The 26-player squad includes uncapped 19-year-old attacker Daniel Arzani from Melbourne City FC in the A-League, as well as exciting 22-year-old prospect Fran Karacic, who is currently plying his trade with NK Lokomotiva in Croatia’s top-flight.
The Socceroos’ all-time leading goalscorer, Tim Cahill, remains on track to represent the green and gold at a remarkable fourth FIFA World Cup, as does Saudi Arabia-based utility Mark Milligan, who made his national team debut in 2006.
Twenty of the 26 players bound for Turkey have featured in the A-League at some stage in their careers, with five current players – Arzani (Melbourne City FC), Joshua Brillante (Sydney FC), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney Wanderers FC), and James Troisi (Melbourne Victory) – all vying for a place in Australia’s final 23-player squad for Russia.
Last week in Sydney van Marwijk announced a 32-player preliminary squad for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, and stated that his squad would need to be reduced twice prior to FIFA’s 23-player final squad submission deadline on June 4.
Six players – Alex Gersbach, Apostolos Giannou, Mitchell Langerak, Jamie Maclaren, Aleksandar Susnjar and Bailey Wright – have been informed that they have not advanced to the next phase of the selection process.
Van Marwijk said that while it was difficult to make the required cuts to his preliminary selection, he feels he will have a balanced and eager group of professionals to work with in Turkey and Austria.
“It is always a challenging task to reduce a squad, however this is the nature of professional sport at the highest level,” said van Marwijk. “Overall, I believe we have named a strong and ambitious squad for our training camp in Turkey and friendly against Czech Republic in Austria.”
“I am sure that in training in Antalya, and in our match against the Czech Republic, we will see players pushing to go to a higher level as they compete for a place in the final squad,” he said.
Australia’s final list of 23 players is scheduled to be announced in Turkey on June 3. The squad will continue their build-up for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 with a further friendly against Hungary in Budapest June 9.
The Socceroos’ pre-tournament camp in Antalya will commence on May 20.
Australia 26-man World Cup squad (to be cut to final 23 by June 3):
Goalkeepers: Brad Jones (Feyenoord/NED), Mathew Ryan (Brighton/ENG), Daniel Vukovic (Genk/BEL)
Defenders: Aziz Behich (Bursaspor/TUR), Milos Degenek (Yokohama Marinos/JPN), Matthew Jurman (Suwon Bluewings/KOR), Fran Karacic (NK Lokomotiva/CRO), James Meredith (Millwall/ENG), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney Wanderers/AUS), Trent Sainsbury (Grasshopper Club Zurich/SWI);
Midfielders: Joshua Brillante (Sydney FC/AUS), Jackson Irvine (Hull City/ENG), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa/ENG), Robbie Kruse (VfL Bochum/GER), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers/ENG), Mark Milligan (Al Ahli/KSA), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town/ENG), Tom Rogic (Celtic/SCO), James Troisi (Melbourne Victory/AUS);
Forwards: Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City/AUS), Tim Cahill (Millwall/ENG), Tomi Juric (FC Luzern/SWI), Mathew Leckie (Hertha BSC/GER), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds/JPN), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets/AUS), Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa/ISR).
Sources: Football Federation Australia, AFP
