Socceroo winger James Troisi admitted the players felt the affects of another grueling training session today in Vitoria as the Socceroos say they are happy to be written off by the world’s media.
The boot camp strategy to get the Socceroos in peak physical shape continued on Saturday with a long session in hot conditions at the team’s training base the Arena Unimed Sicoo in Vitoria.
Coach Ange Postecoglou stopped the session a number of times to get his message across to the players, who again were pushed to the limit.
“Towards the end everyone was pretty tired,” said Socceroo winger James Troisi.
“But that’s how he wanted it. Quite a bit of a conditioning session today.
“And probably one of the last ones we’ll have leading up to the games.”
Expectations of a group stage exit haven’t changed as the Socceroos continue to be written off by their rivals.
In a TV advertisement in Chile, the Socceroos aren’t even mentioned when discussing the Chileans’ chances in the group against Spain and Holland.
It’s firing up the green and gold.
“I haven’t seen it but for us it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to focus on the three games and do the best we can.
“And maybe in a way it’s good because no one thinks we’ll be successful so we want to show them different,” said Troisi.
Socceroo midfielder James Holland underlined the feeling in the camp.
“When you have a young team you have a hungry, ambitious team. That can be the difference.
“I’m not sure if experience matters. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
“That’s what we have. Every player wants to win, work for each other.
“That’s going to make the difference.”
Troisi conceded expectations were low outside the group, but noted: “We have nothing to lose and want to prove [the doubters wrong] and hopefully shock the world.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion but as a group we focus on what we want to achieve.
“And Ange has said, we don’t want to put limits on what we can do. Anything’s possible, and that’s the mindset.”
Holland agreed with Troisi that work was still to be done as the squad prepares for another cut down – from 27 to 23 in the coming days.
“I think I’ve done enough…yes,” Troisi said when asked about his chances of making the final cut.
“I’m feeling good about it.”
“Every player has to believe in themselves,” added Holland.
The Socceroos will get more game time with a friendly against a local side at their training base in the coming days.
Despite not an international game, it’s still a valuable exercise said the players.
“Ange is still trying to instill his philosophy of how he wants to play, and the fact we all play at different clubs,” said Holland.
“We need that game time to gel, so every minute is important for sure.”
Local Brazilian fans got behind the Socceroos at the session after a 3000 ticketed event was put on by the FFA to include local supporters in the Socceroos’ adventure.
“It was fantastic, it was great training with the support cheering us on,” said Troisi.
“The weather here is quite hot but we have to get used to it, which is a good thing because some of our games will be in these conditions.
“On the bus everyone’s waving to us.
“For us coming to a foreign country getting that warm reception was fantastic,” agreed Holland.
“It says a lot about the Brazilian people and hopefully we’ll see that throughout the tournament."
The press conference ended on a light note when local journalists said that Socceroo keeper Mitch Langerak had been voted best looking player in the squad.
“They must be drunk,” responded Troisi when told.
The Socceroos play Croatia in a friendly next Friday night (kick off 9am AEST time Saturday morning live on Fox Sports) ahead of their tournament opener against Chile on June 13.
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