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Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has named an experienced 23-man squad for Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan which will be held in Bishkek on 16 June.
Much of Australia’s successful Asian Cup squad returns for the encounter, including veterans Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak, who is likely to captain the side.
19 of the players from the successful to Asian Cup campaign feature in the squad. The team will have a one-week training camp in Dubai before travelling to Bishkek for the first leg of the first stage of World Cup qualification.
Postecoglou declared their first up opponents to be an unknown quantity, and said he had gone on a reconnaissance trip to find out more about where and who they would be playing.
Postecoglou declared the 23 players to be the “core of the squad that will take us through to the next World Cup”, leaving the involvement of Cahill very much open.
“This is the start of the next chapter in our journey and we are all excited about what lies ahead over the next two years,” Postecoglou said.
“We’ve been open in our desire to make an impact at the 2018 World Cup but first we need to qualify and that task is immediately in front of us.
“We’ve selected a relatively settled squad made up of the core of players that brought success at the Asian Cup but also the core of players that will take us through to the next World Cup.
“Before we travel to Bishkek for the match against Kyrgyzstan we have a week long camp in Dubai and it is a good opportunity to work hard with the core group of players who have been exposed to international football and the style of football we want to play.
“We’ll work on building a strong base and then over the next two years we can expose more players to the squad as form and fitness warrants selection but those players will come into a settled unit when they get an opportunity.”
“No Australian football team has ever been to Kyrgyzstan so we have done a lot of research, including a reconnaissance trip to Bishkek, to make sure we are well prepared for what will not be an easy task,” Postecoglou said.
“We go to Bishkek with the utmost respect for Kyrgyzstan and we know that we will have to be at our best to get off to a winning start.”
Socceroos squad for FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan
| Name | Club, Country | A International Caps (Goals) |
| Aziz Behich | Bursaspor, Turkey | 10 (2) |
| Oliver Bozanic | FC Luzern, Switzerland | 7 (0) |
| Nathan Burns | Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand | 12 (0) |
| Tim Cahill | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C., China | 82 (39) |
| Jason Davidson | West Bromwich Albion F.C., England | 18 (1) |
| Tarek Elrich | Adelaide United, Australia | 1 (0) |
| Ivan Franjic | Unattached | 19 (0) |
| Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United, Australia | 8 (0) |
| Chris Ikonomidis | S. S. Lazio, Italy | 1 (0) |
| Mile Jedinak | Crystal Palace FC,England | 58 (8) |
| Tomi Juric | Western Sydney Wanderers FC,Australia | 12 (2) |
| Mitchell Langerak (gk) | B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, Germany | 6 (0) |
| Mathew Leckie | FC Ingolstadt 04,Germany | 24 (1) |
| Massimo Luongo | Swindon Town FC,England | 12 (2) |
| Matt McKay | Brisbane Roar, Australia | 55 (2) |
| Mark Milligan | Melbourne Victory FC, Australia | 39 (3) |
| Tommy Oar | FC Utrecht,Netherlands | 22 (1) |
| Mat Ryan (gk) | Club Brugge KV,Belgium | 20 (0) |
| Trent Sainsbury | P.E.C. Zwolle,Netherlands | 11 (1) |
| Matthew Spiranovic | Western Sydney Wanderers FC,Australia | 26 (0) |
| James Troisi | S.V. Zulte Waregem, Belgium | 23 (4) |
| Alex Wilkinson | Jeonbuk Hyundai FC, Korea Republic | 14 (0) |
| Bailey Wright | Preston North End FC, England | 3 (1) |
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