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Should more A-League players be called for Socceroos?

Roar Rookie
26th June, 2010
6

Australia has seen its World Cup end in a resounding roar, cheer and a few tears. Our squads average age is 31.5 years old and it’s time for a new coach to start a new era for the Socceroos.

The A-League is Australia’s professional competition and is the future for producing future Socceroos, however overseas players have been far more preferred over our domestic boys and I think fans need to understand why.

There are a number of arguments for and against and many precedents that have been set to argue both ways in regards to the quality of the A-League. New Zealand has shown that A-League boys are more than capable of holding their own in a World Cup. However losses to Kuwait and an unconvincing display against Indonesia for the Socceroos with local based players showed that the A-League has a long way to go.

The reason why the A–League players are stubbed for their European friends is very simple.

People forget the days Mile Jedinak, Dario Vidosic, etc graced our league and were considered our ‘best’ players. People would cry and complain that these players should be on the national team, and now they are and are better than before and just because they aren’t playing in the A-League anymore doesn’t mean they don’t represent the A-League.

Just because Tommy Ora is in Holland now doesn’t mean he isn’t a product of the A-League. The best of the A-League go overseas for more money and to further their career which ultimately makes them better players. Why would the national team coach select players in the A-League when the best A-League players are now in Europe? This is a proactive approach to player selection, however it seems to be working for us and I personally don’t want it to change.

These players were the best of the A-League, and just because they are not technically in the A-League any more doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be selected ahead of domestic based players when FIFA allows them to be of course.

However, I do believe there needs to be a shift in the type of player selected that is based overseas. It is unfair for one player to be expected to be get game time in the Bundesliga or J-League were someone who gets time in the J2-league is selected over them.

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That is why European based players should be selected, which players should be selected is a different story and will be discussed in a future article.

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