In the four decades since Tony Popovic first stepped onto a pitch in western Sydney, his football journey has taken him to Japan, the English Premier League, a World Cup and, as a manager, to Asian Champions League glory. Each stop along the way, he believes, will help turn the Socceroos’ fading fortunes around.
“Every experience you have in life helps you as you go along, whether that’s away from football or in football, and I think you put that together to be able to handle the situation at hand,” he said.
Ahead of the Socceroos’ must-win match against China in Adelaide on Thursday, Popovic exuded a calm when speaking to reporters.
“The limited preparation? Of course, everyone talks about that,” he said. “But that is international football, for the players and the staff. So we just look at it as finding solutions to the problems that may occur, do it in a really positive manner, do it with a lot of belief that we have, and then we execute.”
While he has had more than 40 years in football to get him to this point, Popovic had just 16 days to prepare his team since being announced as coach last month. “It’s been everything that I was told to expect,” the 51-year-old said.
The former defender has taken charge in the lead-up to what is theoretically Australia’s easiest match in group C of the third round of World Cup qualification. But this match is worth much more than three points to the proud but impatient Australian fans for whom first impressions count.
Popovic’s managerial career highlight was winning the Asian Champions League in 2014 with Western Sydney Wanderers. Since then he has been consistently good in a decade largely spent in the A-League Men. But on reputation alone he will not enjoy the benefit of the doubt by an expectant public.
His appointment was unusual, first by the speed of the process. Three days after Football Australia announced Graham Arnold would be leaving, Popovic was sitting alongside FA chair Anter Isaac and chief executive James Johnson at the unveiling.
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Popovic had been in Croatia and rushed back to Australia to complete the process. He admitted he hadn’t seen the Socceroos’ disappointing defeat against Bahrain and draw against Indonesia before negotiations began, only catching them on-demand in the days before his appointment.
His first Socceroos squad raised eyebrows, after he selected three players from the squad he had last season at Melbourne Victory. He also convinced midfielder Massimo Luongo to return to the national setup after his international retirement. When Luongo pulled out injured, Popovic called up Macarthur’s 34-year-old midfielder Luke Brattan, a consistent A-League performer but who has yet to play for the Socceroos.
At that initial press conference, he also flagged a change in style, promising to be “very dynamic” against China. Popovic is remaining committed to a refreshment of the team’s style this week, even if he has had players pulling out injured, and several only arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday. “There are some things are out of our control, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We feel we have enough time to show the players how we’d like to play,” he said.
Winger Craig Goodwin, one of the most consistent Socceroos in recent years, said the squad has been working this week to adjust to the new coach’s expectations. “Our focus is solely on learning the new way of playing and obviously trying to lift the standards to again be back to where we know we can be,” he said.
Popovic has looked at the past two weeks as a puzzle he feels he has now completed. He said he wants his team to play with a tempo “that forces [China] to be uncomfortable”.
But to journalists on Wednesday he wasn’t prepared to give too much away. “The players will take care of the mindset, that won’t be an issue, but you’ll have to see tomorrow and judge what you think of the football.”
