In the early hours of the morning, Ange Postecoglou’s boys will take on a vastly different and much more improved United Arab Emirates (UAE).
It’ll be the best practice for the Asian Cup, as the UAE has also qualified and will give Socceroos coach Postecoglou a better indication of what to expect in a few months’ time.
The team has to contend with the country’s intense heat, but know that their opponents who come charged and ready, have also come off the back of four straight losses.
Sadly the Socceroos did suffer a double injury blow on Thursday, with Tommy Oar and Chris Herd ruled out, but it would have likely paved the way for Robbie Kruse and Ivan Franjic to make their returns to the national side.
Herd is tipped to make a return on the Qatar friendly on Wednesday (AEST).
Postecoglou knows all eyes will be on these matches to show just how good the Socceroos can be in January.
His recent track record hasn’t been very impressive, as the Socceroos have conceded 13 goals in the past five matches.
Bleeding goals is largely thanks to the fact the team has been facing some of the world’s best and that Postecoglou is still finding his best formation.
In recent months he has chopped and changed the backline, working to fit newer and less experienced Socceroos into the mix.
The technique is in line with Postecoglou’s philosophy, of nurturing talent to make his team selection not so reliant on star players.
“We’re still developing the type of football we want to play and we’ve seen progress in all areas towards that but we’re nowhere near the finished product,” he said this week.
“We look a bit deeper than (the defensive record) and it’s not one aspect of our game that is more concerning or less concerning.
“Do we like conceding goals? No. Bit on the flip side of that is we like scoring them.
“As long as we’re scoring more than the opposition, we’ll be going okay.”
The UAE match will be the best marker of the kind of opposition they’ll be facing at the Asian Cup, as they have a big chance to go all the way and are considered a dark horse in the competition.
Their next opponent, Qatar isn’t on the same level, but is a team that must be beaten by those that are.