Football: Focused Oman ready for Australia test

By staff - Thu Oct 06, 10:01 am

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SYDNEY – Australia captain Lucas Neill on Monday vowed his side would not be guilty of complacency in their home tie with Oman, as they eye the next round of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Australia go into Tuesday’s qualifying match against Oman in Sydney with wins against Group D opponents Thailand and Saudi Arabia to their name, but Neill warned there was still a long way to go to secure a World Cup berth.

“We’re not through to the next round until it’s mathematically done,” captain Lucas Neill said Monday.

“We all know that a win would be an important win, but we all respect and follow the theory that no games are easy and we shouldn’t think we’ve won before we’ve won.”

Coach Holger Osieck said all teams in Australia’s group still had the chance to go through to the next round of qualifiers.

“First we have to win and it’s going to be a very, very tough one and we have to really put a lot of effort into it to make it happen,” he said.

“Therefore let’s put all our concentration into that and after we see and go from there.”

Australia warmed up for Oman with a 5-0 friendly win against Malaysia on Friday.

German-born Osieck, who is expected to maintain most of the starting line-up from the Malaysia game, said two goals from Shimzu S-Pulse striker Alex Brosque scored in that match had widened his options.

“He definitely has become a serious option for our team,” Osieck said.