DOHA — Australia are looking to spark something special in a country where football often takes a backseat by reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup via their final Group D match against Denmark on Wednesday.
It is 16 years since a golden generation of players first got Australia got out of the group stage at the World Cup and forward Mathew Leckie said he hoped the 2022 vintage could produce something similar.
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“We’ve always believed that we can create something special,” Leckie told a news conference on Tuesday.
“When the Socceroos got out of the group in ’06 I was a proud fan and now we have the opportunity to be players and do that.
“We saw how proud it makes the people back home. So we’re doing it for the country, for ourselves, for our friends, for our family and that’s motivation in itself.”
The round-ball game ranks fourth in the football code pecking order Down Under behind Australian Rules and the two variations of rugby.
There was, however, an outpouring of joy in Australia when the Socceroos beat Tunisia 1-0 to claim their first World Cup finals win in 12 years on Saturday.
Coach Graham Arnold, who was an assistant to Guus Hiddink for the 2006 campaign in Germany, said a reminder of what reaching the knockout stages could mean for the game would be sitting in the Australia dressing-room on Wednesday.
“They were 10 years of age watching those guys do what they did in 2006. And those guys were their inspiration,” he said.
“That’s the whole purpose … it’s about the game in Australia … to leave a legacy is huge.”
Australia need to upset the odds and beat the Danes to guarantee a place in the last 16, but a draw would suffice if Tunisia are unable to beat already qualified France in the other group match.
Arnold spent as little time talking about the Danes or the permutations as he politely could but was crystal clear about one thing.
“I’ve never coached to play for a draw, it’s all about winning,” he said.
“In ’06 we got one win and one draw, our ambition is to get two wins and get the most wins at one World Cup.”
Arnold said there was still a question mark over right back Nathanial Atkinson, who missed the Tunisia match with an ankle injury, but that midfielder Ajdin Hrustic was available to start at the Al Janoub Stadium.
“We can create something special as the ’06 team did,” Leckie added.
“But in saying that, when we won the other night, the first thing that was said was ‘we haven’t really done anything yet because there’s still another game to go’. And without a result tomorrow, it all means nothing.” (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond)
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