Courtesy of Fox Sports
By Simon Hill
November 19, 2008

WE go one one one with Fox Sports commentator Simon Hill as Australia countdown the hours until their Asian World Cup qualifying showdown with Bahrain.

Has the loss of key players such as Scott McDonald, Brett Emerton and Vince Grella through injury, and the reported problems surrounding Tim Cahill, dampened your enthusiasm for a Socceroos victory this morning?

No, not at all. I’ve never seen Socceroos’ coach Pim Verbeek so relaxed before a qualifier and I think that attitude has rubbed off onto his players. Verbeek is very chilled out at the moment and appears confident his team has the strength and depth to handle a team the calibre of Bahrain. The hosts can’t really be considered in the top tier of sides standing in Australia’s way of reaching the world cup and I think the visitors are confident of making it a winning night over here.

We have a good recent record of playing well in the desert heat in recent times, like Qatar and Iraq? What are the conditions going to be like for this match and do you think the home side will be better suited?

Surprisingly, it’s quite cool in Bahrain at the moment. We were expecting it to be very hot and humid like Dubai, but with the game kicking off at 6pm local time the temperatures are expected to dip to around 20-21 degrees. It will be really comfortable for the Socceroos with Luke Wilshire telling me how happy the Aussies were about the conditions. The only conditional factor the Socceroos will have to deal with is the pitch is a little bit bumpy and bare in patches which will make their passing game difficult. But of course it’s the same for both teams. In terms of environmental factors I don’t think Bahrain will have any advantage at all.

Any last-minute news about possible Socceroos formation. What do you expect the line-up to be (maybe one up front with Harry and Cahill in behind him) and who are going to be the key players?

I think Verbeek will go with his usual 4-3-2-1. There was some speculation earlier this week that the coach may play with two strikers, but I think Pim is going to stick with what he knows best. He’s very pragmatic when it comes to away matches. I think we will see Josh Kennedy at the head, a bank of three in behind, Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill playing just off Kennedy with Mark Bresciano playing on the other flank. As Verbeek stated earlier this week, when you look at those four names it will definitely be Bahrain showing more concern than the Socceroos will be over Bahrain’s line-up.

What is your opinion of Bahrain? Is there any sense of optimism in the local press of an upset win?

The local press are hopeful, but I don’t they are confident. Veteran Bahrain coach Milan Macala basically said that Australia are the best team in Asia and that his players would be giving it their best shot. The big problem for Bahrain is the fact they will have four key players missing through suspension. Two of those losses are probably Bahrain’s best players and I think they will struggle without them. There is no doubt Australia are heavy favourites and I think they will win and win well.

In the context of the group standings, how vital is a Socceroos victory tonight, especially with Japan playing straight after against Qatar in nearby Doha an hour later.

I think it’s important because Australia’s next pool game is away to Japan in February which may prove difficult for the Socceroos to field their best team. It’s a single FIFA date with a number of players a realistic chance of missing the tie or at very best flying into Japan without much time for a solid preparation. The law of averages suggest Australia will have at least one slip up in this campaign and that may come in Japan? The mindset of the players is to get this qualification process done and dusted as soon as possible and that means winning the games they are expected to win. A win over Bahrain will solidify the Socceroos position at the top and maybe even give Pim the opportunity to rest some of his players later in the campaign.



Haven't watched much soccer this season looking foward to having a look at this game if i can stay awake. cheers Dougie