Last-ditch bids for inclusion in Australia’s World Cup squad
Melbourne City’s Jamie Maclaren looks a lock for Graham Arnold’s World Cup squad next week, but another City teammate puts his dream on the line this weekend.
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Jamie Maclaren concedes it would be “everything” to have his name included in Socceroos coach Graham Arnold’s World Cup squad when it is announced next Tuesday.
But the value of one more A-League game to cement a position for himself, and potentially a couple of his Melbourne City teammates, is enough to ensure focus is not lost on what’s to come.
City coach Patrick Kisnorbo has pledged to do what he can to send his own players off to Qatar in tip-top shape, with Maclaren and Mathew Leckie both likely inclusions in the 26-man squad.
“We‘re happy that we can help the country and our club by having representatives in the Socceroos,” Kisnorbo said on Friday ahead of his team’s Saturday showdown with Perth Glory.
“Whoever gets chosen (from City) for next Tuesday, we can’t control that, but we can definitely help their cause in terms of training them hard.”
Maclaren’s A-League goalscoring record, with a league-high five goals already this season and back-to-back Golden Boot awards, has been enough for Arnold to make him something of a squad mainstay.
While he’s yet to break into Australia’s best 11, he has done enough to be in the 26 and should feel comfortable enough that his World Cup dream will come true next week.
“I’ve always said previously it would mean everything, but you know you only get picked due to form, fitness, health and a lot of factors that need to be ticked,” Maclaren said on Friday.
“And you know, a lot of us at Melbourne City have been playing and doing well and all you can do is control what you can control and that’s keeping your head down working hard and being in the right mindset.
“We’ve got a game tomorrow to impress again and, like I said, the squad will be named I assume after the weekend. And what will be will be.”
Saturday’s clash with Glory is one final chance for Maclaren’s City teammate Marco Tilio to move Arnold closer towards including him too.
His cause hasn’t been helped by limited game time early in the season, but he has worked his way back into Kisnorbo’s starting 11 and Maclaren said the 21-year-old’s international exposure against Vietnam earlier this year, where he made his Socceroos debut, had shown his game could go “to another level”.
“With Marco, we‘ve seen a different character now that he realises that his game can go to another level,” Maclaren said.
“He understands his role in the team.
“Whether he‘s going to start or he’s going to come off the bench, he needs to make an impact and he’s done both.
“He creates things, he beats players one v one, wins you penalties, wins you free kicks in good areas, so he’s dangerous.
“He can play on either side or in the number 10 role which he has done in the past last season. So good kid, he needs to work a little bit harder but he’s a fantastic talent.
“When he does come on the field, he’s such an exciting player who we love playing with.
He’ a quality player and he’ll only get better as he gets older.”
Last chance to push for World Cup spots
Has Macarthur FC star Daniel Arzani done enough to be picked in Australia’s World Cup squad?
Will Central Coast Mariners teammates Garang Kuol and Jason Cummings be heading to Qatar?
We will soon know, with Socceroos coach Graham Arnold to next week name his 26-man squad for the World Cup, which begins November 20.
It means those A-League players named in Arnold’s preliminary 55-man squad last month have one final chance this weekend to convince the national coach they should be going to Qatar.
While that 55-man list wasn’t released publicly, we can take a good guess which A-League players were on it.
Of them, the certainties to go the World Cup – barring any disasters this weekend – are Melbourne City attackers Mathew Leckie and Jamie Maclaren, and Sydney FC goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.
While he won’t be Australia’s first-choice gloveman, Redmayne’s penalty shootout heroics in the World Cup playoff against Peru won’t be forgotten and he will be among the Socceroos’ three custodians in Qatar.
Maclaren’s A-League goalscoring record speaks for itself, and while he’s yet to prove he’s worthy of a spot in Australia’s best 11, he has done enough to be in the 26.
The experience of Socceroos stalwart Leckie can’t be sneezed at, and his early season form for City will have him going to his third World Cup.
For the rest of the A-League World Cup hopefuls, their form this weekend could prove decisive, particularly with a host of Australia’s overseas-based players not playing due to injury or being out of favour with their coach.
Adelaide United star Craig Goodwin has done well enough in his comeback from osteitis pubis to deserve World Cup selection, but fellow winger and recent Western Sydney Wanderers recruit Brandon Borrello has perhaps left his run too late.
City’s Marco Tilio’s selection cause wasn’t helped by limited game time early in the season, but he has worked his way back into Patrick Kisnorbo’s starting 11.
Still, that may not be enough to get him to Qatar, considering the emergence of fellow attackers Kuol and Cummings.
Teenager Kuol’s rise has earnt him a contract with English Premier League club Newcastle, and he could be the wildcard in Arnold’s Qatar mix.
Scotsman Cummings, who is eligible to play for Australia via his mother’s heritage, scored in his only game for Australia, and was superb for the Mariners last weekend against Western United. He has made it very hard for Arnold to leave him out of the Socceroos’ World Cup plans.
And then there’s Arzani, the former Melbourne City prodigy who, as a teenager, played at the 2018 World Cup.
Things went pear-shaped for Arzani after that as he bounced from club to club in Europe, not playing enough due largely to injuries.
Now back in the A-League with Macarthur, Arzani has started the season well enough, but will need a huge game on Sunday against Wellington Phoenix to convince Arnold to take him to Qatar.
“It’s something I’m desperate to do,” Arzani told The Back Page.
“That was the idea of coming back to Australia (when) I did, to try to get myself back into that national team and push myself back into that World Cup squad.
“It would be an incredible experience for me to be at 23 years of age and having played at two World Cups.
“It’s something that I’m hopeful I do, but ... it comes down to the coach’s preference, and how he wants to play.
“I have to perform and show what I can do.”
Other A-League players with slim World Cup selection hopes include Victory quartet Nick D’Agostino, Ben Folami, Chris Ikonomidis and Jake Brimmer, City pair Andrew Nabbout and Aiden O’Neill and Western United’s Josh Risdon.
Originally published as Last-ditch bids for inclusion in Australia’s World Cup squad
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