It’s hard to fathom that in 2016 Chris Ikonomidis was locked inside a Serie A training ground, trapped by the sheer volatility of Italian football, but also learning lessons set to inform his Socceroos awakening.
Celtic fans are blowing up at Graham Arnold, but the Socceroos coach says the Scottish Premiership club specifically requested he rest Tom Rogic for Sunday’s friendly against Oman.
Skipper Mark Milligan is encouraged to see the Socceroos ‘get into the habit of scoring goals’ as the team switches focus to making a statement in their opening Asian Cup clash against Jordan.
The Socceroos will kick off their Asian Cup defence against Jordan next weekend full of confidence after disposing with Pim Verbeek’s Oman 5-0 in their final hit-out in Dubai.
SCOUTS and club football executives from Europe’s leading leagues as well as Asia are scouring the Asian Cup trying to spot the next big thing.
CHINA coach Alain Perrin slammed the state of the Suncorp Stadium playing surface after his side’s 1-0 Asian Cup Group B win over Saudi Arabia.
UP FOR THE CUP: three 1-0 results see South Korea, Uzbekistan and China prevail but uncannily similar last-second heroics decided two games.
THE absence of star striker Nasser Al-Shamrani proved costly for Saudi Arabia in their 1-0 loss to China at Suncorp Stadium.
IGOR Sergeev headed in the only goal of a rain-sodden game in the 62nd-minute Saturday to give Uzbekistan a 1-0 win over North Korea.
OMAN boss Paul Le Guen has slammed A-League referee Peter O’Leary for not awarding his side a penalty in their 1-0 loss to Korea Republic.
CAPTAIN Mile Jedinak is Australia’s major injury concern heading in to Tuesday’s second group game against Oman at ANZ Stadium.
ON Sunday Iran will play in Melbourne for the first time since that infamous 1997 World Cup playoff against the Socceroos.
Defender Matthew Spiranovic admitted to Chile flashbacks, but Tim Cahill was proud of his young teammates’ stunning reaction against Kuwait.
KOREA Republic issued its Group A adversaries a timely Asian Cup warning after taming Oman 1-0 on a wet Canberra Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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