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New Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou today unveiled a 22-player squad for his first match in charge of the national side, for an international friendly match against Costa Rica.
The real bolter of the squad is Korean-based defender Alex Wilkinson, who receives his first call-up to the Socceroos squad after an impressive season with Jeonbuk Hyundai in the K-League.
Defenders Luke Wilkshire and Sasa Ognenovski have been cut from the squad.
The 22-man squad contains four A-League players, Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar), Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar), Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory) and Michael Zullo (Adelaide United).
Ryan McGowan returns to the Socceroos squad after missing the previous matches against France and Canada as does Tom Rogic, who was ruled out of last month’s matches due to injury.
“I’m excited by the squad we have named to face Costa Rica on November 19 at Allianz Stadium and look forward to working with the players and staff when they come into camp early next week,” Postecoglou said.
“The first task is to have a good look at the bulk of the players who played a significant part in qualifying Australia for the 2014 World Cup and also giving opportunities to players I think have the ability to improve the team.
“I want to give every Australian player the best opportunity to stake a claim for Brazil and beyond.”
The announcement of the squad has been tempered by the fact that Australia’s greatest ever goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer last night retired from international football, after he was originally selected in the squad.
Schwarzer retires as the most capped Socceroo player in history, representing Australia with pride in 109 appearances for the National Team, which included two FIFA World Cups.
Postecoglou paid tribute to Schwarzer: “Mark has been a tremendous servant for the national team. He is our most capped Socceroo, has been one of our best performers over a long period of time and he has always remained passionate about playing for Australia. I know the Australian football community will join me in paying tribute to Mark for everything he’s done for the Socceroos.”
This will be the first senior men’s international match between Australia and Costa Rica.
Costa Rica, ranked 31st, have also qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup after finishing in second in CONCACAF.
Socceroos Squad for Costa Rica International Friendly – 19 November 2013
| Player | Club, Country | Caps (goals) |
| Oliver BOZANIC | FC Luzern, SWITZERLAND | 1 (0) |
| Mark BRESCIANO | Al Gharafa, QATAR | 72 (13) |
| Tim CAHILL | New York Red Bulls, USA | 65 (28) |
| Jason DAVIDSON | SC Heracles Almelo, NETHERLANDS | 3 (0) |
| Ivan FRANJIC | Brisbane Roar, AUSTRALIA | 5 (0) |
| James HOLLAND | FK Austria Vienna, AUSTRIA | 12 (0) |
| Mile JEDINAK | Crystal Palace FC, ENGLAND | 41 (3) |
| Josh KENNEDY | Nagoya Grampus, JAPAN | 34 (17) |
| Robbie KRUSE | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, GERMANY | 28 (3) |
| Mitchell LANGERAK (gk) | B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, GERMANY | 2 (0) |
| Matthew LECKIE | FSV Frankfurt 1899, GERMANY | 4 (1) |
| Ryan McGOWAN | Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, CHINA PR | 7 (0) |
| Matthew McKAY | Brisbane Roar, AUSTRALIA | 44 (1) |
| Mark MILLIGAN | Melbourne Victory, AUSTRALIA | 25 (2) |
| Lucas NEILL | Omiya Ardija, JAPAN | 95 (1) |
| Tommy OAR | FC Utrecht, NETHERLANDS | 11 (1) |
| Tom ROGIC | Celtic FC, SCOTLAND | 7 (0) |
| Mat RYAN (gk) | Club Brugge KV, BELGIUM | 3 (0) |
| Dario VIDOSIC | FC Sion, SWITZERLAND | 18 (1) |
| Rhys WILLIAMS | Middlesbrough FC, ENGLAND | 13 (0) |
| Alex WILKINSON | Jeonbuk Hyundai FC, KOREA REPUBLIC | – |
| Michael ZULLO | Adelaide United, AUSTRALIA | 10 (0) |
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