If we really thought we could win just by putting up a good fight and fighting hard, how could we have lost 0-7 on the road against Japan in the first round?
Compared to the 2006 World Cup, Australia's soccer skills have indeed regressed, but the camel is bigger than the horse, and their overall strength still far exceeds that of our national team. Despite the turmoil they are currently going through, their overall strength is still not to be underestimated.
If the self-styled media people and fans had any illusions when they qualified for the 18-team tournament, they might have rationalized after the defeats in the first two rounds of the 18-team tournament. They no longer expect to rely on Bahrain and Indonesia's top-four finishes for additional qualification, but only to avoid the bottom of the table.
How do you make sure you don't go to the bottom? Japan clearly can't score in home games. The same goes for away matches against Saudi Arabia. You have no scoring at home, and if you play in Australia, you might be able to score 1 (at home) or 0, so you can only try to get scoring in Bahrain and Indonesia. It's best to keep each other in check.
In the two matches in October, we defeated Australia on the road and tried to win all the matches at home against Indonesia, which might be Ivan's strategy. This tactic is quite similar to the ancient art of war "Tian Ji Racehorse". However, can the national soccer team successfully implement it?
Currently, Indonesia is ranked 129th in the world by FIFA and is regarded as an "Asian fishbowl". However, with the addition of the "Dutch naturalized army", they are not the same as before, and the total value of the whole team has reached 24.53 million euros.
Looking back at past encounters, the national soccer team has a clear advantage over Indonesia. In the previous five confrontations, the national soccer team achieved an undefeated record of four wins and one draw. The last confrontation took place on November 15, 2013, in the Asian Cup qualification group stage, thanks to Wu Lei's goal, the national football team 1-0 victory over Indonesia.
In the first two rounds of the 18-team tournament, Indonesia's opponents are not bad, away from home and Saudi Arabia 1-1 draw, home is 0-0 draw Australia, so powerful Indonesia, the national football team wants to win seems to be no easy task.
