Most football enthusiasts reading over Ange Postecoglou’s newly unveiled 46-man Socceroos squad would have realised that Asia’s most valuable player was not included in the provisional squad.
Western Sydney Wanderer’s custodian Ante Covic, fresh from winning the Asian Champions League against Al-Hilal, was surprisingly overlooked for the upcoming Asian Cup in January.
Five goalkeepers were selected for the squad – Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United), Adam Federici (Reading), Mat Ryan (Club Brugge), Mitch Langerak (Borussia Dortmund) and perhaps the most shocking, Brad Jones of Liverpool.
Ange’s philosophy of choosing players based on form has been completely thrown out the window with this one. Since joining Liverpool in 2010, Jones has made a mere eight Premier League appearances for the English football giants and at the age of 32, is closer to the end of his career than the start.
Pulling splinters out of his bum over the past five seasons has become a regular occurrence for Jones, who was even caught getting 40 winks on the weekend against Crystal Palace behind manager Brendan Rodgers.
The evergreen Covic has been in superb touch since joining the Wanderers after being released by Melbourne Victory three seasons ago. Covic’s resume is far more convincing than his English counterpart having won the A-League premiership, AFC Champions Legue, A-League goalkeeper of the year and AFC most valuable player in the past two season alone.
At 39 he is hardly a spring chicken but provides much needed leadership in the otherwise youthful Socceroos setup begging for a commanding, experienced leader like Covic. Not to take anything away from Mat Ryan, who’s form for both club and country has been exceptional, but for the upcoming Asian Cup, Covic would be a smart selection at least on the bench for the struggling national team.
Fox Sports analyst Mark Bosnich has even accused Postecoglou of hypocrisy by not considering the best keeper in Australia, who with only two Socceroos caps to his name has been greatly overlooked for tournaments past and present.
Covic’s superb record in Asia throughout the Champions League would have had all teams wary for the upcoming Asian Cup.
The message appears to be: if you’re an Australian goalkeeper, go to Liverpool. Warming the bench there enhances your selection prospect more than helping your team win the ACL final.
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