Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold has confirmed his 29-man squad for the crucial play-off campaign in Doha, with striker Adam Taggart returning from injury on a mission to fire Australia into this year’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Taggart has been named for next month’s crucial Asian play-off against the United Arab Emirates in Qatar, alongside returning stars Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic and Jackson Irvine. It is Taggart’s first call-up for the national team since October, when a knee injury ruled the 28-year-old out of the back-half of Australia’s group stage matches.
In his absence the Socceroos went from leading the group to finishing third behind Saudi Arabia and Japan, forcing them into the June 7 play-off against the UAE. The winner of that match goes on to face South American nation Peru on June 13 to secure a place in Group D featuring France, Denmark, and Tunisia at this year’s World Cup, to be held November 21-December 18.
“It’s been obviously frustrating, after having such a positive and strong campaign up until the last sort of couple of camps, but these things happen. It’s football,” Taggart told AAP. “This is the challenge we’ve got ahead of us now. Frustrating as those camps and the results might have been, we’ve just got to look at it as a massive opportunity, an exciting opportunity.
“It’s sort of an all-or-nothing scenario that we’ve got ourselves in,” Taggart said. “It’s just important to go in there, make the most of it and enjoy it and make sure we get to the World Cup. You can’t dwell on what’s happened over the past few games, there’s plenty still to play for … we just need to make sure that the way we view it is in a positive way.”
Arnold has named nine players who weren’t involved in the most recent qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia, when a squad hit hard by COVID-19 withdrawals and injury lost back-to-back matches.
There are returns for Adelaide winger Craig Goodwin, Melbourne City forward Mathew Leckie and Central Coast defender Kye Rowles along with Taggart, Mooy, Rogic and Irvine. Melbourne Victory fullback Jason Davidson has also been selected and could make his first Socceroos appearance since 2015.
As well as Taggart, Arnold’s strikeforce is boosted by the return of A-League Men’s golden boot winner Jamie Maclaren after he missed the Saudi Arabia game in March to get married. Ajdin Hrustic also comes into camp on the back of his recent Europa League triumph with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Those call-ups however mean there’s no place for Uruguay-born forward Bruno Fornaroli after his highly publicised debut in March. Connor Metcalfe, Ben Folami, James Jeggo and Rhyan Grant are others to miss out. Arnold also overlooked Johnny Warren Medallist Jake Brimmer and Scottish-born Central Coast forward Jason Cummings.
Australia warms up for their must-win game against the UAE with a friendly in Doha against Jordan on Wednesday (Thursday, 4am AEST), with players set to arrive in Qatar’s capital in the next three days.
The Socceroos’ qualification path towards this World Cup commenced in September 2019 with a 3-0 win over Kuwait in Kuwait City. Now, after 18 games, 12 wins, and 43 goals, Australia’s journey to qualify for a fifth consecutive World Cup Finals reaches its crescendo with these play-offs against United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Peru over the coming fortnight.
“Our qualification journey for this year’s World Cup has been challenging, however the bigger the challenge, the greater the reward,” Arnold said. “Just like in 2017 and 2005 I have full belief that our boys will emerge through the play-off system and seal Australia a place at the World Cup”
“We have selected a large squad for this window for a few reasons, but first and foremost because so many of our players have been in great form for their clubs over recent months. Additionally, with several players set to enter the UAE match on yellow cards, we needed to ensure that we have cover in every area to ensure we’re not caught short at any time.
“I heard Rale Rasic comment recently that the ‘Socceroos’ story is always a super story’, so in the 100th year of our national team there would be no better way for this group of players and staff to honour those that have come before them than by writing another proud chapter in the history books through FIFA World Cup
qualification,” he concluded.
The Socceroos’ squad for June 2022 features an array of players who will enter camp having recently secured individual and/or club honours. Ajdin Hrustic became a Europa League Champion with Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville this month, while Tom Rogic won the Scottish Premier League with Celtic FC as well as Professional Footballers Australia’s Men’s Football of the Year Award.
Denis Genreau helped fire his club, FC Toulouse, to the Ligue 2 title in France and was also named PFA’s Young Player of the Year this week. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Atkinson featured in the Scottish Cup Final, Joel King was an unused substitute in the Danish Cup Final, and Bailey Wright played a leading role in helping his side, Sunderland AFC, secure promotion to England’s Championship at Wembley.
And three players in the squad will tonight feature in the A-League Men’s Grand Final, with Mathew Leckie, Jamie Maclaren, and Marco Tilio having the potential to enter Socceroos camp on cloud nine should they defeat Western United FC at AAMI Park.
SOCCEROOS SQUAD
Nathaniel Atkinson, Aziz Behich, Martin Boyle, Nicholas D’Agostino, Jason Davidson, Milos Degenek, Kenny Dougall, Mitch Duke, Denis Genreau, Craig Goodwin, Ajdin Hrustic, Jackson Irvine, Fran Karacic, Joel King, Mathew Leckie, Awer Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, Riley McGree, Aaron Mooy, Andrew Redmayne, Tom Rogic, Kye Rowles, Maty Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, Gianni Stensness, Adam Taggart, Marco Tilio, Danny Vukovic, Bailey Wright.
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