MELBOURNE, Sept 9 (Askume) – Australia defender Alessandro Cercati has called on Australia to attack bravely in a World Cup qualifier against Indonesia on Tuesday to get the team back on track after a heavy defeat in Bahrain.
After a 1-0 loss to 80th-ranked Gulf state on the Gold Coast last Thursday, there was a common complaint in the Australian media that Australia were unable to break down the strong defences of lower-ranked teams.
Australia, ranked 24th in the world, cannot afford another mistake in Jakarta if they hope to advance directly to the 2026 North American finals.
Italy’s Cercati said there was no point focusing on Bahrain’s defeat but hoped his teammates would not play against Indonesia just to be safe.
“I think we can be a little bit more creative and a little bit bolder offensively in this game,” he told reporters.
“We have creative players so we can do that.
“We have to flip the switch and give them the confidence to take that half risk, take that risk, put a player in, put two players in to give them a chance to score.
“Then when we play against strong teams like Japan and Saudi Arabia, we will beat them.”
Indonesia’s surprise 1–1 draw with Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the third stage of the Asian qualifying tournament in Jeddah (at a packed 78,000-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium) raised hopes of success against Australia at home and a better result.
The Australian team defeated the Indonesian team 4–0 in the Asian Cup Round of 16 knockout match in Qatar in January.
After Bahrain, Serkati said Australia could expect Indonesia to also come back and hope to score on the break.
“They have some fast players and they try to attack us on the counter-attack and that will be dangerous going forward and could catch us out but we might not be ready yet,” the 20-year-old said.
“But we will make sure that doesn’t happen tomorrow night.
“We have to try to find space, try to pull them out and possibly move them to a place they might not be comfortable.”
