"When you play for the Socceroos, it's an international, it's a cap that you can get. And if you ask any of these young boys that could debut now whether it matters to them if it's a friendly or not, I'm sure they say no. So we have to take this game very seriously. We're excited that we're playing New Zealand. We know how big that rivalry is in all our codes, so this should be no different. And also, congratulations to them. They've made the World Cup. So we're playing a World Cup opponent."
"That's the message. There are no real friendlies in football anywhere, to be fair. It's [the message is] to win, and the best way we can do that is - we've got a few new boys now to get comfortable with the system and play the way the coach wants to play, and hopefully that'll win us two games."
Australia secured 2026 World Cup qualification with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia and enter the New Zealand match unbeaten in nine games, with four consecutive wins and no goals conceded. Head coach Tony Popovic rejects calling the fixture a friendly, stressing that caps matter and that the team must maintain a winning mentality. Popovic named a youthful squad for the Soccer Ashes while emphasizing the historic rivalry and New Zealand's World Cup qualification. Aberdeen forward Nicolas Milanovic echoed that there are no real friendlies, saying the message is to win and integrate new players into the system.
Read at Soccer News
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