Beating Honduras will boost football in Australia, says Troisi
San Pedro Sula: James Troisi believes that qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 would help improve football in Australia as the Socceroos prepare for the first leg of their Intercontinental Play-off with Honduras on Friday.
Troisi was part of the squad at Brazil 2014, coming off the bench twice as Australia exited at the group stage, but firmly made his mark on the national team the following year when he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Korea Republic in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup final.
Australia have since stuttered on the Road to Russia, proving tough to beat but not posting enough wins; however, after overcoming Syria in the Continental Play-off, are now just two games away from progressing to their fourth successive FIFA World Cup.
“It would mean everything because international football is about the nation,” said Troisi, who was recalled to the Socceroos squad earlier in the year after missing his country’s first five qualifiers.
“It would help us as players and help the game grow in Australia, which is vital – football needs to grow, get better and get bigger.”
After qualifying for the previous two World Cups automatically, Australia find themselves facing a first Intercontinental Play-off since 2005, when they defeated Uruguay on penalties to advance to their first World Cup since 1974.
The Socceroos won their first two games in the third round of Asian qualifiers, but four straight draws saw Ange Postecoglou’s side drop valuable points as they fell behind both Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Form picked up again and they finished with three wins from four, although ultimately missed out on a direct route to Russia by virtue of an inferior goal difference to the Saudis.
“We’ve made it a bit difficult for ourselves but we tend to like doing that these days,” added Melbourne Victory midfielder Troisi.
“It’s the World Cup and the best countries are there for a reason. It’s not easy to get there but we know what we have to do and we’ll work hard to do everything we can to get there.”
Troisi was an unused substitute in the first leg against Syria in October as Australia claimed a 1-1 draw in Melaka to take a positive result home to Sydney.
The 29-year-old then started at Stadium Australia as Tim Cahill’s extra-time winner booked the date with CONCACAF’s fourth-ranked team, Honduras.
“To be honest, we don’t know too much about them yet,” admitted Troisi. “But we’ll go through all the things we need to and familiarise ourselves with their players and the team.
“Quite a few of them play in the MLS (Major League Soccer) and the rest of them in the local league. We won’t underestimate the team and what they can do.
“I don’t think we necessarily need to make changes (from the Syria game), but the coaches will know what they have to tweak in terms of tactics and formation.
“Then we have to produce on the pitch. If we do that, which we’ve shown in the past against some of the best countries in the world, then we’re very hard to beat.”
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com
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