In 2010 an 18-year-old Tommy Oar made his Socceroos debut and was being touted as a future star.
The midfielder stood alongside Craig Moore unveiling the Socceroos jersey for the South African campaign but never made it on to the plane.
Having made the preliminary squad for the 2010 World Cup, Oar was eventually cut from the final 23 by then coach Pim Verbeek.
Four years on and he’s is a shoo-in for a spot in Brazil and looms as one of the Socceroos’ key players.
He’s spent the last four years playing with Dutch club FC Utrecht alongside former Brisbane Roar teammate Adam Sarota, who was also on Wednesday named in coach Ange Postecoglou’s 30-man squad.
He feels he’s better placed to make the cut this time.
“That was a fantastic moment for me to have the opportunity to go to the last World Cup and be a part of the camp,” he said on Thursday.
“I obviously missed out on final selection but I guess being 18 it was a fantastic experience and I definitely learnt a lot.
“I’m four years older now and I’ve got a bit more experience playing in Europe and hopefully I can use it to my advantage in the next few weeks and try and stake my claim to get into the final 23.”
With Postecoglou tasked with rebuilding the side, the majority of the 30 he named have less than 10 caps and have never been to a World Cup.
Oar, who played a vital role in Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign last year, earned his 13th cap playing in the friendly against Ecuador in March.
Up 3-0 at half-time, a second-half red card and some key substitutions by the South Americans saw the Socceroos unravel, handing Ecuador a 4-3 victory.
But Oar feels what the youthful Australian side showed in the first 45 minutes is encouraging and will only be enhanced by a month in camp before kicking off their World Cup campaign on June 13.
“We’re very inexperienced but I think that will only make everybody more enthusiastic and hopefully that kind of energy can help us perform to our best,” he said.
If you look at the Ecuador game we had the same fairly inexperienced team playing that game and we showed in the first half what we’re capable of and I think with a longer preparation time we can make that even stronger.”
The Socceroos began their training camp in Terrigal, on the NSW central coast, on Thursday in the lead-up to their farewell game against South Africa in Sydney on May 26.
Oar, who played under Postecoglou at Roar and has been part of his two Socceroos camps so far, is expecting the coach to take things up a notch in the current camp.
“I think it will be very intense and very competitive. Everybody is going to be doing everything they can to try and show their worth,” he said.
“Ange, when I’ve worked with him in the past, he’s one that likes hard work.
“If you don’t perform in one training session or game then you can lose your spot but you can make your spot if you do well.
“So I guess that’s the perfect atmosphere to maximize the level.”
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I was just checking the final standings in the Eredivisie and noticed that Utrecht finished a credible 10th (of 18 teams). Those of you who follow the Eredivisie would have noted that in recent years a few teams have been able to challenge the three team stranglehold which goes back about 50 years. Twente was one of these teams that pulled of the impossible by winning the Eredivisie title a four years back, and remained in the running for much of this season, ultimately finishing 3rd, ahead of PSV. As it happens, a couple of months ago Utrecht managed to land a bit of a mortal blow on their title hopes by holding Twente to a draw, and our very own Tommy Oar scored the all-important goal which helped Utrecht out against the odds. Refer: http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/03/02/eredivisie-twente-verliest-bij-utrecht-twee-dure-punten/ " FC Twente heeft op bezoek bij FC Utrecht averij opgelopen in de strijd om de landstitel. De Tukkers speelden in de Galgenwaard met 1-1 gelijk. Utrecht-speler Tommy Oar zette de eindstand na de openingstreffer van Quincy Promes vlak na...." (Twente suffered a setback in its chase for the title away to Utrecht at the Galgenwaard, with a 1:1 draw. Utrecht player, ,Tommy Oar scored the equaliser soon after the opening goal....)
Reginald Bomber
Roar Guru
Oar can be your best or your worst player on any given day. Will be interested to see if AP uses him or not or if he's one of the ones left behind. AP likes to play a bit tighter and use the fullbacks and mids as his attacking weapons. "defence starts with attack" "the whole team is attacking and defending, just depends on who has the ball" I wonder if he'll try and make more defensive use of him and try and turn him into another Carney?
Roger
Guest
I've been following Oar for the last 2 seasons at Utrecht. He's a bit up and down. When he's good, he's on fire. When he's not, there's a lot to be desired. Just ask Utrecht fans.