Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou rued his team’s slow start and failure to get into the game against Greece, acknowledging afterwards that the Australian national team needed to keep their composure and play to their game plan, not the scoreboard.
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Maniatis continued: “All the boys bonded and for some of them it was the first time [with the national team]”, he said.
“Greece is a strong side, they missed out on the Euros but they have a lot of good players and should be a good test”.
Coach Ange Postecoglou is expected to make team changes, with Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic likely to get more game time in Melbourne.
After all, it took a last-minute Matthew Leckie strike for the Socceroos to find a way past Orestis Karnezis in the Greek goal last weekend and that result marked the occasion of just Australia’s second win in their last 12 worldwide friendlies (L6-D4).
Meanwhile, Nathan Burns said the message Postecoglou was trying to get across was very important.
“Here it’s hard to realise the thought going into playing the game three days after the State of Origin”, he said on SEN Breakfast with Frank and Ox.
Leckie’s victor against Greece on Saturday night was worth the wait – a pivot at the top of the box and a bullet in the last second of play to decide the friendly 1-0.
That said, it can not be overlooked that Greece endured an utterly disastrous Euro 2016 qualification campaign and have been on poor form for the best part of two years.
“I think we had a good reaction [after going 2-0 down] and we were unlucky not to get it back to 2-2”, Cahill said. “Being a Sydneysider I’m not too proud and something needs to be done”, the Crystal Palace captain said. “It’s out of our hands, we’re just there to play and I’m sure other people can take care of that”.
On the win, Jedinak said: “We kept at it, we always said to be persistent and don’t give up until the last kick of the game”.
His first green and gold jersey is a reward for a stellar Hyundai A-League season with Victory – where Geria played 19 games – as well as a string of fine displays in the ACL. “He helped us adjust to the game really well”.
“I was with most of these boys in November playing together, so it’s a weird situation”.
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“So we’ll make some changes tomorrow night, but again they’re changes created to maximise performance”.
