With a FIFA World Cup berth on the line in their upcoming two-game window, Socceroos forward Brandon Borrello says they are not looking beyond their blockbuster qualifier in Perth.
And Borrello says the national team are reaping the rewards of their 10-day camp in Abu Dhabi as they prepare for their qualification campaign’s defining double-header against Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Victory against Japan at Optus Stadium would all but clinch a spot at the 2026 tournament for Australia, barring a thrashing against Saudi Arabia in their final group game in Jeddah.
Even a point against the Blue Samurai next Thursday might be enough to secure qualification if Saudi Arabia are unable to beat Bahrain a few hours later.
With the Socceroos nursing a three-point lead over Saudi Arabia in the race for the final qualifying spot, the pair’s clash looms as decisive — but Borrello said the focus was all on game one in WA.
“The mindset is, we play Japan, and that’s it for now until Japan’s done; then we go play Saudi,” he said.
“It’s just taking it one game at a time. It sounds cliche, but it drowns out the noise, so our focus is Japan right now and then we’ll reassess where we are for Saudi.”
It has been almost a week since the Socceroos assembled in Abu Dhabi and Borrello said the opportunity to have such a long lead-in under coach Tony Popovic before the two pivotal games was helpful.
“How often do you have the chance to have this extended period of time with a team before leading into World Cup qualifiers or a tournament?” he said.
“We’re pretty lucky in that sense and the boss is very specific to detail. We’re getting that drummed into us now, the style of play, because obviously it’s a new bunch of boys.
“We’ve got players returning that haven’t been a part of the squads for a while and we’ve got new players as well, so it’s a big combination of staying fit, understanding the style that we want to play leading into Japan and the Saudi games.
“We’ve had time to sit down and analyse how it is that he (Popovic) wants us to play and when we step out on the pitch, it takes maybe one or two days to understand the patterns of play.
“They might look maybe a little bit clunky, but then after that, day-by-day, it starts to become a lot more fluid, which is a lot quicker than what was to be expected.”
Borrello has played 13 times for the national team but has never featured in a major tournament and the Western Sydney forward is understandably eager to change that ahead of Popovic naming his squad for the two games towards the end of the week.
“There is an element of fitness, but it’s also intensity and training and doing the things the boss wants under that sort of environment,” he said.
“You go out into training and whether it’s just a short session that’s been planned, it’s always ‘do it at game speed’, which is probably one of the biggest things we need to get done over here, considering the climate we could be playing in Saudi Arabia.”
