FORMER Socceroo Scott McDonald is \u201coptimistic\u201d about what Australia can achieve at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
While Graham Arnold\u2019s side just scraped through to qualify for the tournament, McDonald said the Socceroos will enjoy their underdog status.<\/p>\n
Despite being in a tough group alongside France, Denmark and Tunisia, McDonald believes the Socceroos will play with no external pressure and have a crack at their more fancied opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we get to this stage I get very optimistic,\u201d McDonald said on SEN Breakfast<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the players do as well because we\u2019re Australian, we believe, and we like being the underdog and we like having a crack.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me right now, I think it all really rests on no pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s first game in Qatar came against reigning champions France, but McDonald thinks getting Les Bleus first-up may not be such a bad thing.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at the first game, it\u2019s France, it\u2019s a really big ask, they\u2019re champions of the world,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey won the last World Cup, but when we played them last time in 2018 it was a 2-1 victory, it was narrow, and they did frustrate France who didn\u2019t perform very well on the day.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting them the very first game is the best opportunity the Socceroos are going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n McDonald believes Australia\u2019s best chance of causing an upset is scoring from set pieces given their array of dead-ball specialists and tall timber to target.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019re going to really have to emphasise set-pieces as well the Socceroos,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving that prowess with the likes of Jackson Irvine in there and Harry Souttar does play up that end as well if they can capitalise on something like that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe possibility of either causing an upset or certainly getting a result out of them would really set them up well for that second game against Tunisia.<\/p>\n \u201cTo go all out and try to get three points in that, you never know.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n