SOCCEROOS skipper Lucas Neill has warned his teammates about a backlash from a desperate Uzbekistan side "hurting" after a shock World Cup defeat by Qatar at the weekend.
While Australia were building form, confidence and cohesion for the resumption of their World Cup campaign with a memorable win over a 10-man Dutch side on Saturday in Eindhoven, the fancied Uzbeks were crashing to a 3-0 defeat in Doha - the same ground where the Socceroos secured their own passage to the fourth round of qualifiers earlier this year.
Both sides arrived in Tashkent late on Sunday, but in contrasting moods for the World Cup qualifier on Thursday morning (Sydney time) at the Pakhtakor Stadium, which is expected to be filled to its 35,000 capacity.
But while Neill admits the Socceroos have drawn plenty of confidence from their historic win over the Netherlands, he doesn't believe the team will be drawing too many conclusions from the weekend's results.
"It's a different world here, we know it's going to be a hostile atmosphere, so we have to be mentally tough," he said.
"Obviously it was a great performance to beat the Dutch; to win against the No.4 team in the world is a fantastic achievement. So we can take a lot of confidence out of it.
"But we can't take our eye off the ball at all. They'll be hurting after what happened in Qatar, which I'm sure was as big a surprise for them as it was for the rest of us. They'll know if they lose against us, their World Cup campaign could nearly be over. At the very least, they'd have a lot of catch-up football to play. So there'll be a reaction. I'm sure they'll be pumped up and we have to be ready for that. We have to be very professional about everything we do."
Neill believes the best lesson learned from the success in Eindhoven was dealing with the Dutch formation of one striker and three supporting midfielders, a set-up generally favoured by the Uzbeks. Indeed, coach Pim Verbeek's enthusiasm to prepare against the Dutch was largely motivated by the tactical similarities.
"If they change their formation it would be a major surprise, so we can take some good points out of the game, especially in terms of defending," Neill said.
Both coach and skipper, however, could yet be caught off guard, with Uzbek coach Rauf Inileev switching to a two-man forward line for the second half in Doha, where second-half substitute Alexander Geynrikh almost sparked a revival. Certainly Uzbek skipper and all-time leading goalscorer Maksim Shatskikh looked far more comfortable with the extra support.
Whichever way the Uzbeks line up, defensive composure will be a key for the Socceroos. While Neill admits "it's always nice" to have a settled central defensive pairing, he insists he's ready to adapt to whatever combination Verbeek chooses. The West Ham skipper started alongside Chris Coyne against the Dutch, before Michael Beauchamp came on as a late substitute, while Jade North could yet emerge from the shadows and push for a start against Uzbekistan.
Asked whether he was concerned by the constant chopping and changing in an area which has historically featured some longstanding partnerships for the national team, Neill replied: "Obviously, it's always nice when you have the same person alongside you, but that doesn't tend to happen as much these days. Ever since Guus Hiddink came in, we've had to be open to various formations, and Pim has continued that way of thinking. There are no rigid systems, so you have to be versatile. Everyone has to be flexible, and in a way it's better if we get used to having different combinations because as we've already seen in this World Cup [campaign], there's no guarantee who's going to be available at any given time."
One new face in the back four could be veteran Scott Chipperfield, who sat out the Dutch game to protect a slight adductor strain but trained freely on Monday in Tashkent. Chipperfield is in the early stages of his international comeback after missing much of the past 18 months, but such is his value and experience Verbeek could be tempted to rush him into the side at the expense of David Carney.
"I'm right to go, and I'm looking forward to being part of it," Chipperfield said. "Obviously, David Carney has done well … But like everyone, I want to play, and I want to make it a hard choice for Pim."
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