Qantas Socceroos to go for broke

Qantas Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek says there is no danger of his side taking Oman lightly in Wednesday night's must-win Asian Cup qualifier at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

Qantas Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek says there is no danger of his side taking Oman lightly in Wednesday night's must-win Asian Cup qualifier at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

Just four days after the Qantas Socceroos held the world's third-ranked team, the Netherlands, to a 0-0 draw in a friendly in Sydney, the Aussies now come up against a side that at 74 on the FIFA rankings is ranked 60 places below them.

But with much more at stake on Wednesday night as Australia bids to get its campaign to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup finals in Qatar back on track after managing just one point from its first two matches, Verbeek said there was no danger of his star-studded team going easy on its Middle Eastern opposition.

"It's a big game and that is why we are here and we have to win the game," Verbeek said on Tuesday.

"So far every home game (in both Asian and World Cup qualifying) we have had we have beaten every opponent from the Middle East so I am full of confidence that we can do it again."

"But Oman is a good team and I think they will come here for a point (a draw) and if they win that would be fantastic for them."

Oman, which failed to qualify for the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, is top of the group with four points from two games while Australia has just one after drawing with Indonesia away in January and losing at home to Kuwait in Canberra in March.

But a win on Wednesday night would put Australia, which will be close to full-strength, back level on top with Oman with three qualifying games still remaining and with the top two teams in each group to make it through to the finals in Qatar in 2011.

Oman has not played a competitive international since January but did beat Saudi Arabia in a friendly in August, which has made Verbeek extremely wary of a team that held the Socceroos to 1-1 draw in the opening game of the 2007 Asian Cup finals in Bangkok.

"They beat Saudi Arabia in August so that says enough about the qualities of Oman," Verbeek said.

"Oman already has four points so a point away from home will be enough for them (to stay on track to qualify) and I expect them to be well organised in defence and try to score a goal on the counter attack."

"But we want to score as many goals as possible and score an easy goal but it's easy to speak about that."

"It's up to the players to do their job and find the right moment to score and try to avoid any counter attacks."

Verbeek said that every player that played against the Dutch on Saturday night would be available with the exception of midfielder Vince Grella, who injured his quad in Sydney and has been ruled out.

His replacement in the starting line-up will most likely be Carl Valeri.