Add Category
Posted
If it is up to the Socceroos fans at Sydney's Martin Place today, Ange Postecoglou will be leading the team at next year's World Cup finals.
There was a large roar of approval when the hundreds of supporters were asked if they wanted to see Postecoglou in charge of the national team in Russia, as the celebrations continued following the Socceroos' 3-1 win over Honduras last night.
But the man himself will keep them guessing for possibly another fortnight.
"I'm determined to enjoy this and I'm determined for everyone to enjoy it," Postecoglou said.
"I understand the conjecture about me and as I said all along it wasn't going to take the focus away from me or for the players.
"And people saw I think probably close to our two best performances [against Honduras] through the qualifying period, so it had no effect on the group.
"But we'll deal with that over the next couple of weeks.
"Obviously, it has to happen fairly quickly cause I'm mindful of the fact that there's a lot of planning that needs to go to keep moving forward and it's not about me trying to keep people in suspense.
"We'll have those discussions with [FFA chief executive] David [Gallop] and [chairman] Stephen [Lowy] in the next couple of weeks and it will all be resolved."
When asked why he would have any doubts about going to Russia if the hardest part of the campaign was over, Postecoglou replied: "Maybe it's the hard parts that appeal to me.
"I think there's still plenty to do.
"But nothing will detract from what I've experienced the last four years, it's been an amazing ride and as I've said I've loved every minute of it."
If Postecoglou's reluctance to reveal his immediate future has caused some fans to waver, his players remain steadfast in their support.
"He's been the guy at the forefront of it all with us as a group and getting this group to where it is right now," Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak said.
"I can say that open and honestly and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
"But he's always had that determination and will to make sure that we do that in the most trying of circumstances and for him to be there right beside us, it'll be absolutely fantastic."
Jedinak was man of the moment after his second-leg heroics at Sydney's Olympic stadium, with his hat-trick guiding the Socceroos to its fourth straight World Cup.
If he is not the most popular person in Australia right now, he was at Martin Place, with even Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull keen to get a snap with the Socceroos talisman.
But the prospect of him playing such a vital role looked remote when he missed the Confederations Cup, and vital qualifiers against Japan, Thailand and Syria with a troublesome groin injury.
"I think whenever you are going through a little bit of a difficult patch it's hard not to not think about things, but to be honest I've been determined just to get back out there," he said.
Jedinak had only played 99 minutes across three games for his Championship club Aston Villa this season.
"Obviously I would have loved to have got a bit more minutes beforehand," he said.
"But you know what? I'm happy with where I was at.
"I'd put in the hard yards in order to make that happen and like I said, just very, very grateful for being given the opportunity to be around the group again and play my part in the last two games."
Jedinak also urged Socceroos fans to stick by the team ahead of Russia 2018.
"It's nice to know that [the fan support], but they should be excited," Jedinak said.
"We've achieved something again extra special. They need to stay with us on this ride.
"It's going to be a ride and you don't really want to miss it."
Topics: soccer, soccer-world-cup, socceroos, sport, sydney-2000