Caltex Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou knows the importance of Tuesday night’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Japan but denies it will define the group.
Australia currently tops the standing in a tight Group B, level on points with Saudi Arabia, with Japan and UAE just one point behind.
It sets up a massive showdown between the Caltex Socceroos and Samurai Blue in front of an expected crowd of around 50,000 at Etihad Stadium.
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While victory at against a nation expected to be the Caltex Socceroos' main rivals in the group is important, Postecoglou says there’s still plenty of challenges ahead for all countries.
Australia have already overcome a couple of big hurdles, picking up four points in tough away trips against UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.
“If we win tomorrow we’re in great shape but we’re not there yet. The group has already shown it’s going to be tight.
"Both the UAE and Saudi have started strong as well,” Postecoglou told reporters on Monday.
“It’s not decided tomorrow. It is still on the road to Russia rather than the destination.
"We’ve had two tough away trips... but being at home, regardless of the opponent, we want to be imposing ourselves and picking up the three points.
“But that doesn’t mean we’ll think we’ve got one foot in the door. It’s still very early in the process. There’s some tough trips to come for the other countries.
“We’ve done two of them and come through okay, even for Japan they still have to go through the Middle East in the back half of [next] year and they aren’t easy trips as we’ve found.
"It’s an important three points; it’s not the defining three points.”
While the Caltex Socceroos are in a strong position in the group after three games, things could have been even better if they had held on to their 2-1 lead in Jeddah last week.
“I don’t think we have a problem shutting down games,” said Postecoglou when asked why his weren’t able to see the game through.
“We’ll never be a team that tries to shut down a game; it’s never been something we do. We try to play our football a certain way and that’s irrespective of the scoreboard.
“Our approach is pretty clear, we’ll try and win every game we can and that’s playing our way for the 90 minutes regardless of the score line or status of the game.”
