Saudi Arabia will be hungry for victory against the Socceroos on Wednesday night. When they last faced Australia, they were just hungry.
The Saudis need to win at Melbourne’s AAMI Park to ensure they reach the final stage of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.
That seems unlikely, given they lost 3-1 on home soil in September.
But coach Frank Rijkaard claimed on Tuesday that given that match came during a Muslim fasting period, they were at a serious disadvantage.
“There is a total difference between the two matches,” the Dutchman told reporters.
“The previous match in Saudi Arabia, it came at a stage where the players were fasting for the holy month of Ramadan.
“Now they are in a better physical condition for this match.
“Also the league at that time was in its early stages, now it’s in the middle of the season, so there’s a total difference between now and then.”
Rijkaard said while Australia did not need to win, he did not expect anything less than total effort from the home side, particularly in front of their own crowd.
He said despite the critical nature of the match for his own team, they had to guard against attacking too hard and leaving themselves vulnerable in defence.
“We will play in a balanced way,” he said.
The other two sides in the group, Oman and Thailand, will meet at exactly the same time, in Oman.
The winner of that match will overtake Saudi Arabia in second spot and progress along with Australia, if the Saudis lose.
A draw, or even a loss, might get Saudi Arabia through, depending on the other result, but they will take a win-at-all-costs attitude.
“All our ambitions are concentrated on getting a win tomorrow,” Rijkaard said.
“Even if we have a bad win tomorrow, we are focused to get a win.”