With the Socceroos just four days away from opening their fourth World Cup campaign attacker James Troisi says Australia are well prepared for the challenge ahead.
The first match in Cuiaba has been identified as critically important to dictating the path of group, with the Aussies confident they can take something away from the match.
“We’ve been working hard the last month in camp,” said Troisi. “Basically working hard for this first game on Friday night” (Brazil time).
Hailing from Serie A club Atalanta, Troisi has seen up close some of the talent the Socceroos will be up against with teammate Carlos Carmona set to be deployed in Chile’s midfield.
“He’s a good little player, box to box. He’s very aggressive, works hard and technically is quite good on the ball,” he said.
“No doubt they’ve got some quality players and with the three teams we’re playing you’ll see some of the best players in the world.
“But you know the way Ange has expressed himself and the way he wants us to express ourselves we’ll play some good quality attacking football.”
One player who remains in serious doubt for the match is Chile’s key midfielder Arturo Vidal, who has not trained with teammates as he continues to recover from a knee operation.
The Juventus star made a surprise cameo in a World Cup warm-up match win over Northern Ireland last Wednesday but is struggling with inflammation in his knee.
“There’s no doubt he’s a quality player, I think they’ll miss him quite a lot,” said Troisi. “Obviously that’s a good thing for us but we don’t want to focus on individuals too much.”
Watch the exclusive video to hear more of what Troisi had to say on Australia’s World Cup opposition and see his hilarious table tennis miss as the team enjoyed some play time in camp.
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