V-Day looms for Socceroos and Verbeek
By Liam FitzGibbon, 27 May 2009 Liam FitzGibbon is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- football, Mark Viduka, Pim Verbeek, Socceroos
Mark Viduka’s clouded football future will be brought into focus when Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek names his squad for Australia’s three remaining World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old former Socceroos captain is out of contract after his English club Newcastle was relegated from the Premier League on Sunday, casting doubts over his future for both club and country.
Verbeek planned to speak with Viduka before making a late call on whether to include him in his extended squad for the matches against Qatar (Doha, June 7), Bahrain (Sydney, June 10) and Japan (Melbourne, June 17), in which Australia need only a point to secure qualification.
The Dutchman has hinted he will only pick the Melbourne-born striker if he is committed to playing next season and on to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Viduka is understood to be keen to play at another World Cup but has to weigh up whether his injury-prone body can handle another season.
If he does opt to play on, remaining at Newcastle in England’s second tier is a highly-unlikely option.
That means he could use the June World Cup qualifiers as an opportunity to shop himself to potential suitors if he wishes to remain in Europe, just as Harry Kewell did last year before a big money move to Galatasaray.
Alternatively Viduka could look at options in the A-League, Middle East or Croatia, where his European career started, should he want to play on but, regardless, Verbeek is likely to need a serious commitment from him.
Non-selection in Wednesday’s squad would indicate Viduka is seriously considering hanging up his boots after a stunning senior career spanning almost 17 years, a possibility Verbeek mentioned recently.
The decision looms as Verbeek’s biggest question mark in what is set to be an extended squad of more than 35 players for the three matches.
Star midfielder Tim Cahill will be named in the squad, despite being likely to be rested against Qatar after he plays for Everton in Sunday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea.
All the big names, including Mark Schwarzer, Harry Kewell and Mark Bresciano, will be named for the qualification party while Verbeek has been monitoring a host of fringe players over the past few months throughout Europe, Asia and the A-League.
Promising Middlesbrough defender Rhys Williams is likely to get his first Socceroos call-up after choosing to commit to Australia over Wales recently, while Nick Carle may have finally convinced Verbeek he’s worthy of a call-up after a solid season with Crystal Palace.
Regulars Brett Emerton and Craig Moore will play no part in the June matches due to injury.
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Pippinu said | May 27th 2009 @ 9:45am | Report comment
From where I sit, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Dukes looks up to another WC campaign, meaning he would be taking up a spot in the squad unnecessarily.
I add one proviso – if Pim thought it worthwhile to have an experienced back-up (he can no longer be seen as the primary centre-forward he has been for a decade).
The truth is that both Josh and Scotty can’t play as lone forwards, and someone with the potential to do so, like Djite, is still quite young and inexperienced. The other truth is that you are rarely going to see two strikers on the field at the same time wearing a gold shirt in South Africa.
That’s Pim’s conundrum.
This would be going through Pim’s mind, if he continues to court Dukes, it’s because he sees him as a form of insurance (which is fair enough).
whiskeymac said | May 27th 2009 @ 2:38pm | Report comment
good points pip,
On the other hand Pim must be getting used to not working with Viduka. It’s abit of a dilemma, and the fact he affords him every opportunity shows how keen he is for the bigman to play for the roos again. When fit he still has potential match winning performaces, as as seen in Newcastle’s vain attempts at staying up, but ultimatley maybe he is just too much of a luxury. Taking suspect (fitness only applies to him here) players to such an important event is a gamble that backfires all too often (Roanldo in 98 final immediately comes to mind). There arent many alternatives. kennedy doesnt get games, and am unsure if outside of Asia whether he would be as effective. i keep hoping Scott Mac will provide club form at internationals but as time goes on it looks less likely he will, whereas Djite will have had 2 seasons in Europe by the time South Africa rolls around – a few more internationals here and there and he could be a valued squad player/ sub. Any bolters out there – now is a good time to step up. Mooy? Danning? …Simon? ( sorry, can’t resist an illfated CCM plug)
i am interested in seeing Williams play, and hope some others get a look in (Troisi and Vidosic for example) during ‘super’ june.
Pippinu said | May 27th 2009 @ 2:50pm | Report comment
whiskey
some interesting names there, but it underscores why Pim will leave the Dukes option open right up to the 11th hour.
Just like our central defender opening, and our likely left back opening – now is the time to resolve them (or at least try a few different things).
whiskeymac said | May 27th 2009 @ 3:07pm | Report comment
I agree – it is a testament to how good a player Viduka is, and how thin the stocks are at the moment. Although we might have run out of time for someone to effectively slot into the same role, especially as you note considering we wont be playing 2 up front, i am hopeful an adequate player solution is found. Dukes importance wasnt so much goals but holding play up and creating – so if this aspect cannot be adequately recreated by Djite or Kennedy maybe, and noting your observations above, a new formation/ approach would be needed? the secretive plan B to light up super june!
fatboi said | May 27th 2009 @ 5:52pm | Report comment
great to see NICKY CARLE getting his much-deserved call up into the national team squad. WE NEED YOU NICKY COME ON SON!!
Kazama said | May 27th 2009 @ 7:19pm | Report comment
No Dukes, but Adrian Madaschi gets a recall! Perhaps Pim discovered the long-forgotten defender thanks to a comment I made here: http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/03/05/thus-begins-the-a-league-transfer-merry-go-round
Midfielder said | May 27th 2009 @ 8:16pm | Report comment
The squad plus a spot left open for Dukes.
SOCCEROOS SQUAD: Mark Bresciano (Palermo), Jacob Burns (Unirea), Tim Cahill (Everton), Nick Carle (Crystal Palace), David Carney (Sheffield Utd), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), Chris Coyne (Colchester), Jason Culina (Gold Coast Utd), Bruce Djite (Genclerbirligi), Richard Garcia (Hull), Vince Grella (Blackburn), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar), Mile Jedinak (Genclerbirligi), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough), Josh Kennedy (Karlsruhe), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Adrian Madaschi (Portogruaro), Scott McDonald (Celtic), Mark Milligan (Shanghai Shenhua), Lucas Neill (West Ham), Jade North (Incheon), Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Matthew Spiranovic (Nurnberg), Shane Stefanutto (Lyn Oslo), Mile Sterjovski (Derby), Carl Valeri (Grosseto), Dario Vidosic (Nurnberg), Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow), Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough).
whiskeymac said | May 28th 2009 @ 8:38am | Report comment
shouldnt that be Jacob Burns (Peth Glory)… crikey thats 2 aleague players in the squad, or dont they cout having not yet appeared for their new clubs…=)
good to see some new faces, and some that should be tried out again. let’s hope the newernames actually get a game and arent just there to train against.
whiskeymac said | May 28th 2009 @ 9:53am | Report comment
Adrian Madaschi . At 26 and in the serie c in italy – the hope is of finding another wilkshire like bolter i guess. with wilkshire however he made the move to holland and first team action and developed accordingly, is Madaschi lining upa move to a better team/league?it seems a bit strange that at international level we have representative players in such low divisions (Coyne etc) on the other hand it’s good that Pim seems to be casting his eye again over a few more players.
I sincerely hope Williams and Spiranovic get the nod. their age and experience suggests they are better positioned (no pun) to be the cornerstone for future defensive combinations than older players.