SOCCEROOS midfielder Vince Grella has cautioned his teammates about dwelling on the 4-0 thrashing Australia received against Germany in its opening South Africa 2010 match in Durban.
To see the Roos return to training today...
Grella, who was substituted after 45 minutes of the match, said it was important that the Australian players kept the result in perspective and didn't let the heavy defeat destroy their confidence with matches still remaining against Ghana and Serbia.
"It's a game of football. They are very good. We knew they were going to be a tough opposition. We just have to sleep it off and start again tomorrow," he said.
"We need to do that without too many tissues. We need to get on with it, roll the sleeves up, be men about it and get on with it.
"We are all big enough to know that it's never easy, but part of football is also accepting defeat and we were beaten tonight by a better team.
"We just have to learn to accept that, it will hurt and it might do us good, it might do us good that little bit of anger inside."
Grella urged his team-mates to approach the situation Australia now finds itself in with a positive mindset.
"If we win two games we can get through. Two wins is six points and we could be through to the next round," he said.
"That's the beauty of football and that's what we've got to look to do. We have six days to fix the wounds and just get on with it and play a massive game against Ghana," he said.
Meanwhile, the veteran midfielder said he wasn't happy with being substituted at half time but said Pim Verbeek's opinion was the only one that mattered.
"Whether we were okay with it or not, it's the manager's call. We follow the game plan that the coaching staff put out there," he said.
"It's the decision of the manager. Of course like every player, everyone wants to stay on the pitch but obviously, I'm disappointed, but I respect the decision of the manager.
"I'm one player out of 23 that wants to play. That's Pim's job and we respect his decisions."
To see the Roos return to training today...
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