Doha, QATAR -- To paraphrase Brian Clough, football is a game played and won on grass, not paper. And that's a good thing for Australia, as heading into their opening FIFA World Cup fixture against France, almost all the on-paper analysis would dictate that they have little chance of taking anything from the game. Yet despite this, they'll fancy that their approach has what it takes to produce one of the great World Cup upsets. It might not make much sense, but they've been built to think that way.
The mountain ahead is a daunting one. Despite adding reigning Ballon D'or winner Karim Benzema to a long list of injury-enforced absences that already includes Christopher Nkunku, Presnel Kimpembe, Paul Pogba, and N'Golo Kante, coach Didier Deschamps' French side will enter Tuesday's contest loaded with some of the most high-profile, talented, and expensive players in the world, highlighted by superstar attacker Kylian Mbappe.
Despite their somewhat lean run of form and the chaotic nature of his build-up, France are still reigning World Champions and possess a squad valuation hundreds of millions of dollars greater than their foes; if you had the cash, approximations suggest, you could purchase Les Bleus once, or the entire A-League Men competition... five times. Perhaps it's no wonder defender Ibrahima Konate flatly admitted just days out from their Tuesday evening fixture that "I don't know any of [Australia's] players individually."
But the above quotes and cheeky squad valuations are fuel to the fire. They and others like them may be printed off and taped to the wall of the Socceroos' dressing room by Tuesday. This Australian side (admittedly at a level below France) has come to bask in being the underdog and proving those that doubt them wrong.
"If we focus too much on the opposition all we can do is put in the brains of the players how good the opposition is," coach Graham Arnold said. "We know their strengths, the players know their strengths [but] it's about those ten blue shirts against ten yellow and it's an individual battle - and we've got the Aussie DNA.
"[The team] will go out there and fight, kick, scratch, and do whatever is required to do that. One of their strengths is technical, well we've got to try and we've got to be in their faces and make sure that we take that strength away from them."
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Illuminative of the hard-running, pragmatic, counter-attacking and set-piece-focused approach that he has carried over from his time in domestic football to the national team, Arnold's focus on Aussie DNA and fighting spirit manifests in an emphasis on unquestionable effort, refusing to take a backward step no matter the foe, working hard for your mates, and getting in the faces of and being physical with oppositions.
It was telling that even when the Socceroos were largely blunt in approach when serving as the dominant side in possession against an embedded New Zealand defence in September, their coach publicly focused on losing the physical battles as his biggest bugbear.
In truth, this overarching tactical approach undersells the technical ability of the players that the Socceroos boss has at his disposal and, at times, it almost steered his side into disaster during qualifying. Yet it's also an approach that delivered Australia a fifth-straight appearance at a World Cup and it appears as though it's set to reach its zenith against France, who were always going to possess the technical edge regardless of how their foes set up anyway.
"We have to control or do the things that we can do equal to them," attacker Mat Leckie said. "And that's winning the physical battle and having the mindset that everyone works for 90 minutes, with and without the ball. And if we're a compact team without the ball, it's always hard to break down teams [like that]."
However, given that the French represent a far greater standard than the typical opponents Australia face in Asia, this physicality and approach is one that maybe (and it's a big maybe) is better suited for this stage than it was in qualifying. Certainly, the Socceroos' persistent travails as the active side in possession, exemplified by a 1-1 qualification draw against China in which why had 65% of the ball sent in 34 crosses for just five shots on target, won't be a problem against Les Bleus.
If the Socceroos can maintain their defensive cohesion, be aggressive in the moments they chose to press and attack, prove clinical in what will likely be scant opportunities on goal, and have a generous serving of luck, there does exist the faint potential for a stunning result. Certainly, French sides of recent years have proven themselves vulnerable against set pieces, and Australia can use the likes of Leckie, Harry Souttar, and Mitch Duke as players capable of hurling themselves at a ball sent flying into the box.
"We watched them a bit on video. It's going to be World Cup intensity," said Konate. "You have to take the heat into consideration, even if it's going to impact both teams. There are a lot of teams who know that we have attackers who are very fast, they will surely wait for us. But we have to expect everything in this kind of game."
Questions, of course, persist. Ongoing rumours suggest that Arnold is considering switching to a back five, a formation that he has only used once in his four-and-a-half years in charge. Martin Boyle's withdrawal from the squad leaves a void on the wing that needs to be filled and, should the change in formation prove accurate, the entire dynamic of the XI will change.
At this stage, only goalkeeper and captain Mat Ryan, midfielder Aaron Mooy, and left-back Aziz Behich could be predicted to start with any kind of almost absolute certainty.
"It's one game at a time, one step at a time and we go out for this first game with the attitude to win the game," added Arnold. "You know we're not throwing anything away waiting and just giving away games, We've got to go out there expecting within the first game.
"We've got to play the game smart. When we can press and we can get in their faces, we will press up and press through. But we've got to do that collectively. We've watched many clips where other nations press and the front four or five go the rest stay and then they play through.
"We've got to [press] smart and that's what we'll be working on, that when we press we do it collectively. Otherwise, we get back in a block and we keep it nice and narrow and compact."
Removing sentiment from analysis, Australia won't get a result against the French. The sheer disparity in talent suggests that it's less a matter of if Deschamps' team wins, but by how many. A brave and glorious 1-0 or 2-1 defeat would be considered a good outcome for the side in green and gold.
The Socceroos, though, the "Boxing Kangaroos" that Arnold has assembled in Doha, will be getting ready to fight anyway. And they'll absolutely be ready to fight and bleed for each other.
The question is if that's enough against a team as talented and experienced in the world's top leagues as France. After a scare suffered by his side against Australia four years ago, Deschamps has been drilling into his side the importance of not underestimating their foes this time around and according to French media, it's a message that is increasingly being heard by his young group.
"We saw it in 2018, they put us in difficulty, we worked on it, the coach warned us," French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who didn't train on Sunday evening, said
Further, the absence of Benzema, while denying France a massive on-field asset, has the potential to boost team harmony by removing any doubt that this is Mbpappe's team; placating the PSG star's ego. Team spirit and harmony, ostensibly, was the thing that the Socceroos could leave their foes in the dust on.
"Personally, I'm ready. I play Premier League, so I'm used to duels," Konate said of the looming physicality. "Sure in training we don't go 200% but I have experience in those combats. I think everyone in our team is used to that at this level. We've been more gentle at training but that changes when we play and we'll be ready to fight."