For the first time in his tenure as Socceroos coach, Tony Popovic has named an unchanged line-up. The same starting XI that played out that valuable 0-0 draw with Paraguay eight days ago will play together again in Australia’s first knockout match at this World Cup.
That means the Jordan Bos and Cristian Volpato combination on the right remains, and Nestory Irankunda is up front again at striker.
Clearly that long break between matches has recharged everyone’s batteries, and Popovic is confident they can increase their productivity in attack in this game.
Mohamed Toure remains on the bench; surely he gets used today.
Meanwhile, the other Mohamed – Salah – is in the starting line-up for Egypt. So much for those hamstring problems, or maybe they’re just taking a massive punt on him. Who knows? We’ll soon see. But the Pharoahs have made five changes overall: Omar Marmoush has also been brought into the starting line-up, along with defenders Yasser Ibrahim and Karim Hafez, and midfielders Hamdy Fathy and Marawan Attia.
Ahmed Fatouh and Mohamed Abdelmoneim are injured, Mohanad Lashin is suspended, and Trezeguet and Mahmoud Saber drop to the bench. Hafez, who is replacing Fatouh at left-back, has played only seven minutes at this tournament so far.
