Upcoming Preparations for the 2011 World Championships

National Coach, Paul Brown, discusses the upcoming World championships in the Netherlands.

National Coach, Paul Brown, discusses the upcoming World championships in the Netherlands.

“After drawing Brazil, The Netherlands and Spain everybody has just about counted us out. I believe we have the goods to make the next round. I also believe we have the goods to qualify for the 2012 London Paralympics," said Brown.

Australia will play Spain, ranked 14th in the World, in the first round of the tournament.

“A red card to Captain David Barber and an injured Sam Larkings made it difficult for us against Spain the last time we played them. I also believe some of my youngsters have matured enough at international level now," said Brown.

Australia did enough to qualify for The Netherlands and now must step up if they are to qualify for the London 2012 Paralympics.

"Next time I think Spain will find the going a bit tougher. I-m not going to give away too many secrets, but defensively I believe we have their measure. They are quite strong on the left side and their number 9 is a handy player.

"The boys have worked hard in training and at National camps. We have improved as a unit, our combinations have improved and defensively we are more disciplined. Spirits are high and my players have that winning mentality and appear to be very confident," concluded Brown.

On paper, Australia, ranked 10th in the World, should come away with the points, but Spain will be confident after their previous win over the Pararoos.

It will be a different Australia going up against Spain with the return of a number of players such as Beau Menzies (QLD) and Ben Roche (VIC).

"Ben Atkins, Thomas Goodman and youngster Jack Williams have matured and are playing some good football," said Brown.

The loss of long time Australian Player, Jamie Laybutt, due to personal reasons has been a blow to the squad, but it seems the Pararoos have more depth now.

Youngster Jack Williams has been brought into the side and will play in his first World Championships.

The Netherlands and Brazil will be tough matches with both teams possessing good speed, good technical ability and a couple of ex able bodied national players.

“The number 7 and the number 11 for the Netherlands are both great players. I watched the number 7 in Beijing and he is a touch of class. He can knock a ball 40 meters and land it on a sixpence. He is also very allusive, one minute he is in the backs and the next minute he is making a penetrating runs to get in behind the defence.

“The number 11 for the Dutch is a goal scoring machine. He has great pace, is confident on the ball and can sniff a goal. He turns well and is quick to respond to defensive mistakes in the box," said Brown.

Brazil, qualified for the 2008 Paralympics, but didn-t play well. Paulo Cruz, the Brazillian Head Coach has made many changes to his squad, opting for younger players with speed to complement the more experienced campaigners. To a certain extent they are an unknown quantity.

“Paulo is an experienced coach and a good friend of mine. The last time we faced Brazil was in the 2007 World Championships. They are always a difficult team to play against,"said Brown.

Australia go into camp on the 27th of May at the Sydney Academy of Sport for the last time before heading overseas.

“This camp will be about refining and putting the finishing touches on our play.”

“After watching footage of Spain we have tweaked our defensive system a little bit. It still needs some fine tuning, but we are very close," said Brown.

On Friday night the Pararoos played a local rep side and beat them quite convincingly. The highlight of the match was the speed and accuracy of the one touch passing combinations in and around the attacking third.

“Yes there has definitely been a huge improvement in this part of our game”, said Brown.

There will be a farewell function for the Pararoos at the Airport Mecure Hotel on the 10th of June prior to their departure for Europe.