Tony Popovic: We've got to use our home support to our advantage against Indonesia
Our final part of our exclusive chat with Tony Popovic sees the Subway Socceroos boss discussing our upcoming opponents in Indonesia.
The Aussies host the Garuda Warriors in a crucial FIFA World Cup 2026™ Third Round Qualifier at the Sydney Football Stadium on Thursday, 20 March, needing to win if they are to remain in second place in the Group C standings.
This will also be Popovic's first match in his hometown, Sydney, while in charge of the national team.
The head coach admitted a change in the opposition dugout would not alter their preparation for the game and stressed his side must show Indonesia the necessary respect but not fear them.
Facing Indonesia and the appointment of Patrick Kluivert as head coach
It doesn't change anything. It's hard for us to understand or know the reasons why they've changed [head coach]. But obviously internally, they have made a decision.
They've brought in a very famous name in football, and I'm sure he'll want to continue with their good form, and they'll want to start that against us. They're obviously a team that we respect. They've shown that in their results, we had a 0-0 draw with them in the first game.
They'll come here wanting to get a big result against Australia. It's up to us to really just focus on ourselves and make sure that we can build on the platform we've set so far. We'll show them the respect they deserve, but certainly won't go into the game with any fear.
We've got our home crowd behind us. We'll have a stadium full, supporting us here in Sydney, and we've got to use that to our advantage, use our belief and our football to our advantage. [We must] respect the opponent, but we want to walk away with the three points.
Memories of competing against Kluivert while at Crystal Palace
Just that he was an outstanding footballer. That's quite clear, and it's been proven in his career as a player, being at the very highest level, played for the biggest clubs in the world. That's my recollection of him and now, obviously he's trying to start something new in terms of his coaching career.
He hasn't had a lot of experience in coaching, but he probably views this as an opportunity to do something special, and we wish him well, but just not in March against Australia.
