Western United star Noah Botic opens up on Socceroos snub

A ‘disappointed’ Noah Botic has revealed to Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde how faith and mentorship continues to guide him after being overlooked for the latest Socceroos squad. It’s all in The Tackle.

In-form striker Noah Botic has shrugged off the disappointment of being overlooked for selection in the latest Socceroos squad, instead focusing on helping his club, Western United, win the A-League title before hopefully getting a national team call-up for June’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Botic, 23, currently leads the A-League Golden Boot battle with 11 goals, including eight in his past nine games to inspire United’s bid for A-League glory.

Western United’s Noah Botic was left out of Australia’s squad despite scoring 11 goals in the A-League this season. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

It was form that many felt should have earned him a spot in Australia’s squad in the current international window.

However, Botic missed out, but was still delighted with the Socceroos’ 5-1 win over Indonesia in Sydney last week, and hoped Tony Popovic’s men could secure another World Cup qualifying victory over China in Hangzhou on Tuesday night.

In a one-on-one interview with The Tackle, Botic credits his faith in God for helping him deal with any hurdles he has had to overcome in football and life, and also pays tribute to Western United coach, Socceroos great John Aloisi, for taking his game to another level.

The Aloisi influence

Sydney-born Botic said one of the main reasons he joined Victorian club Western United in 2021 after returning to Australia following a two-year scholarship stint in Germany with Hoffenheim was for the chance to learn off Aloisi, who scored 27 goals in 55 appearances for Australia and played in the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga.

“He’s been massive,” Botic said of Aloisi, who guided United to the A-League championship in 2022.

“The amount of experience that he’s had and that he’s got, especially being an attacker … that’s helped me a lot.

Botic says Western United coach John Aloisi has been a ‘massive’ influence on his young career. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“We’ll have shooting sessions when he’s teaching you where to strike the ball, how to strike the ball with timing, and the more you do it, the better you get at it … and it helps a lot to take it into games, with getting shots off in and around the box, or from long range as well.

“You can always learn. You never stop learning. It’s just about practice and getting the repetitions in.”

Botic said Aloisi had instilled great confidence and belief in not only himself, but the entire United squad.

“He’s taught us a philosophy of football where it’s easy to understand and everyone’s believed in it, and we’re confident in it to just implement it on the field,” he said.

“We’ve been scoring a lot of goals. We just go out there and play the football that has been implemented during our training sessions.

“Everyone understands each other, gets along well with each other and it just translates. We keep it very simple, so it comes down to all of that.”

Faith in God

Apart from Aloisi’s guidance, Botic said his faith had also had a huge influence on him as a player and a person.

“When I was younger, I didn’t have it so much, but ever since Covid and going over to Germany, I’ve slowly started believing and having faith in God, and putting his trust into anything that I do,” he said.

“It’s all him. He gives me my strength. I’m at peace with it. That’s why I feel like I’m confident in whatever I do, and I know whatever happens, happens.

“I’m in that moment and controlling it, but once that outcome happens, it’s not something that can change or you focus on.

“I’d say that’s the biggest influence for me.”

Socceroos ambitions

Having such faith and belief has helped Botic deal with the frustration of not being picked for the Socceroos.

“Obviously I was disappointed not to get selected in this squad, but I respect Tony Popovic’s decision and the players that he’s chosen,” he said.

“He’s got a reason why he’s picked those players, but it doesn’t mean that I’m never going to make the squad in the future. It’s just for this particular squad.

“I still have potential to maybe make the squad in June, so if I just keep focusing on myself and on my club football, then the rest will take care of itself.”

Botic, pictured here in 2019 playing for Australia in the FIFA U17 Men’s World Cup, still has dreams of playing for his country again. (Photo by Buda Mendes – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play for the Socceroos. I’m always going to have those ambitions and that motivation to want to make myself proud, make my family proud, and make my country proud.

“It’s a big goal of mine, but I’m sure anybody wanting to play for the Socceroos or knocking on the selection door would also have those games in June in the back of their mind.

“It’d be good for the team to get this next win against China, especially to hopefully keep increasing the gap (between Australia and Saudi Arabia in the battle for a World Cup qualifying spot).”

Originally published as Western United star Noah Botic opens up on Socceroos snub