Socceroos coach happy with away form

Holger Osieck pointed to Australia’s away record instead of their unconvincing performance in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Thailand.

The Socceroos needed a 78th-minute Brett Holman goal after they struggled to hold on to the ball and relied on some poor Thai finishing to stay level until the AZ Alkmaar man’s winner.

However, Osieck wanted to talk about the positives following the win which sealed their progression to the fourth round of 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

“You have to consider we had two road games; to play in Asia, the different countries, like the Middle East and South-East Asia, it is always difficult,” Osieck told Fox Sports when asked about his side’s unconvincing display.

“It’s always an adaptation and it’s not going to be easy for anybody. Already for three road games we won two which is a great achievement.”

Osieck added that it was a difficult match but said he was pleased for his side who worked hard.

“It was a pretty tough one today. They were so well organised, they made it really difficult for us,” he said.

“We didn’t move the ball quick enough, particularly in the first half. In the second half we had more attacking aspects. I’m pretty pleased for the boys. Tough win, but a good win.”

Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill said the side were rewarded for sticking to their jobs despite being under pressure and in difficult conditions.

“We had to prepare well for this game. (It was a) good crowd, we knew it was going to be tough. They threw everything at us,” Neill said.

“Good strength was shown by the guys today. It was never going to be an easy game. We just persevered, stuck to it, showed patience and got rewarded.”

Goalscorer Holman was simply happy to get the points and seal Australia’s passage into the next round.

“We got the job done, so that’s the most important thing. We’ll look to our opponents in the next group and go from there,” he said.

“These sorts of games it depends on the three points. We did that tonight, not convincingly but we didn’t give much away either, so that was the most important thing.”

However, Holman admitted improvements could be made.

“We just have to work on our play when we have the ball. That’s the main factor. We’re defending well. The most important thing is what we do with the ball,” he said.