Ange Postecoglou has named a 25-man squad that will seal Australia’s World Cup qualifying fate, and with it his legacy as Socceroos coach.
Returning skipper Mile Jedinak headlines three inclusions for next month’s World Cup qualifying playoff with Honduras.
The 33-year-old’s weekend runout with club Aston Villa was enough to earn him a seat on the plane to Central America, the last away trip on the road to Russia.
More FIFA World Cup
» World Cup news
» World Cup fixtures
» World Cup squads
» How to live stream the World Cup
» Australian World Cup TV guide
» World Cup history
Jedinak is joined by Jimmy Jeggo and Alex Gersbach in the squad, which has been extended by two players to cover for the absence of Mark Milligan and Mathew Leckie.
Milligan and Leckie are suspended for the first leg, but will join the squad for the home tie in Sydney four days later.
Both Bailey Wright and Ryan McGowan – a late inclusion for Wright after the first leg of the Syria playoff – are also included.
Postecoglou has the option to cut his 25-man squad by two after the away leg, or to bring his entire group to Sydney and make a late call on availability.
Australia can only name a bench of 12.
Mustafa Amini and injured defender Brad Smith are the only players called up for the Asian playoff success over Syria who won’t be involved in this camp.
The five players trimmed from the 30-man squad named recently are goalkeeper Mark Birighitti, midfielder Amini and attacking trio Jamie Maclaren, Awer Mabil and Ajdin Hrustic.
Postecoglou said the extended squad was necessary due to the taxing inter-continental travel that lay ahead.
“It has been pleasing to see so many of our players performing strongly for their clubs domestically and abroad, and I believe that puts us in good stead for our upcoming play-off matches,” he said.
“With two games in five days and extensive travel between the fixtures, every member of our squad will play an important role this November.”
The squad will begin to arrive in San Pedro Sula on Sunday, November 5 ahead of the match on Friday, November 10.
Goalkeepers: Mitchell Langerak (Levante, Spain), Mat Ryan (Brighton, England), Danny Vukovic (Genk, Belgium).
Defenders: Aziz Behich (Bursaspor, Turkey), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F Marinos, Japan), Alex Gersbach (Rosenborg, Norway), Matthew Jurman (Suwon, South Korea), Ryan McGowan (Al Sharjah, UAE), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney), Trent Sainsbury (Jiangsu Suning, China), Bailey Wright (Bristol City, England).
Midfielders: Craig Goodwin (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), Jackson Irvine (Hull City, England), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa, England), James Jeggo (Sturm Graz, Austria), Massimo Luongo (QPR, England), Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory)*, Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town, England), Tom Rogic (Celtic, Scotland), James Troisi (Melbourne Victory)
Attackers: Tim Cahill (Melbourne City), Tomi Juric (Luzern, Switzerland), Robbie Kruse (Bochum, Germany), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin, Germany)*, Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa, Israel).
* Milligan and Leckie are suspended for the away leg.
World Cup qualifying playoff details
Away leg: Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Kick-off: Friday 10 November, 4pm local (Saturday 11 November, 9am AEDT)
Home leg: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: Wednesday 15 November, 8pm local/AEDT
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…
