Australia will play the waiting game and won't take unnecessary risks against the dangerous Qataris in tonight's World Cup qualifying clash at Suncorp Stadium.
But that didn't prevent Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek yesterday predicting his side would break down whatever resistance the table-topping visitors - under counterpart Bruno Metsu - could muster. ------------------------ PHOTOS: Socceroos train for World Cup clash ------------------------
Australia have not been frequent goal-getters during Verbeek's 11-match reign. But what they certainly know how to do is bust open Qatar's rearguard.
Six of the Socceroos' 13 goals under the Dutchman have arrived against the Qataris, a goalscoring record which partway justified Verbeek's optimism in forecasting more of the same despite a recent change of opposition coach after Jorge Forsatti resigned because of illness.
"We will score a goal. We have enough players to score a goal," Verbeek said. "If it's early - perfect. If it's a last minute goal - also perfect. Just so long as we get the three points."
Consecutive away wins in Holland and Uzbekistan have raised expectations of a cakewalk in front of a close-to-capacity Suncorp crowd.
Those prospects gained further credibility following the recall of Tim Cahill after eight months in the international wilderness because of a foot injury.
Having scored 13 times in 28 national team outings, Cahill is the sharpest shooter available to Verbeek. But the coach denied a major reshuffle from the winning side of the Tashkent qualifier was needed to accommodate his return.
Indeed he gave another indication he will return to the 4-4-2 system used in Cahill's previous Socceroos outing - and Verbeek's first-ever match in charge - last February in Melbourne.
Australia scored three times in the first 33 minutes against Qatar on Verbeek's managerial debut that night to canter to a 3-0 win with Cahill and Josh Kennedy both scoring from wide deliveries.
Similar tactics are sure to be deployed at various stages tonight after Verbeek admitted Australia had exploited Qatar's weaknesses well in previous games: "So we're going to use them again tomorrow. Bruno cannot change the quality of the players," he said.
Patience, though, will be the name of the game.
Metsu's side, following a 3-0 win against Uzbekistan and a 1-1 with Bahrain, will count themselves satisfied if they escape Brisbane with a draw and will look to defend in numbers and exploit a counterattacking game built around the speed of their strikers, notably star recruit Sebastian Quintana.
The onus will be heavily on the home side to attack, and attack early. Verbeek will try to resist such pressure, admitting he was impressed with Qatar when reviewing the footage of their September performances.
"It's not about 45 minutes or 30 minutes. It's about 90 minutes," he maintained.
"If we finish the game and we have three points that's more than enough for me.
"I prefer to score as many goals as possible but I think Metsu will not allow us to score five goals. He will do everything with his team to avoid the first goal as long as possible.
"Our strategy will be to be patient, take risks but not too much and finish the game with a win."
He added he'd only have himself to blame if complacency set in.
"We will not underestimate them. I will be very surprised if that happens. If that happened then I can only blame myself," he said.
"We know they are dangerous. They have four points, and they could have had six points because I saw both games on DVD. They more or less deserved to win both games, so we should never think this is going to be an easy game.
"But it's good to know we can beat them - that's good for the confidence."
* Television: Live on Fox Sports 2, 7.30pm.
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