With six locally-based players selected for the Socceroos game against Paraguay this Saturday, it is an ideal team for these players to both press their claims for the Asian Cup and prove the wider worth of the A-League.
Jason Culina, Eugene Galekovic, Matt McKay, Michael Thwaite, Alex Brosque and Jade North have all been picked, and let’s hope they get a chance to show their wares on Saturday. The selection of Culina, Galekovic and North was unsurprising, considering all three went to South Africa and have done well for the national team.
But it’s the selection of McKay, Thwaite and Brosque that is encouraging, and you would probably throw Matthew Leckie and Nicky Carle into that mix as well if Leckie wasn’t with the Young Socceroos and Carle wasn’t injuried.
Leckie has been the revelation of the A-League season so far, so it’s a shame he hasn’t made it, but age is on his side and his time will come. Carle can also add some much-needed attacking thrust to the Socceroos when available, but this will fall to his Sydney FC teammate Alex Brosque.
Since bursting into the NSL as an 18-year old with Marconi, Brosque has always been tipped for big things. He didn’t quite make it in Europe, spending time in Holland and Belgium, but he has done well in the A-League and consistently been one of the best players in the competition. His selection is a just reward and let’s hope he takes his chance.
A second chance has also come to Michael Thwaite, who hasn’t been seen in Socceroos colours for three years. After a few years in Romania and Poland, and two seasons back with Gold Coast in the A-League, Thwaite has made it back into the national team. He has been a rock at the back for the Gold Coast, and at just 27 he is ideally placed to press his claim for the open central defender position alongside Lucas Neill. He should get his chance to start with Jon McKain in defence.
Matt McKay is another player well who deserves his selection, as week-in-week-out he performs in the A-League. He has been at the heart of the Roar’s success and like Thwaite is only 27, the right age to press for more caps with the Socceroos.
I hope Brosque, Thwaite and McKay get some game time, considering this is a friendly and the abilities of some of the European-based players who have been mainstays in the national team for a long time are well known.
The result in the game is immaterial and Paraguay are far from easy opponents, but Osieck needs to use this game to try players and get the Socceroos playing entertaining football. Throw some caution to the wind and rain the shots on goal.
This is a key weekend for Australian football, considering the much-anticipated first-ever Melbourne derby is the night before. If he can do that it will not only boost the current profile of the A-League but wider football across the country, which it really needs.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
