JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia coach Hervé Renard knows the odds of his side snatching a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup away from Australia are slim.
He knows almost all observers expect the Green Falcons to go into the next phase of Asian qualifiers in October.
But the Frenchman also insists that his side has "nothing to lose" in Tuesday's clash and, with local authorities throwing open the gates to ensure packed stands in Jeddah, the Socceroos are taking nothing for granted.
Sitting three points clear of Saudi Arabia heading into the final matchday of the third phase of Asian qualifying, the scenario confronting the Socceroos on the shores of the Red Sea is a simple one: avoid defeat by five goals and join Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan and Japan in punching their tickets to North America.
Given that Tony Popovic's side possesses one of the strongest defences in Asia, conceding just six goals across their nine fixtures, that presents a daunting challenge to the Saudi Arabians.
And that's before one accounts for the hosts, who replaced Italian coach Roberto Mancini with Renard following disappointing results early in the cycle, being the equal second-most profligate side in this phase of Asian qualifying -- scoring only six goals.
"We are really excited about this game," said Renard. "For a lot of people, we are already in the playoffs in October. This, I feel, is what 99% of the people are thinking.
"So we don't have anything to lose.
"We just have to be ready to enjoy it and to satisfy our fans. The first goal is to win this game because winning international games is always important."
Perhaps providing a small boost for the home side is that King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, already one of the most hostile places in Asia to play, is all but guaranteed to be packed to the brim with partisan home support: it announced on social media on earlier in the week that tickets would be offered free of charge for the game.
It was just last month that the impact that this could have was on show when it helped local club Al Ahli defeat Kawasaki Frontale to secure a breakthrough AFC Champions League Elite crown.
But with an elite mindset one of the defining characteristics of Popovic, the Socceroos insist they're up for the challenge.
"The players are aware," Socceroos assistant coach Hayden Foxe told ESPN. "We have a meeting, we talk about it and we know what to expect.
"I don't think they'll be overawed. Throughout the whole campaign, we've had different adversities and different obstacles we've had to overcome.
"We've got a group of players who are calm in these situations and able to handle these moments.
"The players. They're used to it. They're calm. You can see on their faces that they're not overawed by anything with the travel, if it's an away game, if it's hot, if it's windy, if it's cold, if the referees are against us -- that's football.
"These players have been able to adapt and be able to deal with all these different situations."
If something incredible is to happen on Tuesday, the importance of an early goal looms large.
While Renard wouldn't be drawn on its importance in his pre-game press conference, grab a go-ahead goal early and the vocal support for the Saudis will grow exponentially as they urge their side on towards an improbable comeback, heaping pressure on the visitors.
"The longer you know the scores remain 0-0, the [more] motivation that they will lose," said Socceroos defender Jason Geria.
"The opening 15 minutes, if we were to concede a goal, things could get a bit hairy. But our defence has shown over these past few games, especially when we played them the first time, that we're capable of keeping anything out.
"The first 15 minutes, it's going to be the time for them to pile the pressure on us, to make us sort of nervous, make us sweat, and see if they can mentally get ahead of us in the game. We are prepared for that. We're not going there to not lose -- we're going there to win."