While the A-League season in just one round old, Socceroos chief Ange Postecoglou has seen enough quality to convince him to include a number of home-based players for the upcoming Asian Cup. With the Socceroos currently in the Middle East for friendly games against the UAE and Qatar, Postecoglou has been forced to keep abreast of the start of the A-League season from afar. Despite not being in Australia, the national team head coach has been able to watch all five first round games and was impressed with what he saw from the start of a new A-League campaign that thrilled fans who bet with bet365.
Postecoglou has made it clear he wants to continue expanding Australia’s talent pool before January’s Asian Cup, insisting there is still plenty of chances for domestic-based players to prove they should be part of his squad. A team made up mainly of overseas-based players could only draw 0-0 with the UAE, but it does appear as though there will be a number of changes made to this group by the time Postecoglou names his Asian Cup squad with the Socceroos boss revealing more A-League based players could break into the team.
“I think you’ll find more and more of the national team players will come from our domestic competition. I haven’t realistically considered a lot of A-League players so far because the one sort of negative we have is such a long off-season. Now that’s up and running again, I expect there’ll be half a dozen players making a push for the Asian Cup, which is great,” said Postecoglou.
Sydney FC’s Bernie Ibini, Western Sydney’s Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Melbourne Victory’s Mark Milligan were all included in the Socceroos squad for the two games in the Middle East, and Postecoglou’s insistence that more A-League players could be in the frame for selection for Australia’s next friendly against Japan in late November.
The game in Japan will be Postecoglou’s final chance to see his squad before naming the 23 players that will form Australia’s Asian Cup squad, and it’ll be interesting to see just what the ratio is of overseas-based and home-based players is. After such a long time of depending on European-based players to add quality to the Socceroos side, the growth and improvement of the A-League in recent years has led to a definite shift in focus in where Australia source their players.
One player who won’t be lining up against Japan next month will be Tommy Rogic. The midfielder’s long-running injury problems have flared up again, with the 21-year old now ruled out of the Socceroos’ Asian Cup campaign after undergoing surgery on a groin injury. Since making the move from Central Coast Mariners to Scottish club Celtic, Rogic has been beset by fitness problems, missing out on this year’s World Cup in Brazil with a groin injury. While Rogic will be disappointed to have missed out on another major tournament for his country, his absence could open the door for another youngster to break through and make his mark in the Socceroos team.
