’t be easy and there will be no guarantees without the three points in Muscat.
Nevertheless, there has been an air of complacency amongst the Australian media about the game this week, but all rumblings from the Socceroos camp have been just the opposite.
That’s a good sign and on paper you’d think Australia should get the job done, but historically speaking rarely have Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos gone on the road chasing the three points (ignoring the Ireland game, which was a friendly after all) and got the job done in convincing style.
But in true Verbeek-style, convince is not what the Socceroos need to do and that’ll probably be the mantra for the side with the three points the main goal.
Le Roy will have a few tricks in stall for Australia in Muscat, but whether or not he can outfox the Socceroos’ conversative, Dutch pragmatist remains to be seen. I certainly look to forward to finding out on early Sunday morning (AEDT).
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