SYDNEY (16 June 2014) – Socceroo Mark Bresciano vows the Australians won’t repeat their disastrous start against Chile when they meet Holland on Wednesday in Porto Alegre.
The Socceroos all but threw away their chances of getting a result in their opening World Cup game last week by going down 2-0 inside the opening 16 minutes in Cuiaba.
Despite a comeback of sorts it was too high a mountain to climb and Australia left Cuiaba pointless after a 3-1 loss.
A repeat of that start against the Dutch will make a very difficult task of getting points on the board virtually impossible.
But the 34-year-old veteran of three World Cup campaigns said the squad had learnt from their opening group clash and has vowed it won’t happen again.
“We have all experienced what the World Cup is all about now and we will be ready from the first minute,” said Bresciano to footballaustralia.com.
“The confidence is building with every training session and we are all very positive. This next game is our last chance to make an impact in this group, we know how important it is.
“We are here to try and make history. We want to make a statement in this World Cup.”
The challenge of Holland will be different to Chile. Tactically the Dutch are likely to set up with less men pushing forward like the Chileans, who left plenty of space in behind.
Though Holland have wonderful attacking riches to call on, such as Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben.
“We have to be ready to take any chance we get and stay solid as a team. If we give Tim Cahill the right service we know how dangerous he can be in the air,” said Bresciano, who was a key contributor against Chile.
The Socceroos had a final training session in Vitoria on Monday before boarding a flight to Porto Alegre later in the afternoon.
“We know they [Holland] will play differently to what they did against Spain. We just have to be ready and prepare as a team,” added the Al Gharafa midfielder.
