Hostile 80k crowd to ignite Socceroos’ ‘fire’ in redemption clash

A horror start to their third phase World Cup qualifying campaign combined with the hostile atmosphere of a massive Indonesian crowd will not hinder the Socceroos game plan on Tuesday night, according to Alessandro Circati.
The 24th ranked Socceroos’ bid to directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup took a shock turn when Bahrain created history with a 1-0 defeat on Australian soil.
Graham Arnold’s men focus now shifts to their Indonesian rivals, who managed an impressive 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia in their opening third round match.
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With a sellout crowd of 78,000 expected to be in mass support of the home side, Circati remains confident that his teammates will be able to handle the pressure.
“I think these hostile environments should only fire you up,” he told Football Australia.
“I think it should be energy to fuel your fire. It should get you going.
“It pumps me up and makes me want to win even more.
“To go against all these fans who could be cheering against you, just to prove them wrong and to really show them that 70,000 people that (they) don’t make a difference to how I play.”
Alessandro Circati of the Socceroos. Getty
Circati downplayed any concern or pressure felt by the team following the defeat to Bahrain on Thursday night.
“It’s a new game, a different game,” he said.
“In the last qualifiers, Japan lost their first two and qualified. It’s not a matter of life or death, these things happen in football.
“It’s not ideal but I think we’ve got to move on. There’s no point dwelling on the situation. We’ve had a good training session and we know what we are doing.”
With the team’s lack of creativity exposed by Bahrain, it is expected that Indonesia’s defence will adopt similar tactics.
Socceroos teammates embrace Getty
Australia dominated possession against Bahrain without creating chances, recording just four shots on target before conceding.
But the issue is something Circati believes the team has the capability to rectify.
“We are going into it with a free head and improvements always have to be made in all games, even when you win,” he said.
“I’d like to think in this game we can be a bit more creative, a bit braver offensively, and take more risks to create more goal-scoring opportunities.
“We have a lot of creative players who are able to do that.
“We’re just going to try to get it out of them. Obviously, that’s not my best attribute but when it has to be done, it has to be done.
“I will try to do that. I’ll take a player on, I’ll do something different, but we do have creative players, we are able to do that.
“I think we just need to flick the switch to give them confidence to take that risk, to take a player or two on.”
Australia has previously faced the Indonesian squad on multiple occasions, recording 12 wins, three draws and a loss.
However, just two games into their 10 game schedule, a victory over Indonesia will be a highly desired result for Arnold.
The Socceroos will take to the field without Kusini Yengi, who received a red card for an ugly tackle during the side’s defeat.
Tuesday’s game begins at 10pm AEST.