In the early hours of Tuesday morning (AEST), Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos face the toughest test of their FIFA Confederations Cup campaign: world champions Germany.
Is the pressure getting to Ange?
Postecoglou is well-known among Australian sports writers for being combative in his dealings with the press.
British journalist Rob Harris of Associated Press called out the Socceroos’ boss during the pre-match press conference, asking: “Ange, you seem a bit irritated and prickly with some answers today. Is that a sign of uneasiness or pressure?”
“You must know me really well,” Postecoglou fired back. “How many times have you met me before? First time? Maybe that’s just my demeanour. There’s your answer.”
Even by Postecoglou’s standards, this was a pointed response.
With World Cup qualification far from secure and three difficult opponents ahead this week, is the pressure getting to him?
Who cares?
The Confederations Cup is the neglected sibling of the World Cup.
To its critics, the tournament is no more than a series of glorified international friendlies.
While the Confederations Cup fulfils a valuable administrative function, providing a dry-run to assure FIFA that preparations for its flagship event are on-track, players and fans could be forgiven for being apathetic after a lengthy club season.
It seems that such disinterest extends to the hosts, with the local organising committee admitting in April that ticket sales were low.
Whether locals and holidaymakers in Sochi, a picturesque resort town on the Black Sea, are sufficiently interested to fill the 47,659 Fisht Olympic Stadium remains to be seen.
Make no mistake, though. If Australia do well in Russia, the tournament’s second-rate status will be swiftly forgotten.
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