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Opinion

The Socceroos' next ‘golden generation’ may be a lot closer than you think

1st August, 2022
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1st August, 2022
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It feels like more and more young A-League Men talent is being stripped from the competition and given opportunities abroad than at any other time in history.

The number of players who earned domestic opportunities throughout the troubled pandemic seasons and subsequently impressed overseas scouts is considerable, with a host of them now adjusting to professional football abroad.

Of course, there is a sadness in that we will not see their continued development in person, yet also a pleasure in knowing that, despite some cynical concerns around the local player production line, more and more young men are being seen and subsequently valued by impressive international clubs.

The list is extensive, with Kye Rowles’ move to Hearts and Keanu Baccus’ new deal with St Mirren potentially two of the most significant in recent months. They will join Phillip Cancar (Livingston) and Lewis Miller (Hibernian) in the Scottish Premier League, along with championship-winning manager Ange Postecoglou, Celtic’s newest recruit Aaron Mooy, Hearts’ other Aussies Cameron Devlin and Nathaniel Atkinson, as well as Ryan Strain at St Mirren and Dundee United goalkeeper Mark Birighitti, in what represents something of a pattern in terms of where the Scots are scouting.

Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates with the Premier Sports Cup Trophy during the Premier Sports Cup Final between Celtic and Hibernian at Hampden Park, on December 19, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates with the Premier Sports Cup Trophy.(Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

However, the list goes far beyond the Scottish raid on the local playing stocks, with young men from right across the competition being backed to succeed abroad.

18-year-old Josh Rawlins leaves Perth and arrives in Utrecht for the 2022-23 season, while two other teenagers have joined Reims in France, with Yaka Dukuly and Mohamed Toure setting out to work through the development levels before hopefully earning full caps in the years to come.

Tass Mourdoukoutas has been one of Western Sydney’s brightest talents for some years and at 23 he takes up a fascinating challenge with York United in Canada. Meanwhile, Adelaide product Lachlan Brook ventures back to the UK, on loan from Brentford with Crewe Alexandra FC.

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Back in February, the gifted Connor Metcalfe departed Melbourne City to join Jackson Irvine at FC St Pauli in Germany, and 2021 saw a host of other young players afforded impressive and potentially rewarding opportunities, headlined by Alou Kuol’s stunning move to Stuttgart before he was eventually loaned to Sandhausen in the 2. Bundesliga.

In June of that year, future star Denis Genreau completed a move to French side Toulouse and has racked up 34 appearances for them in what looms as a successful partnership, and after signing with Greek outfit Athletic Club Rodos in August, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos now begins a new challenge with PAS Giannina in the Greek Super League.

23-year-old Gianni Stensness has appeared 19 times in the top flight for Viking FK since his arrival, Joel King has made 11 appearances for OB in Denmark after his early 2022 move, and former Phoenix star Liberato Cacace now takes up digs in Italy at Empoli after his earlier move to Belgium back in 2020.

Fellow Kiwi Callum McCowatt now has 51 appearances for FC Helsingor in the Danish top flight, Riley McGree has ventured through the MLS and Birmingham City before settling well at Middlesbrough, while Awer Mabil’s contract with La Liga side Cadiz was the talk of the Australian football world just a few short months back.

Add to this the Olyroo squad members currently playing abroad such as Hosine Bility, Jay Rich-Baghuelou, Cameron Peupion, Tristan Hammond, Tyrese Francois, Jacob Chapman and Jordan Courtney-Perkins, and the future looks bright when it comes to significant Australian representation in respectable European leagues, as well as burgeoning markets like the United States and Asia.

Others will receive opportunities such as the one granted Ajdin Hrustic at Eintracht Frankfurt in the near future, with the first crop of Australian players to have lived the full experience of the national curriculum now entering their early 20s and their talents being recognised right around the world.

The same old nonsense will be dragged out when the non-thinkers bemoan the absence of Socceroos dominating in the English Premier League, but the elite nature of it has squeezed out all bar the greatest 400 or so players in the world.

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No longer do the game’s biggest stars remain in their homeland, with the financial lure of the UK having now distorted any comparisons between the English top flight when names like Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell starred and the version of it we see today.

The best young Australian players are now required to undertake a step-by-step journey, traversing the globe, playing in an array of leagues that all suffer from the perceptions of inferiority that also circle the A-League.

Our young men’s talent is unquestionable and being increasingly recognised, even if many live anonymously to casual Australian eyeballs. Yet the current exodus is something we should all be excited about, especially when it comes to the Socceroos’ potential success over the next decade.

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