Snow-bound Olyroos face Games freeze-out

SYDNEY, Feb 3 AAP – Scott of the Antarctic’s team might have had more chance of beating Uzbekistan than the Olyroos, judging by the Tashkent weather forecast for Sunday’s crucial Olympic qualifier.

The Australians are facing utterly alien conditions – seriously sub-zero temperatures, snow and a frozen pitch in a match against the table-topping team with their 2012 Olympic campaign on the line.

Forecasters predict a top of minus 10 and a low of minus 17, with a wind chill of minus 23.

Even the kick-off time of eight o’clock at night (Monday 0200 AEDT) mitigates against slightly less freezing temperatures.

The Olyroos are in for an extra rude shock, having prepared for the past three days in the Middle Eastern heat of Dubai before flying to Tashkent on Friday.

Internet pictures sent to them showed a pitch full of snow and mist, emphasising why Uzbekistan is one of the toughest destinations in world football, especially for an away team badly in need of a goal and a result after three scoreless draws.

“I don’t think any of our boys have been used to these conditions,” said coach Aurelio Vidmar before flying out of Dubai.

“We have a training session scheduled tomorrow, so hopefully two things will happen – one, we will get on to the pitch and two, we will see what type of football the conditions will allow us to play.

“It’s certainly not an easy destination.

“It’s not easy to get there and it’s never easy to play there.

“But our kids are smart, switched on and ready to go.”

As if things weren’t tough enough, the Australians have also taken their own chef with them from their resort in Dubai after the Socceroo team lost Jason Culina and Jade North to food poisoning in the Central Asian nation in 2008.

“We know the history of going to Uzbekistan and we’re trying to avoid players getting sick,” Vidmar said.

“We have prepared very well.”

Vidmar’s main focus in training has been to give his players confidence in front of goal after a three-game drought.

“We have been getting in the right situations in matches but we just haven’t finished off,” he said.

“It’s not going to happen in one session, and all the players do things differently at their A-League clubs.

“But the more times we find the back of the net the more confidence we’re going to get.”

Vidmar has been unable to secure the services of overseas-based stars Aaron Mooy (Scotland), Tommy Oar (Holland) and Mathew Leckie (Germany) in Tashkent but is confident their clubs will release them for the next match in the United Arab Emirates on February 22.

But that will be of cold comfort if his campaign all but ends in the frozen wastes of Tashkent.

With three games played in their Asian zone and three to go, the Olyroos are lying second bottom and must change things around quickly if they are to maintain their record of qualifying for every Olympics since 1988.

Should they lose to Uzbekistan, they would be five points behind the Group B leader with just two games left, and only the three group winners are guaranteed a berth in London.

The second-place finishers will play off in Vietnam from March 25 to 29 for the right to take on an African team in a winner-takes-all game in England, with the prize of a place in London at stake.

Publisher: AAPNewswire

03 Feb 8:10 PM