Socceroos captain and goalkeeper Mat Ryan to leave Italian club Roma in search for first-team football

Socceroos captain Mat Ryan has earnt high praise from national coach Tony Popovic as he moves to France in his quest for more game time.

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic has hailed the professionalism of national team captain Mat Ryan, whose quest for first-team football and a permanent spot in Australia’s starting side has taken him to France after a failed stint in Italy.

After making just one appearance in all competitions for Roma sine joining the Serie A club six months ago, 32-year-old goalkeeper Ryan is set to link with French top-flight outfit Lens for a reported fee of 800,000 Euros ($A1.32 million).

With the Socceroos’ next FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia (Sydney) and China (Hangzhou) being played in March, Ryan needs game time to enhance his chances of being selected by Popovic ahead of Aston Villa deputy gloveman Joe Gauci.

Of Popovic’s first four games in charge of the Socceroos in October and November, Gauci played in the first three before Ryan was unexpectedly restored for Australia’s 2-2 draw with Bahrain in Riffa.

Socceroos captain Mat Ryan is set to leave Italian club Roma in the search for more game time. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

“It was just a selection decision,” Popovic said.

“(It was) a combination of training, just looking at Joey around the hotel, Maty’s experience ... he looked really good in training, and I just thought his experience could be vital in the game against Bahrain.”

Popovic praised Ryan for his attitude when dropped to the bench.

“You learn a lot about the person when they’re not selected for the game. Our goal is to qualify the Socceroos for the World Cup, and everyone needs to fight for their position – that includes Maty,” the national coach said.

“He’s accepted that, and he’s been very good around the place when not playing,

“I told him that he will have a chance at some point, and he has to work hard and if he wants to be in the Socceroos, all he can do is control his part – that’s training well, being the leader, being captain, on and off the field, and then it’s down to my choice and my selection.

“I didn’t expect anything different than what I’ve seen from a seasoned professional who’s had a great career (of) 96 caps.

“You don’t get to that without being a top player and a top professional, so the way he conducted himself, it’s no surprise.”

Popovic was also full of praise for injured centre-back Harry Souttar, admitting his “unique” qualities would be difficult to replace in the heart of Australia’s defence while he recovered from the ruptured Achilles tendon injury he suffered last month playing for Sheffield United in the English Championship.

The ‘unique’ Harry Souttar will be tough to replace for the Socceroos. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“You won’t find a like-for-like replacement for Harry, because I feel his attributes are unique to what we have at the moment,” Popovic said.

“We need to find the player that gives us that stability in the middle of that back three, and can do what Harry was doing.

“That can be more of a technical player, it can be a physical player, so it just depends on the strengths that we have around that player, in terms of what we can add in that position.

“We’re a little bit open-minded in who that could be, or how that looks.”

In other fitness concerns, Popovic said St. Pauli (Germany) midfielder Connor Metcalfe groin problem was “hanging around a little bit too long” for his liking, admitted Portsmouth (England) striker Kusini Yengi could be sidelined until the end of next month with a knee injury, and declared Motherwell (Scotland) attacker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos was a “week-by-week” proposition in his recovery from a calf complaint.

Originally published as Socceroos captain and goalkeeper Mat Ryan to leave Italian club Roma in search for first-team football