By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Australia coach Tony Popovic will look to continue the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying renaissance against a familiar foe on Tuesday as he takes his team to Saitama Stadium to face ex-team mate Hajime Moriyasu and his rampant Japan team.
Popovic led Australia to a 3-1 win over China on Thursday in his first game since replacing Graham Arnold, reinvigorating the team’s hopes of an automatic berth at the 2026 World Cup.
Australia picked up one point from their opening two matches but victory over the Chinese has moved them up to second in Group C as the Japanese defeated Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were held to a 2-2 draw by Indonesia.
The Samurai Blue lead the standings by five points having won all three of their games so far, scoring 14 times without conceding to go into the clash as favourites with the Australians having never won in Japan.
Despite the odds being heavily in the home side’s favour, the journey will hold few concerns for Popovic, who spent four years playing alongside Moriyasu at J-League outfit Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
“I know the coach very well, he was my captain when I played in Japan, a wonderful person that’s been there several years now,” the former defender said.
“You can see the evolution of Japanese football and how he’s changed, bringing players in and out, how they’ve improved their style of play.
“Obviously, it’s a big challenge but also a big opportunity as well to win in Japan.”
While Japan and Australia meet in their top-of-the-table encounter, Saudi Arabia host Bahrain in Jeddah aiming to bounce back from their loss to the Japanese and Indonesia travel to face pointless China looking to pick up a win after three draws.
South Korea will entertain Iraq in a first-against-second clash in Group B with doubts over forward Hwang Hee-chan, who limped off during his side’s 2-0 win over Jordan on Thursday.
Already missing Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min, Hong Myung-bo’s team will take on an Iraq side that defeated Palestine 1-0 on Thursday and who, like the Koreans, have seven points from three games.
Third-placed Jordan will face Oman while Kuwait take on the Palestinians.
Group A leaders Uzbekistan will host the United Arab Emirates looking to return to winning ways after drawing 0-0 with Iran, who take on Qatar in Dubai. Kyrgyzstan face North Korea in the group’s other game.
The first two finishers in each group qualify automatically for the World Cup with the third and fourth-placed finishers advancing to another round of preliminaries.
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