France a huge test but an exciting challenge for the Socceroos
It's finally here. I know I have been waiting for this month for a long time now.
New coach, lots of new faces, how will the team go? I was personally upset to see Ange leave at first — having an Aussie coach appealed to me.
The fact that Ange had worked his way up the ranks through Australian football made it hard to see him go but I think the timing of a new coach couldn't be better.
On one side, it's tough — less time with the coach, less time to get an understanding of how he wants the team to play and less time to earn your spot.
On the other side, it's a great time for the team, the competitiveness of the group reaches a new high, the professionalism and standard of the group increases and nobody feels comfortable in their position.
The two results the week prior to the World Cup show the squad has been pushed to a new level, the spots were all up for grabs and who you were or your past performances didn't matter.
France though is one of the best teams in the tournament and is full of world class players — Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to name a few.
It will be a big test for the boys but I'm excited to see the growth in the past few months and exactly where we sit against some of the best in the world.
I would love to see Daniel Arzani get on for at least 30 minutes and add a bit of spark to the game, no matter the score.
When I think of good subs, he is the first to my mind obviously along with Timmy Cahill if he doesn't start.
So, does Tim Cahill start? In a game where we probably won't have majority of possession do you put in an old body to do the defence work or keep him fresh until the end to hopefully come on and use goal-scoring prowess.
I'm excited the World Cup is finally here, I can't wait to see what the boys have been working on the past few months.
This is the biggest tournament in the world and hopefully it's another great tournament. Good luck boys!
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