Tim Cahill has indicated the Socceroos and coach Ange Postecoglou produce their best when critics write them off, with the veteran forward insisting he's confident Australia will qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Postecoglou's tactics and his team's results were questioned during last month's international window as a draw against Iraq and a win over United Arab Emirates left the Socceroos outside the automatic qualifying berths in Group B.
With the top two sides in each group set to advance to Russia 2018 when the Asian Football Confederation's third phase of qualifying ends in September, Australia sit third with a three-point gap to Japan and Saudi Arabia.
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The Socceroos have three games left in Group B, including fixtures against the Green Falcons and the Samurai Blue, and Cahill has backed Postecoglou to steer Australia to next year's World Cup.
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Ange Postecoglou, Australia, 2015 Asian Cup
The 37-year-old Melbourne City attacker claimed recent criticism of Postecoglou was similar to when Australia lost all but one of their 11 games in 2014 before claiming an inaugural Asian Cup trophy in 2015.
"Six months before when they said we were going to struggle and we wouldn't even come out of our group, and Ange said that [captain] Mile [Jedinak] would lift the cup and that was a year prior and in the end I was standing on the side thinking about that moment and saying 'it's time to kick on again' and we have kicked on again," Cahill told reporters on Wednesday.
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"Unfortunately the result against Thailand [a 2-2 draw in November] wasn't the best one and now it's about the last three games. So I'm always confident because it's just business.
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Australia, 2015 Asian Cup
"It's all about points and it's also about playing a great style of football."
Postecoglou came under fire last month for switching to a 3-2-4-1 formation for the matches against Iraq and the UAE but he has remained bullish about his attacking philosophy and his side's ability to implement it.
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The former A-League and NSL championship-winning coach continues to call on Australia to start aiming to win World Cups rather than just qualify.
