Socceroos great John Aloisi is adamant former teammate and current coach Tony Popovic can deliver Australia direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup.
Australia's campaign is precariously placed after the wasteful Socceroos butchered chances to seal three points against Bahrain on Wednesday morning (AEDT) and had to scramble a late goal to snag a 2-2 draw.
Australia (seven points) are outright second in chaotic Group C, nine points behind runaway leaders Japan and a point ahead of Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China.
With four games left: against Indonesia and China in March, then Japan and the Saudis in June, Australia could qualify directly as a top-two team, finish third or fourth and head into a further qualifying stage or be knocked out altogether.
But Aloisi, who noted Bahrain's two goals didn't come from "real chances" and Australia were "totally in control" of that game, was calm.
"In that sense, we're progressing a lot in terms of the way that we look and structurally, the way we are, because we're not conceding many chances against any opposition - not even against Japan," he said.
"And of course, they'll be working on going forward and punishing the opposition - because really, we should have won both games against Saudi and Bahrain so this, I think, is good signs.
"And I think we're in a good position. I know it looks tight, but we're still second.
"We've got two good games coming up in March against Indonesia here, and then China away. So if you're able to get two wins in those games, then I think that we'll qualify.
"So I think they'll be quite happy with the progress."
The Socceroos were wasteful with gilt-edged chances against both the Saudis and Bahrain but former striker Aloisi was confident he was seeing "good signs and good patterns" in attack.
"I don't want to talk too much about it, because it's not my place. But it's not easy," he said.
"Every time they go into camp, they've got a day or two to get things right.
"There's so many things to get across. And probably the first thing they would have wanted to put down in place (is to) get their defensive structure right.
"And once they have a bit more time, they'll work on going forward, and you can see that there's signs there. So hopefully those signs turn into wins very soon."
Western United coach Aloisi backed Popovic to deliver in the clutch final two windows.
"He's very detailed in what he does, so he'll select the right players for the right moments," Aloisi said.
"He's not afraid to make decisions, as you've seen already.
"Everyone's on their toes, so they look physically in good shape and and they're not allowing the opposition too much.
"When you get into these tight games, especially come the end of their campaign, you know that there's one moment that could decide it.
"So if you're not getting up too many opportunities, that one moment could be the one that you benefit from."
