The upcoming qualifiers are vital for the Green and Gold and Rhyan Grant knows just how ready his fellow Australians will be on March 24th.
Rhyan Grant has been a standout in the A-League Men's competition over the past few years, and after making his debut for Australia against Lebanon back in November of 2018, has gone on to play over 20 games for the Green and Gold while netting a sole but very important goal against Vietnam back in September 2021.
After having a tumultuous first few seasons as a professional footballer which was plagued by injury and heartbreak, back-to-back seasons in Australia's top-flight saw the 31-year-old announce himself to the Australian Football public as one of the best full-backs to ply their trade on home soil.
With all the hype building up around Australia's monumental clash against Japan scheduled to take place next Thursday at the Accor Stadium, Grant took time to speak on SEN Breakfast with Vossy and Brandy about the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifier Window.
Knowing that the eyes of the Australian public will descend on the 11 Australians that take the field on March 24th, the Sky Blue full-back stated that his fellow teammates are more than focused on the task at hand and will approach the two upcoming games against Japan and Saudi Arabia, one at a time.
"As you know a lot of sports love a cliche but I think you are bang on, it's two very important games but we have to concentrate on Japan for now," he said speaking to SEN Breakfast with Vossy and Brandy.
"Thankfully we are at home in Sydney and a massive crowd will get behind us and it will definitely give us a bit of a push, but it is a super important game.
"When we will that, we move onto to Saudi Arabia and it is all in our hands at the minute.
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Grant further reiterated the fact the Socceroos need and know that they have to concentrate on defeating both Japan and Saudi Arabia if they would like to achieve the goal of automatic qualification to the FIFA World Cup which will be played in Qatar later this year.
"For automatic qualification we will need to win at least both games, or the first one and rely on results for the second phase of those games but, as a team we are concentrating on winning every game," he explained.
"At this stage as Vossy said we concentrate on Japan and make sure we win that and then obviously Saudi (Arabia) is just as big too so we need to win that one, but if we win both these games we will be there.
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After Graham Arnold named his 27-man squad for the upcoming games which will be played in Australia and Saudi Arabia, Grant is excited to see the new and fresh faces amongst the Socceroos camp leading into two very important games.
"It was a while ago now, usually we have camps every few weeks or every month but the team, there's been a few new faces," he concluded.
"Some boys have been knocking the door down for a while so they're going to get a chance and unfortunately some of the boys have COVID-19 and there is a few injuries so they miss out.
"All-in-all I think the core is pretty much the same and that is super important at this stage but there are a few fresh new faces that could make the difference.
Matchday 9: Australia v Japan
Date: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia
Kick-off: 8.10pm AEDT
Tickets: Tickets available from Ticketek
Broadcast: Live and free in Australia on Network 10 and simulcast on 10 Play