Why Tony Popovic’s latest Socceroos squad is the most exciting in years

3 weeks ago 7

The future begins now. Later than many would have liked, but that is Tony Popovic’s way. With the tension and jeopardy of World Cup qualification behind the national team, the time has come - finally - for the Socceroos to stress-test the kids of today to see if they can become tomorrow’s heroes.

For all of the many ills in Australian soccer, the one major source of hope at the moment is the volume of high-quality talent emerging from the A-League. Driven largely by the financial crisis plaguing domestic clubs and the maturation of their academy programs, it has already been described as, potentially, a new golden generation in waiting.

Nestory Irankunda is back for the Socceroos - along with a host of other promising young Aussie players.

Until now, Popovic has leant on experience and familiarity to guide Australia through their qualification campaign - and fair enough, too, since he took on the job mid-cycle and with the national team in a perilous position.

Where have all the game-breakers gone? The excitement machines? The household names? Who’s going to step up and be the striker we’ve been searching nearly a decade for?

The answers to these eternal questions are hopefully all in the 25-man squad unveiled by Popovic for the upcoming Soccer Ashes series against New Zealand, which begins next Friday night in Canberra.

It’s the most exciting Socceroos squad in many years.

As ever, there will be quibbles with who’s in and who’s not, but they’re marginal. By and large, the wishes of most supporters have been granted, and now it will be up to those within it to prove themselves worthy of a World Cup spot, to try and match Popovic’s notoriously high standards.

The average age of the squad is 24, and only three players in it are 30 or older. Fifteen of them have registered single-digit caps. That, in and of itself, is the sign of a new dawn - and it’s shining the most in the final third.

In March, Noah Botic, Adrian Segecic and Nicolas Milanovic all celebrated goals in the A-League with none-too-subtle gestures towards Popovic, who had overlooked them for selection in that window. All three have since moved to clubs in Europe and, to varying degrees, made good starts to the new season. Segecic, in particular, has become an instant fan favourite at Portsmouth.

All three have been rewarded with selection.

Adrian Segecic has made a terrific start to life in England with Portsmouth.

Botic is one of only two out-and-out strikers in the squad; the other, Mohamed Toure, has blossomed since lighting up the A-League as a teenager with Adelaide United, cutting his teeth in France before a switch to Danish club Randers. He’s still only 21, and his potential is sky-high.

Speaking of Adelaide - of course, Nestory Irankunda is back, fresh from scoring a worldie of a free kick for English Championship side Watford, who appear to have built their team to extract the maximum out of his breathtaking abilities.

Popovic started him in his first match in charge of the Socceroos but his error-riddled performance made it clear that he was still too raw for international football - or, at least, the cut-throat qualifying environment. Fast forward almost a year, and Irankunda is 19, and as ready as he’ll ever be to step up to the level.

“It’ll be nice to see him,” Popovic said.

“Since that time, we’ve seen him probably mature as a player. He’s had a year in Europe, which is a great experience for a young player - Bayern Munich, which obviously shows the talent that he has. He got some game-time at Grasshoppers in Switzerland and now we’re seeing him progress further at Watford.

“We know he certainly has the talent and he’s young. He’s still got the potential. He’s still maturing and getting better. We hope to see him in two, three, four World Cups to come.”

The prospect of a frontline featuring any three of those players? Alongside more established players like Martin Boyle, Connor Metcalfe and the mercurial Ajdin Hrustic, who has also earned a recall?

With a midfield behind them featuring the likes of the Max Balard, Ryan Teague, Aiden O’Neill and Patrick Yazbek? Or even Anthony Kalik, the former A-League squaddie who wasn’t really on anyone’s radar, but has spent the past five years in Croatia, and has clearly done something there to pique Popovic’s interest?

Mohamed Toure lit up the A-League years ago - and he’s stepped up his game in Europe since.

Not to mention an overlapping Jordan Bos, now past his injury troubles and now at Feyenoord, one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands?

It’s all very tantalising.

“I’m anticipating it will be a big jump for them, but I also believe that’s how it should be,” Popovic said of what the new faces can expect.

“It should be difficult, it should be challenging. Wanting to play for the Socceroos should be the ultimate goal for every player. I’m interested to see how these players can deal with that. It may be that some of these young boys don’t quite grasp it now, but there are more windows to come.”

Out-of-season A-League Men players have been overlooked for this camp, while skipper Maty Ryan has been left out, having only just sealed a contract with La Liga outfit Levante UD in recent days - which means Australia’s back-up goalkeepers Joe Gauci, Tom Glover and Paul Izzo have a big opportunity.

“We want to see who can step up under the pressure that Maty’s very used to playing for his country, and we need to increase the depth and the quality of the squad,” Popovic said.

“Part of this is obviously getting some new players in, rewarding them for their good form, but we want to have a lot of depth going into the World Cup, and we want to have selection headaches. I hope I have those come June.”

Socceroos regulars Jackson Irvine, Harry Souttar, Riley McGree and Jason Geria, meanwhile, are all injured.

Veteran midfielder Massimo Luongo had also mounted a case for selection since his switch to English second-tier side Millwall but his status is unclear; he retired from international duty in December 2023 but was called up by Popovic last October, only to miss that window due to injury.

Instinct may be to sneer at the Kiwis, and assume they should be pushovers, but that would be wrong. New Zealand is also enjoying a footballing renaissance of sorts, and their squad is also packed with interesting young players - and it’s headlined by Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood, one of the Premier League’s most in-form strikers, who will be more than a handful for Australia’s defence.

These trans-Tasman friendlies will be just the second time that the Soccer Ashes will be contested since the long-lost trophy was discovered in the garage of a former administrator’s son, solving a 69-year mystery.

“I don’t really like that word, to be honest: friendly,” Popovic said.

“If you ask any of these young boys that could debut now, whether it matters to them whether it’s a friendly or not, I’m sure they say no. We have to take this game very seriously. We’re excited that we’re playing New Zealand. We know how big that rivalry is in all our codes, so this should be no different. And also, congratulations to them - they’ve made the World Cup, so we’re playing a World Cup opponent.

“I can assure everyone that we will be taking this game very seriously.”

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