Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou says players who choose not to take part in stage one of Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign will risk being overlooked for blockbuster clashes down the track.
The Socceroos are expected to have little trouble disposing of Asian minnows Jordan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Bangladesh during the first part of their World Cup qualifying campaign.
But Postecoglou will demand all hands on deck for the matches, meaning Australia’s best talent from around the world will be expected to front up when needed.
Postecoglou says the days of old when Socceroos stars could pick and choose which matches they wanted to play were well and truly over.
“There wouldn’t be a player who wouldn’t walk here if I asked them to,” Postecoglou said in Perth on Thursday.
“This is playing for your country in a World Cup game at home. Getting releases for players is the last thing on my mind.
“The players feel like we’re on a good path and some good times are just around the corner, and they don’t want to miss out.
“The ones who weren’t in the Asian Cup squad I’m sure they would have been watching it on tele or in the stadium thinking they want to be a part of that next time.
“To do that, you have to put your hand up every time we play. The players have been fantastic so far.”
Australia are the only team in their group ranked inside the top 100.
Jordan is the next highest at 103, with Tajikistan at 143 and Bangladesh way back in 167th.
Nevertheless, Postecoglou has vowed to unleash full-strength sides against the Asian minnows.
“These games will be used to put our strongest teams out there, and make sure we win and play well and keep progressing our football,” Postecoglou said.
“We’ll get opportunities to keep broadening our base, but we won’t experiment too much in these games.
“As Asian Champions we have our own standards we want to maintain and improve.
“These are serious games because qualification for the World Cup is at stake.
“We won’t compromise on making sure we put our best team out there every time we play in these games.”
The Socceroos kick off their campaign in Kyrgyzstan on June 16, before taking on Bangladesh in Perth on September 3.
Postecoglou admits his team have plenty of work to do on the logistics front.
“Some people got some geography lessons last night, found out some countries they probably didn’t think existed,” Postecoglou said with a smile.
“But I’d much rather this format than playing endless friendlies.”
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…
