Osieck hails ´superhuman´ Socceroos

Australia coach Holger Osieck has labelled his players’ performance to claim a 0-0 draw away to Oman in hot conditions as ‘superhuman’.

Temperatures rose to as high as 41 degrees in Friday’s 2014 World Cup qualifier in Muscat, which kicked off at 5pm local time, much to the annoyance of Osieck and the Socceroos camp.

Osieck heaped praise on his players after the draw in Australia’s opening game of final round qualifying.

“First of all, it’s a point on the road. Secondly, you have to consider the circumstances,” Osieck told Fox Sports after the game.

“Prior to the game I played it down but what our boys did today was superhuman. Only the people who were at the stadium could know what it means.”

Osieck added that he was comfortable with the result due to the circumstances, despite Australia being red-hot favourites considering their strength on paper.

“I’m comfortable with the draw looking at the conditions and the hot weather which we played the match in,” he said.

“Our players were good and they managed to have a good match against a team with young players who run a lot.”

Osieck turned his attention to Australia’s next group game at home to 2011 Asian Cup conquerors Japan, who have six points from two games with nine goals for and zero against, in Brisbane on Tuesday.

The German admitted he would have loved to have had Japan’s opening two fixtures, both at home, but insisted there were no complaints with the schedule.

“We knew already Japan would be the toughest opponent however they had the perfect start,” Osieck said.

“If we had played the two home games, I guarantee you with six points we’d be in a similar situation but you have to dance to the music that is played, so no complaints and we’re going to be ready for Brisbane.”

Meanwhile, Oman boss Paul Le Guen was proud of his side, as they once again kept Australia goalless on home turf, having beaten the Socceroos 1-0 in third round qualifying last November.

“We played with a big fighting spirit and we played well,” he said.

“I’m very proud of my players because Australia are one of the favourites to go through and they failed to score against us in two matches they played here.”