Doha: Australia’s Asian Cup title credentials and stingy defence will be properly put to the test for the first time in Qatar when they face Saudi Arabia or South Korea in the quarter-finals.
The Socceroos’ next opponents will be confirmed on Tuesday when Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia and Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea meet in the last 16.
Whoever wins, Australia will face a step-up from anything they have faced so far at the tournament.
The bedrock of their pursuit of a second Asian title — they won it on home soil in 2015 — has been a miserly defence that has conceded one goal in four matches.
“Clean sheets win tournaments,” coach Graham Arnold said after defeating Syria 1-0 in the group phase.
The Socceroos reached the quarter-finals on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over an Indonesia side ranked 121 places below them.