Australia’s unbeaten record goes on the line; kick off time, scores and results from Montreal

We heard from the Socceroos coach about the live broadcast from Stade Saputo, Montreal. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Jacob Italiano is coming, so it’s obviously a special night for him and his family. I’m sure they will be very excited while watching it. He came in and did very well in training, settled in very quickly, so I thought he deserved an opportunity.

The rest remains pretty much the same. I think it’s great for Ale to be his captain again. Today is his birthday. A nice thing for the young man. I just want to see if he can continue to grow in his leadership role.

He also explained why Paul Izzo chose Maty Ryan:

I think the last camp without Maty, either Paul or Joey Gauci was playing. I wanted Paul to understand that this time he’s playing with Maty Ryan here, and I think it’s a little bit different psychologically as well. We’ll see how he handles it, but I think he deserves another opportunity to show us what he can do; It’s away, it’s a tough opponent, it’s tough conditions and I really want to see how he handles it.

They are very strong, they are managed very well by their managers, but that is what we want. That’s why we wanted these games. We want to be here and experience this too. We are preparing for the World Cup and this is part of the preparation. Every game is important because it’s another opportunity for us to gain some more momentum. Playing against a tough opponent gives players the opportunity to show themselves, new players to come to the camp, and new players to the field. So this is a process that runs completely towards June.