Aussies won't abandon attack mode

Australia coach Guus Hiddink will again tell his team to attack as they aim for the win or draw which will book their passage to the last 16 of the World Cup.

The Socceroos reaped the benefits of flooding the attack as they came from behind to beat Japan 3-1 in their opening game, and also took the game to world champions Brazil in their 2-0 defeat last time out.

“It’s impossible, especially with this team who like to attack, to sit back and say ‘we go for a 0-0 draw’,” Dutch coach Hiddink said.

“It’s the opposite to the character of this team.

“This team will be trying to go for a win, don’t underestimate that.”

Australia have a full squad to choose from for the match with the exception of defender Tony Popovic – who will miss the rest of the tournament with a calf strain sustained against Brazil.

Hiddink again hinted that Harry Kewell, who is free to play against Croatia after FIFA cleared him of abusing German referee Markus Merk during the Socceroos’ 2-0 loss to Brazil, would again start on the bench and would be used as an impact player in the second half.

Stjepan Tomas will be called up by Croatia to mark his good friend and Australia skipper Mark Viduka in the match.

Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar said that Tomas was the logical replacement for Robert Kovac, and that his friendship with Viduka had no influence on his decision.

“Kovac had the two yellow cards, so omas comes in for him,” he said.

“It just happens that Tomas and Mark are very good friends. I was their coach at Dinamo Zagreb (in the late 1990s).

“For the 90 minutes they can put their friendship to one side, and I’m confident Tomas will come out the winner against Viduka.”

The other change sees CSKA Moscow striker Ivica Olic come in for the out-of-touch Ivan Klasnic.

“Yesterday I named the first starting XI, and I said Olic would substitute Klasnic,” Kranjcar said.

“He (Klasnic) won’t start tonight, he’ll start on the bench and will come on if necessary.”

With Stuttgart boasting the largest Croatian community in Germany, Kranjcar believes the extra crowd support could be the factor that gets Croatia the three points and a spot in the next round.

He added: “It feels like home in Stuttgart. We are expecting maybe 30,000 Croatian spectators here. We are the home team for this match, and I’m expecting the crowd to be very much in favour of us.”