Soccer-South Korea coach starts mind games with Australia at Asian Cup

By Julian Linden SYDNEY, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Australia still have to beat the United Arab Emirates just to make the final of the Asian Cup but South Korean coach Uli Stielike has already started the mind games. A shrewd tactician, well-versed in the psychology of football, Stielike went straight on the defensive after his team beat Iraq 2-0 on Monday to book their place in the final. Instead of singing the praises of his own team, who have already beaten Australia in the group stage and made it to the final without giving up a goal, Stielike turned the pressure on the host nation. Asked at the post-match news conference which team he thought would win Tuesday's second semi-final, Stielike broke from the standard protocol of saying either team might win by picking the Socceroos. "I have no doubt about it," he said. "Australia is the strongest team in the tournament. "They play very good and very cool, each player knows exactly what he has to do and (they use) very strict tactics. "So for me, there's no doubt about it, Australia tomorrow will go forward." Australia have never won a major international title before but the expectations, at least in their sports-mad homeland, is that the drought is about to end. Those expectations have only increased after Japan's shock loss to UAE in the quarter-finals eliminated the team that beat Australia at the last two Asian Cups, including the final four years ago. If the Socceroos beat the UAE, they will almost certainly start as favourites against South Korea, even though they lost 1-0 to them in the pool stage. Although he has only just taken over as South Korean coach, Stielike is already aware of the weight of expectation on his team, so he is more than happy to let the Australians carry the added burden of favourites. The German said his team's 1-0 win over Australia counted for nothing because the Socceroos had been without their captain Mile Jedinak and started their attackers on the bench, hoping to save their energy for the knockout phase with the team already qualified. "We will see which Australia it is this time," he said. "Jedinak was injured, (Mathew) Leckie was on the bench, (Tim) Cahill on the bench, (Robbie) Kruse on the bench... it will not be the same Australia. "We will have to work to be the same Korea... and we have to take whatever is coming and to try our best. "We are very realistic that in the first game we didn't play the best Australia." (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)