Australia’s head coach Graham Arnold has named a 31-player Socceroos squad to play New Zealand’s All Whites in their two-match international series in September.
Arnold has called up seven uncapped players, including 17-year-old Central Coast Mariners whizz kid Garang Kuol who is yet to start his first full match in the A-League but impressed for an A-League All Stars team against Barcelona in May.
Other notable selections:
- Mariners’ Jason Cummings joins the Australia squad after switching allegiance from Scotland who he has represented at senior level.
- Uncapped Keanu Baccus and Ryan Strain will play against their St Mirren clubmate Alex Greive, who will play up front for New Zealand.
- Former Wellington Phoenix midfielder Cam Devlin, now with Scottish club Hearts, is included for the first time.
- Olyroos captain Tyrese Francois, who plays in Croatia, gets a call-up.
- Goalkeeper Mitch Langerak has been talked out of his international retirement to resurface in the Socceroos after impressive performances in Japan’s J-League for Nagoya Grampus.
Graham Arnold media conference
At his media conference, Arnold said:
“I truly believe in Australian kids.
“As you can see by the extended squad — 31 players — I’m using that as an opportunity to give players a chance to show us, as coaching staff, what they can bring.
“Since I took this job, and with the Olympic (under-23) team as well, it’s all about developing and giving youngsters an opportunity, and you see a big number of youngsters in the squad.
“I went, two weeks ago, down to Canberra to watch Garang play at a talent ID camp for the under-20s and he showed great quality and great talent. I truly believe that our kids have got it here in Australia. It’s just them getting an opportunity.”
Notable omissions include:
- Tom Rogic, a recent signing for English Championship club West Bromwich Albion, who withdrew from international selection during the World Cup qualifying games but has since indicated he wanted to return.
- Norway-based former New Zealand age group international Gianni Stensness, who opted to play for Australia, missed selection.
Arnold hints at composition of line-ups for Brisbane and Auckland
At his media conference, Arnold confirmed he will field different line-ups for the two international friendlies.
The squad used for the Brisbane match would likely give priority to European-based players so they could return to their clubs as soon as possible.
Hence, it’s likely the Socceroos line-up for Auckland’s Eden Park will be dominated by players based closer to home.
Australia squad
Player/club/caps/goals
Nathaniel ATKINSON (Heart of Midlothian, Scotland) 3 (0)
Keanu BACCUS (St Mirren, Scotland) 0 (0)
Aziz BEHICH (Dundee United, Scotland) 52 (2)
Martin BOYLE (Hibernian, Scotland) 18 (5)
Jason CUMMINGS (Central Coast Mariners, Australia) 0 (0)
Harrison DELBRIDGE (Incheon United, Korea Republic) 0 (0)
Milos DEGENEK (Columbus Crew, USA) 36 (1)
Thomas DENG (Albirex Niigata, Japan) 1 (0)
Cameron DEVLIN (Heart of Midlothian, Scotland) 0 (0)
Mitchell DUKE (Fagiano Okayama, Japan) 20 (7)
Tyrese FRANCOIS (HNK Gorica, Croatia) 0 (0)
Denis GENREAU (Toulouse FC, France) 3 (0)
Ajdin HRUSTIC (Hellas Verona FC, Italy) 19 (3)
Jackson IRVINE (FC St. Pauli, Germany) 48 (7)
Fran KARACIC (Brescia Calcio, Italy) 9 (1)
Joel KING (Odense Boldklub, Denmark) 2 (0)
Garang KUOL (Central Coast Mariners, Australia) 0 (0)
Mitch LANGERAK (Nagoya Grampus, Japan) 8 (0)
Mathew LECKIE (Melbourne City, Australia) 71 (13)
Awer MABIL (Cadiz CF, Spain) 28 (7)
Jamie MACLAREN (Melbourne City, Australia) 25 (8)
Riley MCGREE (Middlesbrough FC, England) 9 (1)
Connor METCALFE (FC St. Pauli, Germany) 3 (0)
Aaron MOOY (Celtic, Scotland) 52 (7)
Andrew REDMAYNE (Sydney FC, Australia) 3 (0)
Mathew RYAN (captain) (FC Copenhagen, Denmark) 74 (0)
Trent SAINSBURY (Al-Wakrah, Qatar) 60 (4)
Ryan STRAIN (St Mirren, Scotland) 0 (0)
Adam TAGGART (Cerezo Osaka, Japan) 16 (6)
Marco TILIO (Melbourne City, Australia) 3 (0)
Bailey WRIGHT (Sunderland, England) 27 (2)
New Zealand squad
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Fixtures
Australia v All Whites
Thursday 22 September 22, 2022 (10pm NZT)
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
All Whites v Australia
Sunday September 25, 2022 (4pm NZT)
Eden Park, Auckland
Centenary celebrations
The two games mark 100 years since New Zealand and Australia played the first ‘A’ international match in Dunedin.
On June 17, 1922, New Zealand won the game 3-1 in front of 8,000 spectators at Carisbrook
On June 7, 1923, the first ‘A’ international Socceroos’ match on home soil was contested at the Brisbane Cricket Ground before 7,000 supporters, which Australia won 2-1.
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