Leckie relishing 'rewarding' chance to shine against Peru

Thomas Pombart 1654944436,1654979290

The Socceroos have the chance to progress to a fifth-straight FIFA World Cup should they defeat Peru on Tuesday morning, and Mathew Leckie wants to do all he can to make sure he will be on the plane to Qatar.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Socceroos will take on Peru at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in a winner-takes-all match for a spot in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Before facing Peru, the Green and Gold had to battle hard against the UAE midweek, with Jackson Irvine and Ajdin Hrustic netting goals in the second half to send Australia to a second-successive inter-continental play-off game.

However, despite featuring nearly the entire match against Al-Abyad, Mathew Leckie knows that his fellow Socceroos teammates still have a vast amount of improvement in their game leading into the crucial tie against la Blanquirroja.

"I think in every game, there's always things you can work on and do better so we reviewed the game, we saw the good things we've done, and some things we need to sort of fix up a little bit," Leckie said.

"No team ever has a perfect game, but next game is a one-off if we win, we go to the World Cup, so I'm sure every single player will be giving it their all."

Despite not to automatically qualifying for the World Cup, Leckie stressed just how hard it is to secure results in tough conditions away from home.

"It will definitely be rewarding, just based on the fact that once you've been here or participated in a World Cup qualification, you understand how tough it is.

"Unless you're here you can't really judge or understand how hard it is when you go over to these types of countries and playing in these types of conditions in these type of atmospheres," Leckie explained.

"We know how hard it is, and how much we have to put in to get those results, and when you say we've been written off, or people probably aren't expecting us to be there because of where our players are playing at the moment, that doesn't really bother me. That's not a drive for me.

"I think the most important thing for everyone, for the country, is going to the World Cup, it's the best possible thing you can do in football.

"It's good for the game and for the younger players that are coming through, to get the opportunity to be on the world stage and that opens pathways and opportunities because the whole world is watching."

Leckie took up more of a central striking role against the UAE instead of his more accustomed position on the wing, and he reiterated he is ready to do whatever job is asked of him against Peru.

"I enjoyed it. For the times I have played central for the national team I have always enjoyed that central position," he explained.

"Looking back at the (UAE) game, just in general it was a great effort from the lads in terms of always being on it in a physical sense, always trying to keep pressure on the ball and working hard to stay compact as a team.

"Although I probably didn't get involved as much as in other games, I still feel like the hard work off the ball still made a big impact a as a team collectively.

"We'll see what happens for the next game, I don't know what Arnie is thinking, but I'm obviously up for playing central again and there is always the wing as well."

Peru stand in their way and will be stiff competition but the Socceroos come into the clash confident after securing a friendly win over Jordan and progression out of AFC Qualifying by defeating UAE.

Having acclimated to Qatar and finding some form, Leckie was buoyed by how the squad had come together ahead of the "second half" of the playoff qualification process against la Blanquirroja in a one off at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

"It's important to be playing well going into these windows and to have this momentum physically, fitness-wise and of course you want your best available team out there.

"So I think the fact that we're all back at this time, it's crucial and this is the crunch time.

"We knew that these two games coming into camp we have to win both to go to the World Cup, so it's panned out well (having everyone back) and just in general you always want all the players you can possibly have (available)."

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Intercontinental Play-off
Australia v Peru
Date: Monday, 13 June 2022
Venue: Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Doha, Qatar
Kick-off: 9pm local; 4am AEST (Tuesday, 14 June 2022)
Broadcast: Live and free in Australia via Network 10 and simulcast on 10 Play
Tickets: tickets.qfa.qa

Socceroos vs Peru Intercontinental Playoff