Rival Watch: India's AFC Asian Cup opponents Australia

Australia have been champions at the AFC Asian Cup previously and are a tough nut to crack!

India are all ready to begin their AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign against Australia on Saturday (January 13). This could, arguably, be the Blue Tigers’ toughest challenge in the group stages and one where they need to be at their best to produce a positive result.

The Socceroos are currently ranked 25 in the FIFA World Rankings and one of the strongest teams in the Asian Cup. They have top quality players playing in major leagues around the world and will be aiming to start their Asian Cup campaign in dominant fashion.

About the Team

Australia became an official member of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) after the turn of the 21st century and participated in the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 2007. Since then, they have qualified for and impressed in every single edition of the Asian Cup.

They’ve reached the quarter-finals twice, finished as runners-up in 2011 and won the AFC Asian Cup in 2015. Australia have also qualified for every single FIFA World Cup since the 2006 edition and even reached the Round of 16 in Qatar in 2022. On top of this, the Socceroos have also won the OFC Nations Cup title four times.

Recent Performances

Australia have played quite a few friendly games in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup and tested their ability against quite prominent oppositions in 2023. Indeed, they suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to England at Wembley in October and lost 2-0 to Argentina earlier in the year too.

The Socceroos are currently on a four-game winning run heading into the AFC Asian Cup, which includes wins over New Zealand, Bangladesh and Palestine. Their recent-most win was a compelling 2-0 triumph over Bahrain, helping them gain some momentum ahead of their showdown against the Blue Tigers.

The Coach

Graham Arnold has been the head coach of the Australia national team since 2018 and has been retained for his impressive work. The Socceroos are enjoying an impressive 65.22 win percentage under him, having won 30 of the 46 matches played under the experienced tactician.

Arnold been coaching since 2006 after a decorated playing career in which he made over 450 domestic appearances and got over 50 caps for Australia. He also helped Australia manage a record, with the Socceroos becoming the first nation to win 11 consecutive FIFA World Cup qualifiers in a single qualification campaign before the 2022 World Cup.

He is assisted by Dutch coach Rene Meulensteen, who was Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant coach at Manchester United and enjoyed had a stint as ISL outfit Kerala Blasters’ head coach. Under Arnold, Australia mostly tend to play in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 formation – in which they emphasize on attacking using the wide areas and feeding a lot of chances to their centre-forward.

Players to Watch

Mitchell Duke

Mitchell Duke has become the vocal point of Australia’s attack and the person whom everyone searches for in the final third. The 32-year-old comes into the 2023 AFC Asian Cup with a lot of experience and having scored 12 goals in 33 appearances for the Socceroos. He scored 11 goals in 36 appearances for Japanese side Machida Zelvia last season and has developed the reputation of a clinical finisher.

Duke excels with his smart movement in being able to lose mark of defenders and slime into goal-scoring areas. He is efficient with his finishing ability and doesn’t take too much invitation to score, meaning defenders need to keep a close eye on him.

Jackson Irvine

The versatile midfielder is another regular in the Australia side and one who plays a key role in helping them control games. Irvine is a hard-working midfielder who can play anywhere in midfield, and loves pressing opponents to win back the ball in key areas.

He can make late runs from deep areas to add another goal-scoring body and also create chances with his clever passing range. The St. Pauli midfielder excels at helping Australia dominate possession and keep a hold of things in the centre of the park.

Harry Souttar

Despite only being a centre-back, Harry Souttar still possesses a lot of influence over how the Socceroos play. He is excellent with his ball-playing ability, and loves to carry the ball forward to help open things up in the opposition half.

Souttar is a physical, commanding centre-back who loves to bully opposition forwards and excels in winning duels in key areas. He can also be a major threat in set-pieces, having scored 10 goals in 22 appearances for Australia. The Leicester City defender can be their breakout star in the AFC Asian Cup and one the opponents can’t take for granted.

What to Expect

It is rather clear that Australia will be dominating the majority of the game against India. They come into the opener in high spirits after having won their last four games and have a favourable head-to-head record against the Blue Tigers too.

Graham Arnold’s side has a really compact shape that makes it tough to score past them or dominate them. India will need to be at their very best defensively, frustrating the Socceroos and forcing them to come out of the half or make too many changes that ruin the flow of their game. But the Australian side has enough quality around the team to come up with solutions for problems.

They will keep pushing the Indian side back and move the ball around the park to create innovative chances and look to trouble on set-pieces too. Igor Stimac has to match their step with their defensive work to carve out a positive result.

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