Van Marwijk pleased with improved Caltex Socceroos in Colombia draw
Bert van Marwijk believes the Caltex Socceroos are headed in the right direction after a 0-0 draw with 13th-ranked Colombia on Wednesday morning (AEDT).
A late penalty save from debutant goalkeeper Danny Vukovic ensured honours were even at Craven Cottage.
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“I'm always realistic,” van Marwijk told Fox Sports at the end of the game.
“I keep saying, when you see this result in such a short time it's a fairly big compliment to the players.
“I think everyone can see what we were working on.
“The players now know they can do it,” he said.
The new Australian mentor and his players were under pressure to bounce back from their 4-1 loss to Norway on Saturday.
And van Marwijk was delighted with the response of his players and support staff.
“I said from the beginning that I was very positive about the behaviour of the players and the level of training,” said van Marwijk.
“All the people around the team are very positive and that's very important.
“You travel with 50-55 people and everyone must have the same body language.
“Everyone has to believe in something.
“When one of those 55 is negative and doesn't believe, you will see it on the pitch.
“I will not accept that.
“My impression now is that all the people are looking in the same direction.”
And the Dutchman reserved special praise for the performance of QPR midfielder Massimo Luongo, who was a standout.
“I already knew, but he was one of our best players,” said van Marwijk.