Socceroos coach Tony Popovic focusing on beating Japan more so than ultimate goal of World Cup qualification

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic understands the magnitude of potential World Cup qualification on offer, but his side are focused purely on beating Japan at Optus Stadium on Thursday night. A first win over Japan since 2009 would all but seal a sixth-consecutive World Cup appearance for the Socceroos, barring a major disaster in their final group game. But while Popovic acknowledged the potential prize on offer, he said they could not afford to put the cart before the horse, lest their starry-eyed dreams get the best of them. We certainly are aware of what these games mean to us and mean to Australia and to every football fan out there, supporting the Socceroos,” he said. “Every game, I believe, is significant for the Socceroos, but obviously these last two games for automatic qualification, we know what we need to do — but we need to put into action, and we’re confident we can do that. “What’s in the present is Japan; what follows that is obviously a different situation. We’re just focusing on the now. The now is Japan. “We understand the magnitude of the game. You have emotion attached to that, passion attached to that, the honour and responsibility of representing your country. “But when that whistle blows, I’m very confident the players will go out there and execute in a very calm, composed manner.” In just Popovic’s second game in charge of the national team following Graham Arnold’s shock departure, he guided Australia to a credible 1-1 draw with Japan in Saitama. While Australia’s quest to beat Japan and move to the brink of World Cup qualification in doing so has been aided by Japan bringing out a relatively inexperienced squad, Popovic said eight months on from the return fixture, he wanted to see progress. “Back in October, I said I’d love to see, the next time we play Japan, everyone sees an improvement from the Socceroos,” he said. “That’s not taking away a wonderful performance in Japan, let’s not forget that was an outstanding performance by us, one that I thought we should have won in the end, going 1-0 up. “We are just raising the bar, we are just trying to raise the expectation to say ‘okay that was wonderful, can we play better the next time we play them?’ “Tomorrow’s a good stage to really put our best performance forward.” Popovic was coy over who would replace injured vice-captain Jackson Irvine, but said all his players were available — including Aiden O’Neill, one of five players who arrived later into camp and could slot into central midfield.