FOOTBALL: With just over two months until their Rio 2016 fate is decided the preparations for the Australian men’s football team are heating up.
The nation’s leading under 23 stars have been in Doha this week as they ready themselves for two crucial warm-up matches against Qatar and Iran.
Australia will need to finish in the top three in January’s Under 23 Asian Championships if they are to return to Olympic competition having missed the London 2012 Games.
With the days counting down quickly until the all-important qualifiers, young gun Connor Pain knows how important the time on the pitch will be for the team
“All these games are building towards the qualifiers in January,” said the 22-year-old attacker.
“These matches are all about getting to know each other and making sure that we implement the system that Viddy (coach Aurelio Vidmar) wants us to play and fine tuning everything before the qualifiers.”
The team has equipped itself well in recent matches and are gaining momentum as the final foundations are being laid for a successful qualification campaign.
“We’ve had a few camps now and a number of games and it seems the more we are together the better we are becoming.
“A fair few of the boys have been together for a while now and we are confident in everyone’s ability and believe that we can do the job done.”
With the qualifiers also being held in Qatar, the friendlies will give the side the opportunity to get accustomed to the unique conditions that await them.
“It’s great that we can have a camp here. It’s a different temperature to what a lot of the lads are playing in and the humidity is unbelievable as well.
“The pitch we are playing on tonight (against Qatar) is the pitch that we will be playing a couple of group games in the tournament on, so it is going to be good to see the pitch and how it plays as well.”
Both Qatar and Iran will feature in January’s tournament and Pain believes the matches will give the side some insight into how they’re opponents will play come the qualifiers.
“Obviously our focus is coming here and getting the appropriate preparation against Asian opponents but if we do end up coming across one of these teams down the track then I’m sure it will have been beneficial to have played them recently.”
Back at home Pain has been lining up for the all-conquering Melbourne Victory who have been lighting up the domestic league of late.
“I’d obviously like to be playing a bit more,” said the youngster whose time has been limited to start the season due to his side’s wealth of options up front.
“It’s been great to get the season up and running really well especially with the FFA Cup victory so hopefully we can all keep that form up throughout the season.”
If Australia do qualify and Pain continues performing on the pitch he won’t be far off a spot on the plane to Rio.
“It would be absolutely fantastic to get a chance to represent Australia at the Olympic Games.
“It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at the biggest sporting event the world can see.”
Australia take on Qatar early Friday morning (AEST) before then heading to Dubai to face Iran on early Tuesday morning (AEST).
The Aussies have been drawn alongside South Korea, Japan and Syria in the 16 team qualification tournament that runs 12-30 January, 2016.
They will need to make the final or win the third place playoff to secure a spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au
