Neill calls for victory over Jordan

Australia captain Lucas Neill is not expecting an easy time of it when he leads his side into battle in the crucial FIFA World Cup™ qualifier against Jordan on Wednesday. The Socceroos warmed up for the match with an impressive 3-0 victory over Lebanon yesterday, but have to travel to King Abdullah International Stadium in Jordan next week to tackle the 87th-ranked country in the world. Hot and humid conditions are expected and Neill knows the Socceroos will need to produce another good performance if they are to claim the three points. "It is going to be difficult," Neill said of the Jordan game. "We have seen this week that there is still a lot of heat and humidity about, so conditions will always play their part. We will have to put in a performance similar, if not better, to what we did against Lebanon to make sure we take the three points away from Jordan." The match against Jordan is crucial for the Socceroos if they want to maintain their push to qualify directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil. Australia currently sit in third place in their qualifying group with two points and have already drifted five points behind pacesetters Japan. Based purely on rankings Jordan are considered the second worst team in the group, but Neill believes every country is tough to play against, especially when they are playing at home. "They are coming in as the underdog so it is something we have got to be very careful of," he said. "We have got games now against very passionate nations and teams that are not expected to beat us. Any team that makes the last ten of a World Cup qualification is a hard team." FIFA