Australia have already qualified for the knockout stages by virtue of their two wins but must defeat the team who knocked them out of the 2022 Asian Cup quarter-finals to confirm top spot and secure a path towards a semi-final meeting with favourites Japan.
Where the Philippines and Iran both defended for 90 minutes, coach Joe Montemurro predicted “a wrestling match” as South Korea and Australia fight to dominate. And he reiterated the inferior goal difference did not concern him because his aim was simply to win.
Raso undergoes a concussion test.Credit: Getty Images
“I don’t like playing the Russian roulette of goals, and those calculations, they never work,” Montemurro said. “Even if we got the goal scenario, I would never let this team go in and say, ‘all we need is a draw to top the group’. It doesn’t work. We always knew that we needed to win this game, so for me it’s just business as usual.”
Montemurro made five changes for the Iran game, following through on his promise to rotate his 26-player squad throughout a tournament replete with tight turnarounds. It’s expected he will tinker some more with his starting XI for the match at Stadium Australia, with the key exception of the Kerr-Fowler-Foord trio – though Kerr and Fowler’s minutes will be managed “in a common-sense way”.
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It remains unclear if that XI will include Hayley Raso, who was introduced late as a substitute and hit twice in the face by the ball from close range. The Eintracht Frankfurt winger passed the first concussion test but was withdrawn after the second knock.
“We’re assessing it at the moment,” Montemurro said. “Obviously, those sort of injuries, we didn’t want to take any risks, so we got her off as quick as we could. [Medical staff] were sort of starting to analyse the situation, so we’ll let you know as the hours go on and what the outcome is.”
