Youth to drive Popovic’s Socceroos, but one rising star is yet to commit

Source : ABC NEWS

There are far more pressing issues for Tony Popovic to ponder right now as he tries to secure automatic World Cup qualification for the Socceroos for the first time in 12 years, but the curious case of Alexander Robertson and the national team continues to roll on.

The 22-year-old, who has featured 35 times for relegated Cardiff in the English Championship this season and made his Socceroos debut in 2023, is not tied down to Australia due to those games being friendlies and is still clearly reluctant about committing to the Australian national team for the future.

The reason for that remains a mystery, despite his father and grandfather playing for the Socceroos. The Robertson family have refused to comment on the issue.

Due to family links, the midfielder is eligible for England, Scotland and Peru.

It is Australia that has provided him with the strongest footballing bloodline, but for now, he has declared himself unavailable to represent the green and gold.

“He’s ineligible for us. He’s made himself unavailable for selection. If he was eligible in terms of all the paperwork, then I could say I didn’t select him,” said Popovic.

“At the moment, it’s not a selection issue. Unless that changes, he doesn’t become a player on our monitoring list and one we can select.”

It is a situation that Popovic is unlikely to massage. It is not the way of the new Socceroos boss.

And while Australia can not afford to lose any young talent, which Robertson undoubtedly is, Popovic is rather fortuitously not short of young players to call on right now.

One of the best of those to burst onto the scene in recent times is starting to re-emerge.

It might be easy to forget how close Garang Kuol came to sending Australia through to extra time at the 2022 World Cup — and the nation into utter bedlam — if not for a superb save from Emi Martinez of eventual world champions Argentina in their round of 32 knockout clash.

The former Central Coast Mariners forward has been barely sighted since, despite signing a long-term deal at a big Premier League club in Newcastle United.

Injury and form issues have been the key reasons, but he is now finding his feet again, with regular football and a string of goals for Newcastle’s Under 23 side.

It is not senior football but it is a positive step forward for a player the national team still has high hopes for.

“We’ve seen some of his games recently. He just needs consistent football. The level can sometimes be deceiving, of course, but for any striker, when they’re scoring, they’re confident,” the Socceroos boss said.

“He seems to be a lot more confident on the field. When you see him in around the box, there seems to be a focus and confidence about him when he’s dribbling a player, which maybe we haven’t seen for a while.

“It’s an area of the park we’re always looking at. Hopefully, this will help him get a move somewhere.”

National team fans still salivate over the prospect of an attacking group that includes the likes of Kuol, Nestory Irankunda and Daniel Arzani at their best.

Whether that ever happens is anyone’s guess, but Irankunda is featuring regularly at Grasshoppers in Switzerland, now on loan from Bayern Munich, while Popovic has been pleased with how Arzani reacted to his public dressing down in January over the general application of his talents.

There are many others who are knocking down the door and are a strong chance to be included in Popovic’s national team squad for the group stage’s crucial final two qualifiers against Japan, in Perth in June, and Saudi Arabia, away, six days later.

Western Sydney’s Nicolas Milanovic heads the queue after a superb A-League season, as do the likes of Sydney’s Adrian Segecic, Western United’s Noah Botic and Adelaide’s Archie Goodwin.

All are on Popovic’s radar and they haven’t been afraid to let the national team coach know about their form, either, with their goal celebrations in recent times serving as a signal to the Socceroos boss that they should be receiving that call-up.

“It’s different times, I’m not sure I would have done that,” Popovic said with a smile.

“When I was playing, we all had confidence, personality and belief and nothing would waver that. I feel we’ve lost a lot of that. These boys have shown they’ve got some personality and character, which is great.

“If you’ve got a message for me, or whoever it is, that’s great. But you’ve got to back it up. You’ve got to be the best player on the park.”

A win against Japan is all that’s required for Australia to lock away that automatic spot for the 2026 World Cup in North America, but that will be no easy feat despite the Blue Samurai having already qualified.

The absence of star midfielder Jackson Irvine through injury — to go with that of arguably Australia’s best player in defender Harry Souttar — makes it all the more difficult.

And Popovic insists there will be little chance of Japan coming to Australia in a complacent manner despite locking away their World Cup spot, even if their first-choice squad is rotated.

As he points out, there’ll be several stars in the J-League who can not get a look in at the moment who will be desperate to prove their worth for a World Cup berth.

That may be even more dangerous a predicament for the Socceroos to deal with than a player who knows his ticket on the plane to the US is secure.

The three-point buffer Australia enjoys in second spot with two games to go is a more than handy position to be in for a team that has had to endure the treacherous play-offs for the last two World Cups.

An Abu Dhabi-based pre-camp prior to the critical fixtures will be held as the Socceroos look to prepare as best as possible for their date with destiny.

“There’s a lot at stake. A World Cup qualifying position is at stake. I’ve had that question before every international window. We’ve handled that expectation and pressure quite well, and we’ve got to do it once more,” Popovic said.

“We know it’s a challenge, we have to embrace it. We know we’re in a good position.”