Socceroos defender Kye Rowles is relishing being back in his home town on the Gold Coast, but his mission is to secure a third-round World Cup qualifier win over Bahrain and put the side on track for the ultimate prize.
Australia are seeking automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup but must finish top two in their group, which includes Saudi Arabia and Japan, two sides they failed to beat in qualification for the last World Cup.
Instead they had to beat United Arab Emirates and Peru in nerve-jangling sudden-death clashes where 26-year-old Rowles was superb. He then played a starring role in the World Cup, where Australia reached the final 16.
Beating Bahrain at Robina on Thursday night, in the first of their third-round clashes, is the first step to targeting a top-two finish and not having to go through sudden-death ordeals.
"It is obviously immense. You want automatic qualifying," Rowles said.
"With those play-off games (in 2022) that was my first insight into that. It was pretty intense and I couldn’t imagine watching it.
"Being involved was different. We believed we could win the games, but from the outside it is probably very stressful.
"If we can take that stress away from everyone involved then I think it is a massive step to moving forward in football in this country."
Australia beat Bahrain 2-0 in a friendly before the Asian Cup in January, but Rowles said they would be no pushovers.
"They will come out full-throttle and it will be a physical game. If we match them in that aspect then I think we have a good chance," he said.
Rowles, who plays for Hearts in the Scottish Premiership, played every minute of the last World Cup, where he thrived on the confidence placed in him by coach Graham Arnold and his teammates.
"They probably had more confidence in me at the time than what I did in myself. That’s the power of the group we have, and it is pretty special," he said.
"Just to know within yourself that you can compete against those kind of players in those big crunch games on the world stage is just amazing."
Rowles, who went to school and played his juniors on the Gold Coast, got a thrill when he was picked up by his former under-13s coach at the airport when he got off the plane from Scotland.
"It was 10 or 12 years since I’d last seen him, so it put a smile on my face," he said.
"I love it here. It is my home town, so I am trying to soak it all in, see family and friends and enjoy the good weather."
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold confirmed Rowles would start against Bahrain.
"It's not often you get that opportunity to play in front of family and friends from where you've come from," Arnold said.
"Kye's done a fantastic job for us over the years."
Arnold also confirmed right back Lewis Miller had been ruled out of the match.
"He's got a bit of a knee issue," the coach said.
"It blew up a little bit on the flight across, so he's out."
