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) |
BigAl
Guest
I believe there's one just recently set up in England.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Don't forget the Tajiks! If you really want to annoy the Chinese your 'Turk' could refer to East Turkistan as opposed to Turkmenistan. Then there's dear old Kurdistan, a country in all but name. Balochistan seems to exude independence vibes from time to time. Plenty of 'stans' for the intrepid traveller to explore!
langou
Roar Guru
There are no shortage of Stans. Kaz, Pak, Kryg, Turk, Uzbek, Afghan
dad
Guest
That's a bit harsh. I've lived and worked on 3 continents and visited two dozen countries. I just never heard of Krygystan. I'm sure I know a few things that you don't ;)
LordBrucie
Guest
Precisely fussy - you merely cement my point. If the mighty Germany don't rest their players for WCQs then the socceroos wouldn't dream of resting players given the average players at Angie's disposal!
AZ_RBB
Guest
Shouldn't Juric be unattached as well? Or is he still technically a Wanderer til 30 June?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"I suspect you may have got the socceroos confused with Germany!" Germany are World Champions. They recently played a 2016 Euro Qualifier at home against Gibralter. Gibralter are the lowest possible ranking in International Football - they do not even have a Fifa Ranking. The German Starting XI included: Neuer, Boateng, Khedira, Kroos, Gotze, Muller & Podolski. So, the No1 nation on earth played its best XI even though it was playing the lowest ranked nation on earth.
BigAl
Guest
True words, from The Roar's resident . . . educateder.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Friendlies are there for picking a few fringe players and seeing how they go, but for the games that matter, even against low-ranked opposition, you pick the best available team. When the young up-and-coming players earn their spot in the top side they will get a game in an actual qualifier, until then, they need to keep working on their game, and use the odd friendly where they might get a shot to try and show Ange what they've got.
LordBrucie
Guest
The socceroos would never rest their 'top' players in a World Cup qualifier and nor should they. They don't have the playing stock to rest players in important games anyway! Learn the difference between an irrelevant friendly and a proper World Cup qualifier. I suspect you may have got the socceroos confused with Germany!
c
Guest
ange has executed well to date and i would expect this to continue
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
That probably says more about you, than it does about Kyrgyzstan. Read the news & educated yourself. There's a big world outside Strayia.
dad
Guest
Kyrgyzstan? Never heard of it, LOL.
Bondy
Guest
Ange has got us looking forward to watching the National Team again, great ...
Ben
Guest
Nope i disagree, we should be going into this game with our best team. Nothing more than a first place finish in this group will be a pass mark IMO. Don't take these "lower" asian sides lightly.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
I'm sure the Kyrgyz feel respected and honoured by us putting our A-Team up first and we trust their home ground will be packed to the rafters for the occasion as a result - a win-win for everyone concerned :-)
Lionheart
Guest
Bishkek will be a challenge. They'll need the best team they can muster if they want to avoid dropping any matches at this stage. Good luck to them all.
Jack
Guest
I think this is a very good squad, I think taking a weak development squad to opening matxh of wc qualifiers would 1. Be complacent (and we can actually lose Uzbeks are a tough side from similar region) 2. A little disrespectful to opponents. Good play ange on the money again, I think jackson Irvine is a bit stiff though deserves a shot at some point
Gareth
Guest
Yeah, I was hoping to see a few more of these names in the squad given it's against a low ranked opponent, but they've got plenty of time and plenty of games to do that in the future.
Franko
Guest
No real complaints. Vidosic, Zullo, Antonis, Amini, brilliante, Rogic, Taggart all have plenty to prove in the next 12 months...