Socceroos manager Graham Arnold has named a 27-man squad for the 3rd round of World Cup qualifying against China and Vietnam. There is an Olympic feel to the squad with Denis Genreau, Daniel Arzani, Riley McGree, Harry Souttar and Mitch Duke all included from the squad that played in Tokyo.
Arnold was very happy to welcome back crucial players like Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogić who missed out on the final games of Australia’s 2nd round of qualifying.
“I believe this is a great squad and one that will help Australia achieve a strong start in the final round of qualifying,” Arnold said.
“We have at least two players for every position, which provides us both cover and tactical flexibility, and many players will arrive in camp off the back of strong form for their clubs throughout Europe, the UK, and Asia.
“We also welcome back several senior Socceroos including Tom Rogic, Aaron Mooy, and Bailey Wright, this camp, while I expect players such as Ryan Strain, Callum Elder, and Paul Izzo will arrive in camp brimming with energy following their first senior international call-ups.”
Despite these crucial inclusions, Arnold was unable to call upon members of the A-League’s Socceroos contingent due to COVID related issues. Sydney FC full-back Rhyan Grant is the outlier to this rule after Arnold brokered a deal with his club that allowed him to travel to Doha and Vietnam for the crucial fixtures.
“Unfortunately, there were several players we couldn’t consider for this window due to injury or matters related to COVID. Fran Karacic has a minor injury that has prevented him from traveling to Qatar, while complications and challenges with travel, quarantine, and personal factors ruled several Australia-based players out of contention,” he said.
Arnold has also confirmed that several other international-based Australians were in contention for the squad including uncapped centre-forward Deni Jurić who was recalled from loan by Dinamo Zagreb and featured in a Champions League playoff match during the week.
Arnold envisages the brother of Macarthur FC’s Tomi as a future Socceroo who he hopes will select playing for Australia over Croatia – a nation for whom he is also eligible.
“Deni was spoken to, he’s obviously just breaking through at Dinamo Zagreb and he’s doing fantastically well,” explained Arnold.
“It’s a player that we like, it’s a player that we expect will want to play for Australia, he was spoken to for this camp and he’s one that we’ve got our eye on.”
The Socceroos commence their qualifying campaign on Friday the 3rd of September at 4am AEST
Socceroos 27-Player Squad | 30 August – 7 September 2021 | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ – AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar (Final Round)
| Name | Club, Country | ‘A’ International Caps (Goals) |
| Daniel ARZANI | Lommel SK, Belgium | 6 (1) |
| Aziz BEHICH | Giresunspor, Turkey | 41 (2) |
| Martin BOYLE | Hibernian FC, Scotland | 7 (3) |
| Milos DEGENEK | Red Star Belgrade, Serbia | 31 (1) |
| Kenneth DOUGALL | Blackpool FC, England | 3 (0) |
| Mitchell DUKE | Fagiano Okayama, Japan | 9 (4) |
| Callum ELDER | Hull City AFC, England | 0 (0) |
| Denis GENREAU | Toulouse FC, France | 1 (0) |
| Rhyan GRANT | Sydney FC, Australia | 14 (0) |
| Ajdin HRUSTIC | Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany | 7 (1) |
| Jackson IRVINE | FC St. Pauli, Germany | 37 (6) |
| Paul IZZO (Gk) | Xanthi FC, Greece | 0 (0) |
| James JEGGO | Aris Thessaloniki, Greece | 5 (0) |
| Awer MABIL | FC Midtjylland, Denmark | 17 (4) |
| Ryan MCGOWAN | Kuwait SC, Kuwait | 21 (0) |
| Riley MCGREE | Birmingham City FC, England | 3 (0) |
| Aaron MOOY | Shanghai Port FC, China PR | 43 (6) |
| Tom ROGIC | Celtic FC, Scotland | 47 (9) |
| Mathew RYAN (Gk) | Real Sociedad, Spain | 61 (0) |
| Trent SAINSBURY | KV Kortrijk, Belgium | 50 (3) |
| Brad SMITH | Seattle Sounders FC, United States of America | 22 (0) |
| Harry SOUTTAR | Stoke City FC, England | 5 (6) |
| Ryan STRAIN | Maccabi Haifa, Israel | 0 (0) |
| Adam TAGGART | Cerezo Osaka, Japan | 12 (6) |
| Lawrence THOMAS (Gk) | SønderjyskE Fodbold, Denmark | 1 (0) |
| Danny VUKOVIC (Gk) | NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands | 4 (0) |
| Bailey WRIGHT | Sunderland AFC, England | 24 (1) |
