ANGE Postecoglou has revealed the area where football in Australia is lagging behind Japan ahead of the World Cup qualifier at Etihad Stadium.

The Socceroos coach believes that while the A-League is growing, the J-League is the most competitive league in the region due to their youth development.

“My view is that the J-League is the strongest league in the region,” said Postecoglou.

“Our A-League is growing but in youth development we’re quite a bit behind Japan.

“The benchmark is to hopefully grow it [A-League] to be as strong as the youth development programs Japan has.”

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Ange Postecoglou. Source: News Corp Australia

However, according to Postecoglou, the same doesn’t apply when it comes to the national teams.

“We recognise the strength of Japanese football and its growth, but at the national team level we compete pretty close,” said Postecoglou.

“We’ve had a lot of close matches. It started in 2006 at the World Cup.

“We haven’t won [beaten Japan] in a while but neither have they [beaten Australia].”

Australia’s coach also outlined how the Socceroos will approach the match.

“Japan has a clear structure. We know how they play,” said Postecoglou.

“They have some key players in good leagues but even their J-League players are great.

“We’re not singling one or two players out. We’re going to stop them as a team.

“I think you’ll see a high quality game and a game that’s going to impress the supporters.”