By N.D. Prashant/Doha
The floods in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, have also affected families and friends of some members of the Australian Asian cup squad.
But the catastrophe by no means has dampened the spirits of the team as they take on heavyweights South Korea in their Group C encounter here at the Gharafa Stadium today, according to skipper Lucas Neill.
“There are at least five players from Queensland, some born there, some raised there and some playing there. All of them are on the phone everyday and wondering if their family and others are safe,” said Neill, whose side won the opening encounter against India 4-0.
The skipper said the morale of the players, however, was still high.
“We are very focused on the job tomorrow night and this tragedy will give us determination to be successful against Korea.
“Once we are done with this match, we will have time to concentrate and conduct donation programmes. Through football, I hope we can do our bit to help people back home,” added Neill.The Australian Team have also been allowed by the AFC to wear special jerseys for the match to create awareness.
“This is a massive disaster; people have unfortunately died and a lot of them are missing. The floods look never-ending and this is a concern for our team. Our wishes are with our families and people back home and I hope we can do them proud. AFC has allowed us to wear the jersey with web address www.qld.gov.au/floods.
“We are hoping that people from all over the world will do their bit. Sometimes, football is not the biggest thing in the world and it’s not right to make people feel second best,” said Neill.
Both teams will observe a minute’s and the Australian players will be sporting black arm bands for the people who have lost their life. The 26th-ranked Australians and the 39th-ranked Koreans have progressed from the opening match with comfortable wins. And they will be fielding more or less the same team for this crunch outing. Against minnows India, it was job well done but it will be interesting to see how they tackle the Koreans. Australian coach Holger Osieck will be once again hoping that his forwards Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill repeat their performance of the opening match. Kewell and Cahill were exceptional against India and got their names on the scoreboard. The Everton star Cahill, in fact, scored twice.
“It’s no secret, we know about their individual strengths and the quality of Korean Republic players, but on the other hand we don’t have to hide. We also have quality players and it will be interesting to see tomorrow who will be in the best form,” said coach Holger Osieck on the eve of the encounter. South Korea, on the other hand, will be missing the services of their defender Kwak Tae-hwi, who was red-carded during his side’s 2-1 win over Bahrain on Monday.
“We have three players who can take Tae-hwi’s place. It will be difficult for us but one thing is for sure, all 23 players have a good understanding of how to approach the game with Australia,” said South Korean coach Cho Kwang Rae. Kwang Rae has also already identified Sasa Ognenovski as a weak link in the Australian line-up and was keen to exploit the lack of mobility in the big man at the central defence.
“We have identified Ognenovski as the one little bit weak in the defence line. Otherwise, I believe they are well organised in their defence and when they attack, they change flanks quickly and often and they have good players who can cross well and are good in general. We have prepared well with their strengths and weaknesses in mind,” said Kwang Rae.
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com
The floods in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, have also affected families and friends of some members of the Australian Asian cup squad.
But the catastrophe by no means has dampened the spirits of the team as they take on heavyweights South Korea in their Group C encounter here at the Gharafa Stadium today, according to skipper Lucas Neill.
“There are at least five players from Queensland, some born there, some raised there and some playing there. All of them are on the phone everyday and wondering if their family and others are safe,” said Neill, whose side won the opening encounter against India 4-0.
The skipper said the morale of the players, however, was still high.
“We are very focused on the job tomorrow night and this tragedy will give us determination to be successful against Korea.
“Once we are done with this match, we will have time to concentrate and conduct donation programmes. Through football, I hope we can do our bit to help people back home,” added Neill.The Australian Team have also been allowed by the AFC to wear special jerseys for the match to create awareness.
“This is a massive disaster; people have unfortunately died and a lot of them are missing. The floods look never-ending and this is a concern for our team. Our wishes are with our families and people back home and I hope we can do them proud. AFC has allowed us to wear the jersey with web address www.qld.gov.au/floods.
“We are hoping that people from all over the world will do their bit. Sometimes, football is not the biggest thing in the world and it’s not right to make people feel second best,” said Neill.
Both teams will observe a minute’s and the Australian players will be sporting black arm bands for the people who have lost their life. The 26th-ranked Australians and the 39th-ranked Koreans have progressed from the opening match with comfortable wins. And they will be fielding more or less the same team for this crunch outing. Against minnows India, it was job well done but it will be interesting to see how they tackle the Koreans. Australian coach Holger Osieck will be once again hoping that his forwards Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill repeat their performance of the opening match. Kewell and Cahill were exceptional against India and got their names on the scoreboard. The Everton star Cahill, in fact, scored twice.
“It’s no secret, we know about their individual strengths and the quality of Korean Republic players, but on the other hand we don’t have to hide. We also have quality players and it will be interesting to see tomorrow who will be in the best form,” said coach Holger Osieck on the eve of the encounter. South Korea, on the other hand, will be missing the services of their defender Kwak Tae-hwi, who was red-carded during his side’s 2-1 win over Bahrain on Monday.
“We have three players who can take Tae-hwi’s place. It will be difficult for us but one thing is for sure, all 23 players have a good understanding of how to approach the game with Australia,” said South Korean coach Cho Kwang Rae. Kwang Rae has also already identified Sasa Ognenovski as a weak link in the Australian line-up and was keen to exploit the lack of mobility in the big man at the central defence.
“We have identified Ognenovski as the one little bit weak in the defence line. Otherwise, I believe they are well organised in their defence and when they attack, they change flanks quickly and often and they have good players who can cross well and are good in general. We have prepared well with their strengths and weaknesses in mind,” said Kwang Rae.
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com