Defender Kye Rowles is confident that Australia will be invigorated by the hostile atmosphere in Saitama as they aim to stop Japan's relentless march towards the 2026 World Cup in their Asian qualifier on Tuesday.
The Socceroos have developed a strong rivalry with the Samurai Blue since joining the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, although Japan has had the upper hand in recent encounters. On Tuesday, Rowles and his team will face a fervent crowd of approximately 60,000 at Saitama Stadium, all rooting for Japan to secure their fourth consecutive win in Group C of the third round of Asian qualifying.
"We've experienced some very hostile crowds as a team," the centre-back shared with reporters in Japan. "Hostile crowds tend to energize you in a way that home crowds don't. Home crowds are supportive and boost your confidence, but hostile crowds challenge you to prove yourself. Our mindset is to go out there and disrupt their celebration."
Japan has been in formidable form during the third round of qualifying, aiming for their eighth consecutive appearance in the World Cup finals. They have dominated their matches, thrashing China 7-0 and Bahrain 5-0, followed by a 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah last Thursday.
Australia, aiming to secure a spot in their sixth consecutive World Cup by finishing in the top two of Group C, has only managed one win and one draw so far. This follows an unexpected home defeat to Bahrain and a goalless draw with Indonesia in Jakarta.
However, Rowles believes the 3-1 win over China under new coach Tony Popovic last week demonstrated enough potential to suggest a possible upset over Japan, who have won the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
"Japan has had the better of us in recent years," Rowles acknowledged. "But there were many positives from our performance on Thursday, so we're hopeful we can turn the tide and deliver a strong performance to get a win against them. We just need to give our best and believe that it will give us a strong chance to challenge them."
