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Just a few short years ago it was difficult to imagine a Socceroo starting eleven without either Aaron Mooy or Tom Rogic, or both, named in the team.
However, such is the nature of football and the generational changes that remain constant, that the Socceroos team to run out against Mexico this Sunday will feature neither.
Rogic has had a miserable time of things since his departure from Celtic two seasons back; released by West Bromwich Albion earlier in the year and a free agent looking for an opportunity elsewhere, the 30-year-old remains lost in a footballing sense.
Mooy’s retirement following the World Cup was a little surprising, with his ageing legs holding up brilliantly during the tournament and suggesting there was still a season or two in the tank.
However, Socceroo coach Graham Arnold now has neither at his disposal, despite both being key to his plans in Qatar 2022 before Rogic left Celtic and then subsequently withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons.
Graham Arnold. (Photo by Youssef Loulidi/Fantasista/Getty Images,)
Yet in true Arnold form, the man who led the Socceroos to their best ever statistical performance at a World Cup appears to have his eyes well and truly on the future; aware that right now is a perfect time for natural generational change.
Matches in October against England and New Zealand will follow the Mexico clash, before the team enters the rigours of World Cup qualifying in November and then heads to the Asian Cup in early 2024 in Qatar.
To be primed for that event, Arnold has selected a perfect mix of youth and experience to tackle Mexico in Arlington and is likely to take the same approach against the Three Lions and All Whites in October.
The reason Socceroo players run through proverbial walls for their mentor is his unrelenting belief in them; specifically the young A-League talent that has come through the competition and is now taking on domestic leagues right around the world.
Whilst not an A-League product, young Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer will join Tom Glover and Mathew Ryan in Texas to become accustomed to the international set-up and structures that Arnold obviously sees in his future.
Whilst a long term work in progress, Maynard-Brewer has undoubted quality, with Glover likely to enjoy plenty of minutes during the group stage of Asian Cup qualifying.
Arnold’s defensive unit has experience on its side, yet remains mostly young and developing. He has stuck with Scottish-based Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles, World Cup star Harry Souttar and the experience of Melbourne City’s Aziz Behich, as well as Red Star Belgrade’s Milos Degenek.
Ryan Strain has received a deserved re-call after starring in Scotland with St Mirren, yet it is the selection of Scottish-born Cameron Burgess and particularly that of 19-year-old Parma defender Alessandro Circati that will bring excitement to Socceroo fans looking towards the future.
All three will learn a great deal in the camps to follow, with spots in the Asian Cup destined to be hotly contested.
Similarly, the midfield squad selected looks incredibly exciting. Jackson Irvine will anchor that group with Standard Liege’s Aiden O’Neill likely to play as a holding six after an impressive start to the season in Belgium.
However, it is names like Cameron Devlin, Strain’s team mate Keanu Baccus, Toulouse’s Denis Genreau, German based Connor Metcalfe and the established yet still young Socceroo Riley McGree that reek of talent and potential in the years to come.
Mitchell Duke and Aaron Mooy. (Photo by Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)
It is something of a changing of the guard in the midfield, and an exciting one for the coach to explore with plenty of international football to be played over the next 12 months.
Up front, Martin Boyle is back in the fold after another heart-breaking lead up to the 2022 World Cup. Arnold has great faith in him, as well as Japanese-based Mitch Duke and the man that lit up the World Cup for the Socceroos, Mathew Leckie.
Yet, once again, Arnold looks to have achieved the perfect balance. Former Mariner and now team mate of McGree, Sam Silvera, will likely make a starting debut for the senior team, albeit in a friendly, after many a year of fans wondering just when his time would come.
Norwegian-based Nick D’Agostino is also in the attacking group and at 25, another player we are yet to see the best of in national colours.
Seeing Glover, Circati, Strain, Genreau, Metcalfe and Silvera in a Socceroo squad at this stage of their careers is comforting as well as exciting. Yet Arnold understands the need to develop talent outside of the major tournaments.
This is a perfect moment to see what the younger players in the squad can do, before blending them with Craig Goodwin, Awer Mabil, Garang Kuol, Ajdin Hrustic and Jamie Maclaren when they return for the qualifiers and the Asian Cup.
It is a tournament the Socceroos can win, even without the experience of Mooy, if the new talent is given opportunities to develop.