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Socceroos captain Maty Ryan expects Australia to deliver the 'game of their lives' in the must-win World Cup play-off against the UAE on Tuesday.
Socceroos captain Maty Ryan has issued a pre-World Cup play-off rallying call, saying he and his teammates are primed to produce the "game of their lives" against the United Arab Emirates.
Australia are just two days away from the do-or-die clash with the Emiratis in Doha, Qatar.
A win in Tuesday's (Wednesday 0400 AEST) game would send Australia into another play-off against South America's Peru for a spot in November's World Cup, and it's a match Ryan is clearly desperate to reach.
"We're under no illusion that this is going to require the game of our lives in order to progress," Ryan told AAP.
"That's what we've been working hard in order to deliver.
"We've got two days to hone in on some aspects and some details so come Tuesday evening here ... we'll be ready to give the best performance we've ever given as a national team."
Ryan is a veteran of two World Cup campaigns, including coming through the play-off route to reach the 2018 tournament in Russia, when Australia had to overcome Syria and then Honduras in two-legged, home-and-away ties.
The 30-year-old goalkeeper says the sudden death nature of the upcoming play-off fixtures doesn't faze him and is just another hurdle to be cleared in a campaign which has straddled the global COVID-19 pandemic.
"Throughout the campaign, there's little defining moments, that take you on the path that you go down and unfortunately, it hasn't been a direct route for us but in terms of myself and qualifying for the World Cup, the only route I know is through the play-offs," he said.
"In this industry, in life, the things that give you the most satisfaction when achieving them are the things that you've had to earn in order to achieve.
"World Cup qualification is exactly that and so it should be ... it's the pinnacle quality in world football and we're doing all that we can to get there again.
"It's not an option for us to be missing out on a World Cup."