<\/div>\nPopovic has been forced into a re-think yet again by Italiano\u2019s injury news.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old\u2019s replacement is likely to be a makeshift option.<\/p>\n
Kai Trewin, Jason Geria and Aziz Behich stand at the potential replacement.<\/p>\n
Geria came off the bench at half-time against the USA to replace Cameron Burgess – who conceded the own goal for the Americans\u2019 opener – while Trewin could make his World Cup debut.<\/p>\n
Both are predominantly central defenders by trade, however, and would need to be recast on the right.<\/p>\n
While Behich, in his third World Cup, is a natural left back but could switch sides.<\/p>\n
As for in attack, Irankunda and Metcalfe shape as the likely replacements for Leckie and Velupillay – who was subbed off at half time in Seattle.<\/p>\n
But there is a wave of support for Cristian Volpato to start after an eye-catching World Cup debut against the Americans.<\/p>\n
In only half an hour on the pitch, the 22-year-old completed five of five dribbles – the most ever by a Socceroo in a World Cup game.<\/p>\n
Popovic smirked when Alessandro Circati, who was sitting alongside him in this morning\u2019s press conference, was asked about whether Volpato was now ready to start after joining the Australian camp right at the tournament death knock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you saw against the US, that\u2019s the sort of player he is,\u201d Circati said of his fellow Serie A player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think now that he\u2019s sort of caught up to speed – at the start he was maybe a little bit not ready or not familiar with our set up and how we like to play – he\u2019s had a lot of time and he\u2019s come in just great.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Australia defender Alessandro Circati and head coach Tony Popovic attend a news conference.<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPopovic also was unwilling to give anything away about who will start against Paraguay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re happy with all the players \u2013 it\u2019s a wonderful experience for us so far in particular the US game and (they\u2019ve) responded extremely well in the second half and we\u2019re growing day by day, even quicker than I anticipated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m very confident that the boys are well prepared, excited for the opportunity. We\u2019re in this position because we deserve to be here with a game to go and a chance to get to the knockout stages. I know the boys will relish this challenge and they\u2019re ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of growth, I\u2019m not surprised in terms of the quality of the team. It\u2019s just that these young boys are learning on the go,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very quick education and lessons that we are learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m seeing them grow as young men, I\u2019m seeing them grow as players and I\u2019m seeing them mature and I\u2019m seeing them enjoying and embracing the greatest challenge of all, which is the World Cup. It doesn\u2019t get greater than this. I\u2019m excited by this group and can\u2019t wait for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Popovic prepared for this contest by playing friendlies against South American opponents Venezuela and Colombia in the US last November.<\/p>\n
The Socceroos lost both those matches and worryingly have a dismal record against South American opponents on the world stage.<\/p>\n
The 2005 penalty shootout against Uruguay is arguably the greatest moment in Socceroos history, but outside of that unforgettable night, South American teams have largely caused heartbreak.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Australian ahead of their final pool match against Paraguay, pictured is Alessandro Circati and Coach Tony Popovic<\/span>Source: Supplied Source Known<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Socceroos have never beaten a South American opponent at a World Cup.<\/p>\n
Brazil (2006), Chile (2014), Peru (2018) and Argentina (2022) all triumphed against Australia.<\/p>\n
Popovic knows that Paraguay, who defeated Turkiye in their second group game, pose a massive threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand they bring a real toughness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir qualifying in South America is very difficult. They know how to get a result. They showed that in the last match, scoring early, ten men, and they\u2019re really resilient and tough. <\/p>\n
\u201c(They have a) fantastic manager, a lot of experience and it\u2019s a wonderful challenge, that\u2019s what we\u2019re here for. We love the position we\u2019re in, that we can go through to the next stage, to the knockout stages and we know it\u2019s in our hands and we know what a win does for us tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Popovic\u2019s assistant Paul Okon summed up Paraguay\u2019s style of play yesterday by dubbing it \u201cunorganised chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnorganised chaos is really a credit to them; it seems that way at times, but they\u2019re very organised, they know what they\u2019re doing in each moment of the game, in each phase,\u201d Popovic said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ve been preparing the players for that to understand what is coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cLessons, you always learn lessons from games and it\u2019s different opposition as well, different circumstances, situation from six days ago to now. <\/p>\n
\u201cSix days later, we\u2019re better again. And I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll show that tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Australia head coach Tony Popovic smiles during a news conference.<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Socceroos have won just nine of 50 games against South American teams over the journey.<\/p>\n
But it has not been all bad memories.<\/p>\n
The Socceroos have met Paraguay five times in friendlies and are unbeaten with two wins and three draws.<\/p>\n
One of those meetings came in Brisbane in October 2006 – where off the back of the nation\u2019s first men\u2019s World Cup campaign in 32 years, Popovic farewelled international football.<\/p>\n
The only man to ever coach Australia and play for the nation at a World Cup could not help but bring up that special memory and point towards his fellow centre back sitting next to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw that we\u2019ve got Paraguay, it was a bit, personally, something a little special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also scored in my last game, I (didn\u2019t) score many, so I remind you of that also for Ale, that I did score against Paraguay!<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it was a special way to end my international career.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then to think that all these years later I\u2019ll be the head coach and we\u2019re up against Paraguay is quite special.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that was a great day and hopefully tomorrow will be a wonderful, wonderful day for Australia against Paraguay once more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Socceroos boss Tony Popovic will be forced to make at least two changes to his starting XI for Australia\u2019s make-or-break World Cup clash with Paraguay on Friday. Speaking to the media ahead of Australia\u2019s all-important final group game in Santa Clara, Popovic confirmed that right back Jacob Italiano sustained an adductor injury in training and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-249973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}