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The tough matches keep coming for Ange Postecoglous Socceroos, pitted against world champions Germany and 2014 World Cup nemesis Chile in the draw for the 2017 Confederations Cup on Sunday morning (AEDT). China Jerseys Wholesale .The two strongest teams in the World Cup lead-in tournament await the Socceroos in Russia next year, with an as-yet-unknown African side making up Australias four-team group.With the possible exception of Mexico - which will play off in group A with hosts Russia, Portugal and New Zealand - its the toughest possible draw for Postecoglous men.Not that the national team coach is bothered.Its exciting, Postecoglou said from Russia, where he attended the draw in Kazan on Sunday morning (AEDT).Both Chile and Germany are at least as strong, if not stronger than they were three years ago.Both ranked inside the top five in the world. It gives you a great opportunity to measure yourself against that.Australia has recent experience with both of its confirmed opponents.The Socceroos earned a 2-2 draw with Germany in March last year in Kaiserslautern.The two nations will open their Confederations Cup campaign on June 19 in Sochi, the host city of the last Winter Olympics.Australia will then face the African champions - to be decided in February - on June 22 in Saint Petersburg, before finishing their group stage matches on June 25 in Moscow against Chile.The South Americans were one of the opponents in Australias last World Cup campaign, defeating the Socceroos 3-1.Australia was also beaten by eventual third-placed finishers the Netherlands and world champions Spain in the toughest group of the tournament.Postecoglou said history with world No.3 Germany and world No.4 Chile didnt make his task any easier, but would boost his players as they shoot for the 2018 World Cup.It gives you a measuring stick as to where youre at, he said.For a lot of these players weve had together these last three years they will have been through a World Cup, an Asian Cup and now a Confederations Cup.Its a great way to really get a strong foundation in terms of their international careers.Australia will play at least five games - and up to seven should they progress from the group - during a busy June.A home World Cup qualifier with Saudi Arabia on June 8 will provide a Confederations Cup sendoff with Postecoglou looking to add another friendly.Well have at least a couple weeks with the players (before the Germany game) which is great for us leading into a major tournament, he said.Well look to play at least one more preparation game after the Saudi game knowing weve got that 10-day window.Minnows New Zealand, the Oceania champions, will play off in the tournament opener against the hosts on June 17.THE SOCCEROOS DRAW AT THE 2017 CONFEDERATIONS CUP19 June - Australia v Germany - Sochi22 June - Australia v African champions - Saint Petersburg25 June - Australia v Chile - Moscow28/29 June - Possible semi-final - Kazan/Sochi2 July - Possible final/third-place playoff - Moscow/Saint Petersburg* All kick-off times are 6pm local (1am AEDT the following day).THE SOCCEROOS HISTORY IN THE CONFEDERATIONS CUP* 1997 Runners-up - defeated 6-0 by Brazil in the final* 2001 Third place - defeated 1-0 by Japan in the semi-final, then beat Brazil 1-0 in the third-place playoff* 2005 Group stage exit - defeated in all three group stage games, losing 4-3 to Germany, 4-2 to Argentina and 2-0 to Tunisia. 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When Virat Kohli announced at the toss in St Lucia that India were making three changes to their side, and that one person widely expected to step back into the side, M Vijay, was not doing so, your mind went back to Sydney, to his first Test as captain after MS Dhonis retirement.India made four changes on that occasion. One, Wriddhiman Saha replacing Dhoni, was a forced change. The other three were, to varying degrees, unexpected. Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma went out of the side, and in their places came Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. There was even a surprise retention. KL Rahul, who had made the most nervous of debuts in Melbourne, scoring 3 and 1, kept his place.It felt like what it was: a step into a new era, of a captain willing to make wholesale changes to his side, based on a mix of form, conditions, and gut feel. At the end of the St Lucia Test, Kohli elaborated on this willingness.Usually if you see very few people like change, he said. This team doesnt think how others would react or what they might say. We put out a combination thats best according to the pitch. When I came at No. 3 many people asked why I did it. But I am not fixated by my batting spot. If the team needs, I can open the batting too because thats the rule applicable to everyone in the team.Its not as if I will stay at No. 4 and others will shuffle their positions. To field a player like Rohit Sharma we had to make him bat at No. 5. To make that happen the other players will go one place up the order. Thats what we did. In bowling we replaced Umesh [Yadav] with Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar] because we felt that since the ground is so good it would be easier to maintain the shine on the ball. The pitch was also hard, so there was carry.Bhuvi gave us the results, gave us breakthroughs with the second new ball. If you make three changes you might feel that it might to be too strong a reaction. But we realised that if we have to seal the series here then we had to make changes according to the conditions. We will not wait for another match because you never know if you play one or two bad sessions the series could be levelled. Our idea was that we have to seal the series here.The St Lucia result, a win by 237 runs despite rain washing out an entire days play, may suggest Indias changes worked a treat, but it wouldnt be wholly accurate to say so. China Jerseys Cheap. The changes to the bowling attack seemed sound from the outset, and proved to be so. Bhuvneshwar was possibly unfortunate to miss out on the Man of the Match award after bowling the match-turning spell on Friday. Ravindra Jadeja gave India more control than Amit Mishra had done as a second spinner while also revealing a new side to his bowling: both his dismissal of Roston Chase in the first innings and Jermaine Blackwood in the second came from slow, flighted balls that invited drives outside off stump.But the inclusion of Rohit, the promotions of Kohli and Rahane, and the absences of both Vijay and Pujara seemed too much of a shake-up when there was little wrong with the top order in the first place, and all that shuffling only seemed to compromise its solidity. It cannot be forgotten in the afterglow of victory that India were 126 for 5 on the first day of the match.Equally, it would be silly to extrapolate from one performance and say Indias current top five cannot settle into a solid, all-weather unit. At the post-match presentation, Kohli suggested that India might continue with their rejigged batting order for now, and that Rohit might need a substantial run of games to find his feet as a Test cricketer.We made three changes and we understood Rohit needs to be backed at a particular position, he said. I batted at No. 3, Jinks [Rahane] at No. 4. Rohit is dangerous at No. 5. That means I take up the extra responsibility at No. 3. I dont mind that and someone like [R] Ashwin is batting well [at No. 6]. And we can play five bowlers.In saying Rohit needed to be backed in a particular position, Kohli reinforced an essential truth of Test cricket, that horses-for-courses selections are generally limited to changes in the bowling attack. Its only in bowling that one style is dangerous in one set of conditions and less so in another. Batsmen need a certain amount of stability, and perhaps batting line-ups too. India, who have fielded three different top threes in three Tests, have not had that through this series. A combination of form, circumstance, and gut feel has given Kohli a top five he seems to like. Whether it can live up to the belief he has in it remains to be seen. ' ' '