Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The joy of World Cup selection will fade into the background as the Socceroos get down to business and prepare for their final dress rehearsal against Switzerland.
Players had a day off on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) but return to training on Wednesday, three days out from facing the world No.19 in a friendly in San Diego.
That will be the last chance players get to build match fitness and show their wares before Australia’s World Cup opener against Turkey.
While Australia rested, Turkey made a high-profile journey to the US, accompanied by a huge convoy of red and white cars to Istanbul airport – meaning the countdown is on for the June 13 opening game in Vancouver.
With that game in the back of their mind, the Socceroos will be determined to show they can control a contest from the beginning when they face Switzerland, after they appeared nervous and overwhelmed early against Mexico.
“The game the other day we as a group struggled to take control of the first 30 minutes,” veteran Mathew Leckie said.
“I would say they put a lot of pressure on us early, and we didn’t have much of the ball, and when we did, we didn’t really have many numbers forward.
“So, yeah, it was tough, but one thing that the boss has mentioned is there will be moments of suffering in games. It’s just about how we suffer, and to get through those periods.
“Because I think you saw in the second half, and even the back end of the first, we changed the momentum a little bit, and we definitely showed a lot more promise and we had some really good chances in the end.”
With squad selection complete the Switzerland game shapes as a dress rehearsal, but also a chance to get minutes into players – potentially including uncapped duo Cristian Volpato and Tete Yengi.
When he selected his squad, Popovic said he hoped to get “a bit of everything” out of the Switzerland game.
“We would like to give more players minutes in this game to have everyone with some match time before we play Turkey, so that’s my initial thoughts,” Popovic said.
“But we’ll see how everyone trains and how the fitness levels are.
“But I’d like to give everyone an opportunity, as many as I can in this game, to have them ready and available for selection against Turkey.”
