Socceroos midfielder Mark Milligan says Australia won’t be intimidated by the Netherlands when the Group B rivals play their second World Cup match on Thursday.
The Socceroos showed plenty of promise in their 3-1 loss to Chile at the weekend, but a game against the Dutch shapes as a far greater challenge. The Netherlands sent shockwaves through Brazil by routing defending champion Spain 5-1, with stars Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben scoring two goals each in the merciless display.
It will take a monumental effort from the Socceroos to upset the new World Cup favourites, but Milligan said he and his teammates were remaining positive ahead of the clash in Porto Alegre. “It’s a different proposition for us,” the Melbourne Victory captain told SBS.
“(The Netherlands) are another very, very strong side. They play different football to Chile. They play a different style. I think we can take a lot of confidence from this (result against Chile) and we can go into the next game with a real belief in each other.”
Milligan said Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou asked his players to back themselves against Chile and would deliver the same message before the Netherlands clash. “We’d shown that once we started doing things the way that we wanted to, pressing the way we wanted to, playing out the way we wanted to, we were getting chances, we were creating openings,” Milligan said. “That was the main message, not to be overawed by them – and to stick to our guns, I guess.”
But in a blow to the Socceroos, defender Ivan Franjic is out of the World Cup after scans revealed the 26-year-old tore his hamstring against Chile.
In World Cup results today, Switzerland beat Ecuador 2-1, Argentina overcame Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1, while France claimed a 3-0 victory over Honduras.
