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Football commentator Phil Moss says anything less than a semi-final would be “doomed to failure” for the Socceroos in the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.
Australia has qualified for its fifth consecutive Asian Cup knockout stage after topping their group with two wins against Syria and India, and a draw against Uzbekistan.
After their group stage showing, the Socceroo’s stocks have grown after topping Group B – the tournament’s proclaimed group of death.
Phil Moss told Sport FM there were plenty of positives to take out of Australia’s group stage performances, but still some room for improvement.
“Positives first - We qualified for the round of 16 with a game to spare, we kept two clean sheets, we scored in every game,” he said.
“We created chances. Did we create enough? Probably not to the liking of Ange. He spends a lot of time in attacking patterns of play and how to build up and break down opposition teams. I'm sure he'll be wanting more chances created.
“Ultimately there's a lot of positives to come out of the group stage. But we certainly will need to step things up moving into the knockout stages.”
The Socceroos could look towards veteran striker Bruno Fornaroli to create more scoring opportunities as they look to go deeper into the tournament.
The 36-year-old is competing against young gun Kusini Yengi for the striker position, both keen to contribute a solution to Australia’s goalscoring woes in their knockout clash on Sunday night.
Moss believes “there’s a fair argument” for Fornaroli’s inclusion, but he sees Yengi as a player of the future.
“He went into the tournament saying he's got one eye on the Asian Cup, two eyes on the next World Cup, with that in mind, Kusini Yengi is probably a player of the future, whereas Bruno isn't,” he said.
“Anything less than a semi-final would be doomed to failure, and we really should have an expectation to get to the final and lift the silverware. With that in mind, experience does count, form in front of goal does count.
“With that in mind, experience does count, form in front of goal does count. Bruno Fornaroli's got both of them, he’s very smart footballer. He knows how to control the tempo of a game.”
Despite a shortage of goals against India and Syria, Australia still prevailed - keeping a clean sheet in both games to guarantee a place in the knockout rounds.
More recently the Socceroos held their nerve in their 1-all draw against Uzbekistan, particularly Riley McGree, .
Moss says building into the tournament and taking each opponent as they come is the best approach for the Socceroos to have as they progress further into the tournament.
“Having Riley McGree in the starting lineup the other night, I thought he made a big difference against Uzbekistan,” he said.
“He was very good on the ball. He schemes well. He always looks like he's got a killer pass in him and can make something happen. I think that's a bonus for us going into the round of 16.
“Different challenges are thrown up by different teams. I think we're well set because defences win titles and our defence has been rock solid.
"We just need to create a few more chances and score a few more goals.”
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