Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren predicted he would score three against Nepal
Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren is playing with so much confidence he predicted he’d bang in three goals against Nepal in their World Cup qualifier.
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Twenty-four hours before his hat trick helped to dispatch Nepal in a World Cup qualifier, Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren predicted he would do exactly that.
In a sign of the confidence coursing through the veins of the Melbourne City striker, Socceroos assistant coach Renee Mulenstein put his arm around Maclaren seconds after Graham Arnold had named the starting XI to face Nepal and asked the striker how many he would score.
“I’ll start with a hattrick and take it from there,” Maclaren replied, and duly delivered on Thursday night in the second game of Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
It was against a side ranked 166th in the world, but it was also the first hattrick in Socceroos colours for two years – and the first in open play for twice as long, since Tim Cahill put three past Bangladesh in 2015.
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The question is whether he can build on a night that quadrupled his international tally, after failing to convince some critics – though it’s worth noting that his initial international appearances came against the likes of England, Greece and Brazil.
More than a year ago, it was put to Arnold that Maclaren deserved a sustained run in the team to see if he could be an international striker, and he agreed. On Thursday night, Maclaren reaped the benefit.
“When the coach believes in you, you go on the field feeling free,” he said, clutching the match ball. “Even on the day of the game, Arnie pulled me to one side and said, you’re great, you’re going to score goals.
“At halftime (when Maclaren had two goals), he said to me, you’re going to get that third and I’m going to keep you on to get it.
“He kept his word and that’s all a striker can ask for.
“At this level, I’ve always looked in the mirror and said, am I good enough? But I knew I was, and sometimes it just takes a night like that when everything goes your way.
“As a striker I might have been a bit unlucky in the past but you just have to keep on your journey, keep on your path and keep believing.
“It was just an amazing feeling (to get a hattrick) - it was one of those things I’d waited for, dreamed of, believed I could do it.”
With Arnold planning to make wholesale changes for Tuesday’s clash with Chinese Taipei, Maclaren is well aware that he might be a victim of rotation, no matter how much he wants to go round again.
“We have three quality strikers plus others who could make this squad,” he said. “Your club form has to be top notch otherwise you won’t make the squad.
“So it’s important I keep my quality up for Melbourne City to make sure I’m in the next squad. I’ve shown with the hattrick that I can score goals at this level but there’s still others breathing down my neck in a squad with a lot of depth.”