Postecoglou: Germany asked for Oz friendly
Ange Postecoglou says he had no hesitation agreeing to a friendly against Germany when Joachim Low's side came calling, despite the Socceroos' struggles in the wake of last year's World Cup.
Australia will tackle the winners of Brazil 2014 in Kaiserslautern on March 25, with a clash against the top-ranked side in the FIFA rankings an enticing examination for the newly crowned Asian Cup winners.
Postecoglou revealed it was the European powerhouses and Low who suggested setting up the match during Germany's run to an extra-time victory over Argentina in Rio de Janeiro.
"We had a good chat to them over at the World Cup and they were really keen to get a game going. [The] fixtures worked out so we're happy to go," he said.
"They came to us and I couldn't agree quick enough. This was in the midst of the worst run we were having. People were scratching their heads as to why I'd choose to play the world champions if we were having a bad run.
"But I believed January would go well and because January did go well, it's a great measure for us. They're the best in the world and we want to find out where we're at."
Some well-earned rest for the coach and his backroom staff would surely have been warranted after Australia's memorable triumph on home soil last month, but Postecoglou has no intention of resting on his laurels.
"Straight back into it," he said with a wry smile when asked about facing the world champions.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"Looking forward to it obviously, it's a big game for us and coming off the back of what happened in January, [it's a] great chance for us to test ourselves again. We'll see it as another opportunity to build on what we've started and give some other guys an opportunity as well."
In addition to the Germany clash, the coach confirmed Australia would seek to arrange another friendly during the international window next month.
Fans can perhaps expect to see some changes and fresh faces from the group of players that overcame South Korea in the Asian Cup final in Sydney.
"We're hoping to get a second game in that window and hopefully it'll be a really good camp, because it's the last time we'll be together before the World Cup qualifiers start," Postecoglou said.
"It's a friendly, so it gives us a chance to test a few things, we don't want to miss an opportunity to measure ourselves against the best. We'll make sure we get the absolute maximum out of them."
‘Managing Leeds? It was an option that appeared, but it wasn’t the right timing. I decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave the club I was at mid-season’: Premier League boss admits to turning down opportunity to replace Jesse Marsch in 2023
‘Ruben Amorim could have waited for Real Madrid and had a better chance to be successful – to have joined Manchester United, he must be convinced in his own ability’ Former Old Trafford coach’s verdict on new boss