Melbourne-born Caltex Socceroos attacking defender Aziz Behich showed his class as an impact sub against Saudi Arabia – now he’s itching to show that same intent against world number one Brazil.
Brazil and Australia meet in a friendly in Melbourne on Tuesday night at the MCG.
95,000 see Brazil lose to Messi’s Argentina
Behich, whose played for Turkish outfit Bursaspor since 2013, is one of the quiet achievers in the Aussie squad.
Turkey's Super Lig doesn’t garner huge coverage in Australia, but you sense at 26 the former Victory and Heart player is coming into his best years after racking up 13 appearances in the national team.
His last of those, an eye-catching 45 minutes off the bench at half-time in Adelaide helped turn the game in Australia’s favour.
Caltex Socceroos beat Saudi Arabia
His work-rate and commitment to get forward as a left-sided wingback helped wrest the momentum off the Saudis and back in favour of the Aussies.
It showed exactly what he’s capable of.
Behich spoke to reporters on Saturday in Melbourne
GOOD TO BE BACK
It’s been a while since I got on the park with the national team.
I was doing everything I could [against Saudi Arabia] to help the squad get a lift coming off the bench with fresh legs.
I’m an attacking minded full back. It [the new 3-4-3] plays to my strengths so it’s an enjoyable formation.
BRAZIL NO FRIENDLY
A different type of challenge to Saudi Arabia, but we’re going out there to improve our own game.
As much as it’s a friendly we’re all competitors and we do want to get a result and boost the confidence leading into Russia.
Obviously Brazil is a powerhouse but we just focus on ourselves. We know what we have to do.
And we’ll approach this like any other game.
Every game’s special when you play for your national team.
But it’s a big game. Brazil’s in town and we’d like more than 50,000 fans [tipped to attend]. The bigger the better.