Not even afraid !
"These are men like us," Australian winger Awer Mabil said on Friday of the French world champions, who will be the Australians' first opponents in Qatar on November 22 at 8 p.m.
Obviously qualifying for the rest of the competition will be difficult for Graham Arnold's side in a Group D which also includes Tunisia and Denmark, but Awer Mabil, who plays in Spain with Cadiz, says the Australians will not be unimpressed by the French, among the favorites to win the Cup.
“Obviously, they play at a high level but we cannot enter the field thinking, showing them too much deference, otherwise we have already lost the match, added Mabil in a press conference.
We just have to go out there and do what we know how to do, the best we can.
If it's our day it's our day, if it's not then ok but I'm not afraid to face anyone.
It's my state of mind.
“Australia has not gone beyond the group stage in a World Cup since 2006 in Germany.
"Can't wait to face Denmark, the country of my girlfriend"
The 'golden generation' of Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill are a distant memory and Australia qualified for Qatar only after beating Peru in a penalty shoot-out play-off .
The winning penalty was scored by Awer Mabil.
“We are motivated to try to surprise everyone in our own way.
We can't wait to play the teams in the group, especially Denmark because my girlfriend is from there.
It would be nice to beat her,” added the winger.
Mabil, 27, came to Australia aged 10, having grown up in a refugee camp in Kenya where her parents had escaped civil war in Sudan.
Alongside him at the press conference were two other former Sudanese refugees, Thomas Deng and 18-year-old Garang Kuol, who recently signed for Newcastle.
"It's really a very exciting experience for me, I've been watching the Socceroos play for a
long time... this is where I want to prove myself," said Kuol, who is due to join the club
.
Premier League Newcastle in January.
"I would say it's more exciting than intimidating to see what I can do against players of this caliber," Kuol said.