Australia must make the most of their superiority in the air in the Asian Cup when they kick off against Syria in their second match on Thursday, coach Graham Arnold says.
The Socceroos kicked off their campaign in Qatar with a 2-0 win over India on Saturday, but had to wait until the 50th minute before Jackson Irvine opened the scoring.
Australia have one of the tallest players in the tournament in 6ft 6 (1.98m) defender Harry Souttar, and Arnold wants to capitalize on their height advantage.
“The set pieces we played were not great against India,” the coach said on Wednesday. “We had a lot of corner kicks and that was probably one of our strengths. We just need to improve on those little things.”
Australia reached the round of 16 in the World Cup just over a year ago in Qatar, before being eliminated by Argentina, led by Lionel Messi.
Arnold's physical side are among the favorites for the Asia Cup, and their clean sheet against India was their fourth in as many matches.
Fullback Aziz Bahish said Arnold focused on “defending as a team.”
“When we press or when we are in a block, we make sure we are very compact and make it difficult for the opponent,” Behic said. “Especially since Arnie came, we've improved a lot.”
Bahic was part of the Australia team that won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup on home soil, beating South Korea in the final.
The 33-year-old said he would “love to do it again” and believes they can achieve it.
He said: “We have a great team. We started the tournament with a win, and that is always important.” “We have put India behind us now and our next challenge is Syria, so full focus must be on Syria.”
History of football in the Asian Cup
2007: Quarter-finals
2011: Finalists
2015: Champions
2019: Quarter-finals
