With a top of 31 degrees in Oakland, according to the weather app I’m looking at. But the Socceroos spent weeks in far worse conditions in their pre-World Cup camp in steaming Sarasota, Florida, and players are convinced that is going to hold them in good stead. They genuinely believe they will be the fittest team at this tournament.
“I think based on our friendlies, I don’t think you can say it’s a false statement,” said Jacob Italiano. “I think we showed that against very good sides that we can push them all the way to the end. We can kind of change momentum in a game when they might feel like they’re on top, we can flick the switch.
“And at any moment in the game, especially in the second half of these games, we kind of change momentum. Once they tire, we’ve still got a lot left in us. It’s definitely a strength of ours.”
Aziz Behich added: “I you look at the two games against Mexico and Switzerland, we were running them at the end of the game, so that should give us a hell of a lot of confidence going into these games in the group stage.”
Even considering the temperature, it probably wasn’t hot enough on Thursday (local time) to trigger a ‘hydration break’ under normal rules – but, of course, FIFA is mandating them at this World Cup. Socceroos players gathered to watch Mexico v South Africa, the tournament opener, earlier today, which was the first official match to have them.