There’s no end of talking points among Graham Arnold’s 26-man Socceroos’ World Cup squad; Garang Kuol’s selection, Cristian Volpato’s decision, the omission of Tom Rogic, Trent Sainsbury, Adam Taggart and Mitch Langerak, plus the injury clouds.
But one underlying theme among the squad is the deference for potential over proof. To explain that point, I’ll point out Australia played in 20 World Cup qualifiers to secure their spot in Qatar, yet there’s 10 players in this 26-man squad with five or less caps to their name. There’s four with one cap only.
What that says is selectors have lost faith in many who got Australia to Qatar during an unconvincing qualifying campaign, with Sainsbury and Taggart top of that list.
Arnie’s gambles
Arnold wanted three strikers/number nines in Qatar and agonised over whether to pick Taggart or one-cap Jason Cummings. He opted for the latter and admitted it was a “50-50 call”.
Sainsbury misses out to the versatile two-cap Thomas Deng along with three-cap Kye Rowles, who was a revelation in the triumphant playoffs but had been out for two months injured until a brief cameo on his return on Sunday.
Four-cap left-back Joel King, who is barely getting any game-time in Denmark, gets the nod over 31-year-old Jason Davidson, who has barely missed a beat in Belgium this term.
Keanu Baccus and Cameron Devlin, who remarkably are born on the same day in 1998, have been thrown in after strong form this season in the Scottish Premiership, despite both only debuting internationally in September.
And then there’s Kuol, who needed to be in the squad, given the sheer X-factor and goal creating ability he brings. He’s also a big unknown for opposition defences.
They’re on the ✈️ . pic.twitter.com/igws0fLcsf
— Socceroos (@Socceroos) November 8, 2022
Likewise, uncapped Sydney-born 18-year-old Volpato has broken out at Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma lately, scoring a goal and an assist against Verona last week and he would’ve been a coup at this stage. Volpato, who has represented Italy at under-age level, sadly declined Arnold’s overtures.
But the aforementioned selections hint that Arnold is willing to taking a leap of faith at this World Cup. Players who bring form and excitement, albeit without a proven record at international level, have got their chance. He’s rolling the dice.
In saying that, a lot of those players will likely be consigned to bit-part roles, ideally creating an impact off the bench.
The core remains
The core of the group is largely there, with Arnold opting to utilise the larger 26-man squad to select two players for each position, pointing to that when explaining Rogic’s omission, preferring Ajdin Hrustic and Riley McGree, who produced a timely best afield display on the weekend to justify that selection.
It is a surprise, with the benefit of a larger 26-man group, to leave out Rogic given his creativity, spark and ability to beat players but he really hasn’t played enough football over the past six months since leaving Celtic, where it must be remembered he was in the Scottish Premiership Team of the Season last term. Rogic’s situation is a great shame after an odd off-season where he went clubless for months and opted out of Australia’s World Cup playoffs.
It’s worth noting there can still be changes made to the World Cup squads pending medical proof, although Arnold wouldn’t elaborate on which players may be held as potential replacements. That’s pertinent with injury clouds hanging over Hrustic, Martin Boyle, Rowles and Harry Souttar.
Injury clouds linger
Arnold even claimed Hrustic may get some game-time with Serie A club Hellas Verona this week despite Italian reports last month claiming ankle ligament damage meant he wouldn’t play for them again this year. Make no mistake, without the player we all hoped Rogic would be, Hrustic is the key man to offer creativity and technical quality for the Socceroos in Qatar. His fitness is crucial.
Souttar is another under an injury cloud who is a walk-up best XI member if fully fit. He’s not yet returned to action for Stoke City’s first team after rupturing his ACL on Socceroos duty 12 months ago, but has played four games with their reserves and under-21’s teams. For a towering 6’6 defender, being out for 12 months and returning to action at a World Cup is a huge ask.
Rowles is also under an injury cloud, but his situation is more comfortable, having only missed two months, meaning he has more recent continuity and form.
But should either or both be unavailable, Australia’s centre-back options are US-based Milos Degenek, Sunderland veteran Bailey Wright and Deng, who can play both centrally and at right-back.
He’s back 😍@harryjsouttar #GiveIt100 pic.twitter.com/ZxuCNHxeRZ
— Socceroos (@Socceroos) November 8, 2022
Inadequate explanation on Langerak omission
Finally, there’s the strange goalkeeper situation, where skipper Mat Ryan’s lack of club gametime at FC Copenhagen potentially opened the door to Mitch Langerak, who was recently named Nagoya Grampus MVP and has been one of the best keepers in the J.League for the past few years.
Yet bizarrely Langerak has been left out altogether, with Arnold offering an inadequate explanation during Tuesday’s press conference when pressed on the decision, palming off that responsibility to goalkeeping coach John Crawley. You’d suspect with time, the truth will come out on that one.
But the core of the Socceroos’ best XI is there, pending a few proving their fitness (fingers crossed), with Arnold gambling on a sprinkling of new faces. It may backfire in hindsight, but with a fortnight until our World Cup opener, it feels bloody exciting.
The 2️⃣6️⃣ players heading to our sixth @FIFAWorldCup 🫡✈️
#GiveIt100 #Socceroos pic.twitter.com/7G6A6KbEpk— Socceroos (@Socceroos) November 8, 2022
