Bolton insists many of the country’s sporting teams have triumphed in the most difficult of circumstances over the years and he sees no reason why Graham Arnold’s men should be any different.

Bolton’s clean sheet in Sydney’s Pre-Season Cup draw with Queensland Roar on Saturday was his fourth competitive shut-out in a row (going back to last season).

In contrast, Schwarzer turned from Oman hero to Iraq villain as he allowed a free-kick to swing past him into the net last Friday.

Bolton believes top quality players always bounce back and he is expecting Schwarzer and company to do just that.

Goalkeeping can be a lonely job with every move scrutinised and every error pounced on. Thirty-one-year-old Bolton told au.fourfour.two.com today: “I think people have to remember that you go out there to do your best but we are human beings after all. People make mistakes but it’s the top players that bounce back from them.

“That’s what I’d expect Mark (Schwarzer) to do. And I think when you look at sport in Australia, when under pressure Australian teams tend to rise to the occasion. In football, it happened when we faced Uruguay (in the November 2005 World Cup qualifier) for example.”

The Socceroos have taken tremendous flak from certain quarters but Bolton feels some of the frustration is based on misconceptions.

“I have to say I was a bit surprised when we were tagged as favourites for this competition as it was stepping into new territory for us. We’ve seen that these other teams can play decent football but as I said, it’s now about rising to the occasion.”

The days of handing out cricket score-style thumpings in Oceania are long gone and people need to realise that, says the Sydney man.

Not that Bolton’s attention is entirely focused on the Asian Cup. There is the small matter of preparing for the new A-League campaign. It is early days for the man who holds the A-League record for successive clean sheets, but he is encouraged by how things are shaping up.

“It was good to keep a clean sheet against Queensland and I think Branko (Culina) was pleased with how the boys came through it,” said Bolton. “Queensland are further on in their preparations as they obviously started back earlier than us.”

Any successful side is built on a good defence and Bolton is delighted with the troops in front of him. “I think Popa (Tony Popovic) is a good addition and will just strengthen our squad still further.”

Keeping them out at one end is part of the story but if Sydney is to claim glory this year then the goals will need to fly into the opposition net.

Bolton is confident Sydney already boasts plenty of attacking bite he is well aware that former Liverpool old boy Robbie Fowler is being courted as the club’s potential marquee player.

He said, “We are talking about a player here still in his prime. I think we already have people here who can score goals but having someone like Robbie Fowler would offer that extra threat.”

And Bolton takes the view that Fowler’s addition would have a positive impact in a way that people might not immediately acknowledge.

“Clearly the big-name players coming into the A-League are going to get a lot of attention and be closely marked. That could have the effect of opening up more opportunities for other players on the team to benefit,” he said.

“But I think this all reflects well on our league and shows that there is a good standard here.”