Despite numerous attempts to discover the precise timing of the announcement of Graham Arnold’s Socceroo squad that will begin the third stage of World Cup qualifying against Bahrain on September 5, I’m still at a loss.
Football Australia has a stunning reception team that appears never present, yet might return your effort with a call-back if you are lucky.
If that does occur, they will then likely palm off your request or concern to the appropriate department via a pending email that I’m sure many don’t have the time or strength to send.
I’ve lived out the dance on numerous occasions in recent years and had no luck this week attempting to discover when we would learn the identities of the players selected to travel back home and take on Bahrain on the Gold Coast and then Indonesia away on September 10.
Perhaps the delay is due to the Aussies abroad doing wonderful things and giving Arnold an embarrassment of riches.
The wonderful news emanating from overseas will no doubt be providing the manager with headaches heading into what Socceroos fans hope will be the final stage of qualifying for the national team.
Seeing Daniel Arzani alongside Arnold in Melbourne at the announcement of the AAMI Park clash with Saudi Arabia later in the campaign suggests that the little wiz has well and truly established himself back into the national set-up after five years of frustration.
Craig Goodwin has made a brilliant start to his new season in Saudi Arabia with goals and assists for Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League.
Awer Mabil went bananas with a hat-trick in Switzerland with Grasshoppers and St Pauli’s Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe are both in the starting mid-field early in the season in Germany; armed with new contracts.
Nestory Irankunda has German powerhouse Bayern Munich believing they may have signed a beauty after some early first-team action and a pair of goals that came for the second team just days later.
Cameron Devlin and Kye Rowles are set to play important roles for Hearts in the SPL this season, whilst the Socceroos’ most promising future prospect Alessandro Circati played well in Parma’s stunning week two win over AC Milan on Sunday.
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Josh Nisbet is close to a first appearance for Ross County in Scotland, whilst Harry Souttar will finally get more regular football with Sheffield United in the English Championship.
Martin Boyle is firing off the back of a goal in Scotland with Hibernian, alongside Lewis Miller, a player certain to be a part of Graham Arnold’s plans throughout the tough qualification phase lying ahead.
Seeing Joe Gauci and Mathew Ryan playing regularly is desirable, yet difficult to see at Aston Villa and Roma respectively in the short term.
However the back-ups between the sticks in the forms of Paul Izzo and Lawrence Thomas are quality and should the manager need to make a tough call on his potential keeper, the stocks are there to do so.
Mitch Duke continues to be one of Arnold’s ‘go-to’ players and his club sits atop the J-League deep in the season.
Aiden O’Neill is starting regularly in Belgium, as Standard de Liege sits nicely on the ladder in sixth early on, with O’Neill occupying a spot in the heart of midfield for the famous club.
(Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
There are plenty more doing great things abroad and it all reads well for Arnold and the squad to be announced for the opening two matches of the third stage of qualifying.
However, with the Socceroos’ past in mind and the challenge of achieving a top-two result in a group featuring both Japan and Saudi Arabia, Arnold might need all of the above a little more to make that happen.
Despite what some negative folk might have you believe, Australian players are increasingly performing well internationally and all playing a role in building a swathe of options for the national coaches to consider when they are required to re-assemble the squad.
The next phase of qualification will be as tricky as it comes, and the Socceroos may well be forced into extra-time as they have been on many previous occasions.
Yet the certainty is that Arnold will take quality into each match and even a repechage situation in the fourth round would not be seen as a failure considering what he brought out of his team in Qatar during the previous World Cup.
It begins now for the Socceroos and I’ll be online with a live blog of the match-up with Bahrain on September 5.
Nothing less than a solid start is needed and Graham Arnold has the men capable of achieving it at his disposal.
Stuart Thomashttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/08/29/its-about-to-get-real-for-the-socceroos-squad-announcement-lads-killing-it-abroad-and-a-bloody-tough-qualification-group/It’s about to get real for the Socceroos: Squad announcement, lads killing it abroad and a bloody tough qualification group
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