While Mile Jedinak believes the Socceroos have done the nation proud at this World Cup, he’s desperate to see his teammates leave the tournament with a win.
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Gallant defeats to Chile and The Netherlands mean Australia can’t advance to the knockout stages but they can finish above 2010 champions Spain should they win or draw when the two sides face off in Curitiba on Monday (Tuesday morning AEST).
Having had prime opportunities to surprise in both of their two matches thus far, Jedinak said the squad had shown themselves capable of taking on the best teams in the world.
“I definitely think it’s heading in the right direction, it’s just kicking on from here now. It’s all about keeping that buzz going. We’ve captivated the nation again and, to a degree, the world,” he said. “But we all know this industry we’re in is driven by results and had we got two results in those two games, it would be a different story altogether again.
“I think going forward now it’s a major step with what we’ve done but the next step is to start getting those results in those big games.”
The skipper admitted being torn about how well the team had performed, especially against the Dutch, only to come away empty handed.
“It definitely does give you a feeling of pride, but it also gives you that feeling of what could have been as well, knowing the showings we’ve had in the past two games,” Jedinak said.
“That’s all done now, the two games are over and the sole focus has to be on the last game and putting all of our remaining energy into that and desire and passion.
“We’re going to need it because we know, although Spain haven’t had the results, they’re still a fantastic team in world football. This is still their golden generation and we’re going to have to be at the top of our game to try and get something out of this game.”
The vanquished Spaniards still retain one of the globe’s best midfields and even left out Barcelona icons Xavi and Cesc Fabregas from the starting side that lost 2-0 to on Thursday.
“It is quite formidable and I just said to our guys that they’re a world class team and have been for some time now,” he said. “It’s going to be great to test ourselves against the world’s best. This tournament and particularly our group, with the past two games, it’s been about testing ourselves against the world’s best and so far we haven’t done too bad.
“You just want to try and stamp your authority on the game and hopefully at the end of the day it will be a positive result for us.”
While Jedinak enjoyed a career highlight when he put Australia ahead of the Dutch – “The biggest goal I’ve scored with in my career with the national team” – the lack of a celebration after the penalty was noted by many.
“I knew the job wasn’t done. It’s 54 minutes, the game’s not over. It’s no good to get too carried away and letting the emotions get the better of you and you find yourself in games conceding two goals in three minutes,” he said. “I’ve learned that over my career. That’s where lapses of concentration happen. It’s not to say that I’m not overjoyed or I didn’t want to rip my top off or something like that, it’s just that in the moment you have to remember who you’re around; getting carried away to a point but also remaining calm and keeping focussed.”
Asked if he would nominate Chile or The Netherlands to advance further in the tournament, Jedinak couldn’t split them – and said the comparison only evoked painful emotions.
“It’s hard to say. The both have their positives and some [negatives] that might hurt them later. I definitely think they’ve done well to get out of this group and they’ve done it with a game to spare, so full credit to them,” he said. “Would I want to see them go further? Absolutely, because they were in our group. Picking one of them to go further than the other is probably a flip of the coin.
