Australia’s mature-age rookie quartet hold the keys to a World Cup resurgence
FOUR years ago, they were all spectators. Now, this group of late-blooming stars hold the key to getting the Socceroos’ World Cup campaign back on the right path — starting with Denmark.
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THEY are the mature-age Socceroos debutants who, for various reasons were spectators in 2014.
But Ange Postecoglou’s radical overhaul of the squad opened up pathways as they all climbed up the Socceroos pecking order and established themselves in time for Russia 2018.
Last Saturday, the World Cup rookie quintet of Aaron Mooy, Trent Sainsbury, Robbie Kruse, Tomi Rogic and Tomi Juric capped off their key collective qualifying roles by featuring in the Kazan opener against France.
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Mooy was one of the first to debut, under Holger Osieck in 2012, but did not entrench himself until three years ago, just after missing the 2015 Asian Cup squad as he just begun making waves at Melbourne City.
“There was lots of emotion, especially when the national anthem was being played. At the start you feel so proud after all the sacrifices, but you have to focus on your job,’’ Mooy said.
“The World Cup is something that every footballer wants to do in their career and I’m lucky enough to be involved.”
Sainsbury would have worn the captain’s armband if Bert van Marwijk elected for Massimo Luongo over Mile Jedinak in midfield.
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Missing Brazil with a knee injury after landing on a sprinkler, the France opener was a stark contrast to 2014.
“The first World Cup game, get it out of the way I guess, it was nice to do it against some of the biggest players in the world, some of the most expensive players in the world,’’ Sainsbury said.
“I wouldn’t say it shot my confidence through the roof but it was a nice little confidence booster. I always have confidence in my abilities and the teammates around me and just came out on the day and we did the game plan well.”
Kruse was emotional last Saturday, seven years and 64 games after his Socceroos debut and fearing he may struggle to ever make it.
Admitting he was still affected, Kruse said dropping back to the German second tier helped him find his groove.
“It was really surreal, the lead up didn’t really hit me until I woke up early morning of the game with a few butterflies and was really excited,’’ Kruse said.
“When you stand out there for the anthem it was really big and the fans were absolutely fantastic, I think we had three quarters of the stadium and they made their voices heard and it really inspired us and for me it’s a dream come true.
“It was difficult getting back from that and getting to the level I was at. Hard to get rhythm because I missed a year with that knee, came back for six months then missed another year after the Asian Cup (ankle).
“Then I got that ankle which probably causes me more problems now than my knee. Just with my mobility.”
Striker Juric, whose dream debut almost ended with a knee injury of his own, made an impact off the bench but is itching to play a bigger role after netting regularly in qualifying.
“It feels like it’s coming to that point where you go ‘you know what, it was worth it’,’’ Juric said.
“That long road and all the tough conditions and moments we went through, now it’s become a reality — everything we worked for the last four years is here, we’re here and we now need to make the most of it because I think we deserve it.”
Not content being there, the middle-aged World Cup rookies want to create their own history.
Originally published as Australia’s mature-age rookie quartet hold the keys to a World Cup resurgence