TOKYO (AFP) – Defender Kye Rowles vowed yesterday to “flip the script” as Australia look to win on Japanese soil for the first time when the two sides clash in World Cup qualifying.

The Socceroos are clear underdogs having never beaten Japan in Japan, while their last victory over them came in 2009 in Melbourne.

Japan are the leading team in Asia at 16th in the FIFA rankings and top qualifying Group C with a perfect three victories, scoring 14 goals and conceding none so far.

“The last few years they’ve had our number,” Rowles, who plays in Scotland, said on the eve of the clash in Saitama.

“It’s massively important this game, and especially being almost the halfway point in the qualification process, we need to start getting the ball rolling,” he said. “Hopefully we can flip the script a little bit and put in a good performance and get one back on them.”

Australia are a distant second in the group on goal difference from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain after one win, one draw and one defeat.

That victory, a 3-1 win over China at home, came last week in their first match under Tony Popovic following the resignation of Graham Arnold as coach.

The top two from the three groups in the third stage of Asian qualifying will automatically reach the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Australia and Japan both made it to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, where the Socceroos lost 2-1 to eventual champions Argentina.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin