Rowles' excitement for knockouts: "There will be so much on the line"

Kristian Bullock 1706056441,1706316859

Subway Socceroos defender Kye Rowles reflects on a hard fought point gained against Uzbekistan while also looking ahead to an Asian Cup knockout tie on Sunday.

The Hearts centre-back was unlucky to not come away from the group stage phase with a 100% clean sheet record, with a late Uzbek header levelling the scores. However, a point is enough to lock in top spot in Group B, with Rowles aware of just how important a result was against a dangerous Uzbekistan outfit.

"We're picking up points where we need to be and we're playing solid, if we can just get better each and every game, that's all you can ask for,"

"I think today was actually a good setup for the knockout round, to be honest, because we wanted to top our group, that was the aim for the group stage and we've done that now."

"It's all well and good to smash everyone out of the park, which of course you still want to do. But I think to still come away with a point tonight was good even though we wanted all three. It sets us up well. We wanted to control and I think in the second half, we did that."

The 25-year-old was fortunate enough to make his debut in Qatar just months before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and understands the challenge of playing your first major tournament and having to raise your standards to match the intensity of the football played.

Only four players remain in the squad from the 2019 Asian Cup, however Rowles is hoping to garner the success of 2022, to help progress the more inexperienced members of the camp.

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"We've got a good balance of experience, and boys that are coming through, where it's their first go. So we're just trying to help as much as possible. Not only them but each other as well."

"It's good that we've got a fair few of us from that World Cup, it's not any less special then what the World Cup was. So just to be here is amazing."

"[Qatar] has been a happy hunting ground here as well, I made my debut here actually, for the national team. So this one's pretty special."

With the group stages now behind the Subway Socceroos, just like in 2022, the squad can now get set the target to progress further in this tournament, compared to the Australian side that were narrowly defeated in the World Cup Round of 16 by Argentina.

"I think most footballers can say that knockout football is probably their favourite format. I know it means more, there's just so much on the line."

"You can see it from both teams [in knockout football] that everyone just puts their body on the line. We're lucky enough to have that run in the World Cup and we're hoping to emulate that and go a bit deeper this time around."