Socceroos news: Look inside Australia camp as stars prepare for World Cup qualifier games against Palestine, Bangladesh
Coffee bans, hotel ice baths, mad airport dashes and endless long haul flights. This is what life really looks like for the Socceroos on the road.
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Guests at the Pullman Hotel can be forgiven for doing a double take as the hulking figure of Harry Souttar strides across the lobby in a towel and slides.
The towering Socceroos centre-back slips away through a fire escape and makes his way down two flights of stairs to the secluded gym where the Australian national side will put in the bulk of their preparation before the opening World Cup qualifying game against Bangladesh on Thursday night.
It’s a long way off Broadway for a side that less than a year ago was inches away from knocking out eventual champion Argentina in the round of 16 but the Socceroos are relaxed and happy as they prepare for the beginning of the next World Cup cycle.
“I’ve never seen you in the gym before,” quips goalkeeper Mat Ryan to Souttar as the defender pokes at a couple of machines before heading to an ice bath in the next room.
The pair is part of a core group which has provided crucial stability for coach Graham Arnold as he tries to build a system that can hold up against the world’s best for years to come.
Qualifying for Qatar was far from a breeze and there are no guarantees of minutes to Arnold’s first-choice players as he tries to build the squad’s depth for a gruelling road to the 2026 tournament.
It is well documented that the Socceroos travel further than any other side in World Cup qualifying and, aside from Australia’s isolation, the schedule is further complicated by how many players have to travel back from Europe for each international window.
Serie B defender Alessandro Circati was the 17th and final player to make it into the camp when he arrived in Melbourne in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
A random drug test after the 20-year-old’s last match for Parma on Sunday forced him into a mad scramble for his flight, which he made with three minutes to spare.
Team strength and conditioning boss Fabian Ehrmann said arriving any later would have ruined Circati’s hopes of featuring at AAMI Park on Thursday night.
“(The distance from Europe) is a massive problem for us,” Ehrmann said.
“Most of the boys come in from there. Out of this squad, we have 20 players arriving from overseas.
“They all come from different time zones, different club schedules. We prepare them for the flight, we tell them how we want them to act on the flight. That makes a big difference.
“The main thing is sleep strategy. Most of it centres around when they should be resting, when they should be avoiding caffeine, when they eat meals … all with the aim of adjusting to the time zone a little more quickly.”
About half the Socceroos squad comes together for breakfast on Tuesday morning as the others are encouraged to sleep in following their flights.
It’s a diverse mix of young and old around the table, including veteran Japan-based striker Mitch Duke, who has no overlap with his national teammates outside the window but has no problems blending back into the set-up.
Popular midfielder Massimo Luongo, 31, is also back in Australia with the national side for the first time since 2019 as Arnold looks to maintain the mix of youth and experience present before Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic retired.
Teammate Jackson Irvine has always been impressed by how well the group jells despite only coming together in brief spurts.
“It’s unique to have such a varied group that can come together and connect in such a short space of time,’’ he said. “It’s a special part of this team.”
The Socceroos have kept the “many journeys, one jersey” slogan they adopted before Qatar for the next World Cup cycle.
The Melbourne-born Irvine said it resonated with the diverse mix of players.
“It’s something we always have around because it’s a reminder of who we are,” he said.
“(It reflects) what coming into this environment means to all of us, and why we are so connected, probably more so than most teams can be.”
That connection is certain to be challenged during the three-year qualification process.
Long-haul flights will take a heavier toll on the Australian side.
It will resemble the 2015-17 period that ended in an eye-watering journey from Malaysia (to play Syria), back to Australia and then to Honduras to secure qualification for Russia 2018.
Covid meant the Socceroos played many of their World Cup qualifiers at neutral venues rather than returning to Australia but the Asian matches this time round are back in the usual home-and-away format.
Palestine and Lebanon join Bangladesh in Australia’s initial group. An away tie against war-torn Palestine was only confirmed for Kuwait a week ago.
Socceroos team manager Joel Freeme, who handles the travel plans for every player before and after these qualifiers, said the venue was a good result for the side despite the short notice.
“Thankfully, we’ve been there quite a bit over the last few years and we have some long-serving staff within the team set-up,” Freeme said.
“We’re going back to a hotel we’ve been to twice previously. We played at that stadium in our round 2 qualifiers during Covid a couple of years ago, so we’re blessed in that regard.”
There is nothing unusual about staying in hotels on overseas trips but many senior figures in the Socceroos camp are surprised there has still been nothing done to secure a home training base for the side when it comes to Australia.
The well-drilled Socceroos medical team is operating out of a hotel room with the furniture removed. There is a form outside for players to book in a massage or assessment before they hop on a bus to Lakeside Stadium for training.
The room across the corridor has been booked to serve as Australia’s kit room. Longtime team equipment manager Dominic Sefton has used every centimetre of space to neatly lay out the squad’s playing and training gear.
If Australia was to drop points against Bangladesh or Palestine, questions would be asked.
While Arnold is not prepared to use it as an excuse for poor performance, he is perplexed by the lack of a national team facility.
The Matildas’ home base in Melbourne’s northern suburbs opened four months ago but the political incentive for the Victorian government to inject $101 million into the facility in a World Cup year does not exist for any state with the Socceroos.
“The boys just come straight to this hotel and they will be in baths upstairs, recovering in their own room, instead of having a home (base),” Arnold said.
“England, when we played them over there, what do they do? When they start their camp, all their players go to St George’s Park, into the facility.
“They walk through the corridors inspired by everything around them. There are pictures of the greatest English players ever.
“We don’t have that. We come back to Australia, we stay in a hotel somewhere … we don’t have a home of football. It’s crazy.
“I read the newspaper and I see the Prime Minister is talking about giving Papua New Guinea $600 million to start an NRL team.
“I love AFL, I love NRL, it’s great to see what they’ve got, but why can’t we have the same? This is the national team.”
The Socceroos will travel to Kuwait to face Palestine following the clash against Bangladesh. Two games against Lebanon in March are their next World Cup qualifiers.
They will need to finish in the top two of the pool to advance to the third round of Asian qualifying, where finishing top two in a six-nation group will ensure direct qualification before two more possible chances to book a spot.
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