Experienced Behich hoping to taste Asian Cup glory for a second time

For many of the Subway Socceroos squad at the Asian Cup, they will be representing their country at a major tournament for the first time.

However, for Aziz Behich it will be his third Asian Cup and fifth major tournament overall for Australia, and he is hoping his experience will help the squad.

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“A lot of boys are playing their first major tournament for their country, so it's exciting for us that have been here before,” he said.

Back in 2015, Behich played two games in the Socceroos Asian Cup campaign which saw us lift the trophy on home soil.

“I was lucky enough to touch that trophy in 2015 on home soil,” he said.

“It's a feeling you can't explain to people when you obviously win silverware, but to win it for your country it is so special.

“We've put ourselves in this in this position to have the chance to go again and the boys know what's at stake here.”

Whilst not on home soil, the Socceroos have a familiarity with their surroundings in Qatar, and Behich said it has helped the team settle.

“We're pretty comfortable in Qatar, I can tell you that, and obviously we spent a lot of time here during the qualification phase and then the World Cup.

“The facilities are great, we are well looked after, the training pitches are great, so, we have no excuses preparation wise.

“But everyone's pretty excited just to kick off the tournament, you always want to just get that first game out of the way.”

Behich’s position of left back is one where the Socceroos has added depth for this tournament, which is something that he said is good for the squad.

“When you look at our squad, we have a lot of depth, a lot of boys playing at a high level of football playing week in week out.”

But speaking on how he feels personally, he said: “I feel great, and I feel sharp, I'm coming into this tournament fit confident and ready to go.”

“I've shown what I can do when I have the opportunity to represent my country, so that's the goal for me, it's just about working hard day in day out.”

In terms of the team goals for the Asian Cup, Behich said the standard has been set high, along with the expectations.

“The standard is high, we're here to win it. That's obviously our main goal,” he said.

“The messaging has always been the same for us, when you have the opportunity to represent your country, you're out there to win, especially for Australia.”

“Every game we go in to, our expectation is to win. Because that's what we're here for.”

Every AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 match will be live on Paramount+

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