Absence of injured star Jackson Irvine a ‘blow’ for Socceroos, admits coach Tony Popovic

An “unexpected” selection could be the answer for the Socceroos in their bid to replace injured star Jackson Irvine.

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic says he has no choice but to “find a solution” for the absence of key midfielder Jackson Irvine for Australia’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June against Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The rock of the Socceroos’ engine room, Irvine, 32, is set to be sidelined for at least three months after having surgery this week on a foot injury he suffered in Germany with his Bundesliga club St. Pauli.

“It’s certainly a blow,” Popovic said.

“He played very well for us in the last (international) window (in March) and has been doing very well at St. Pauli. It looks like they’ll stay up, which is great news for him personally.

“It will be a bit of a process now coming back, but having been in touch with him, he is very positive, and the operation went very well.

“He’ll be back, I believe, for some part of pre-season next season, hopefully.

“It’s a blow, but we have to find a solution. There are solutions.

“We’ve got an eye on the A-League players that are playing, but we’ve got a lot of midfielders playing overseas at the moment, getting regular minutes, so we’re monitoring everyone.

“There’s an opportunity for someone to come in.”

Those players include Max Balard (NAC Breda, Netherlands) and Nectarios Triantis (Hibernian, Scotland), who have been part of Socceroos camps under Popovic but remain uncapped.

“We’ve had Max in, now we’ve had Triantis in as well, so we’ve seen them in the camp. They’ve gone back (to their clubs) and continued to play well, so they’re an option, but there’s always someone else,” said Popovic, who used the example of Melbourne Victory midfielder Ryan Teague having stood out on debut in Australia’s 2-0 away in China in March despite being an “unexpected” selection.

“He has a really calm temperament. He doesn’t get fazed by anything. He knew he was playing the day before and just went out and executed and was confident to get on the ball, which helped us a lot to really silence the crowd in the first half.

“Him getting on the ball and controlling the tempo played a big part in the performance and the result.

“It was his first time in with us, and he played, so the way I see it is someone else can come in now and do the same thing that Ryan did – unexpected call-up, gets in, performs, and there’s an opportunity for him to continue growing and playing more games for the Socceroos.”

o help further assess potential replacements for Irvine as well as players vying for other positions in the squad for the games against Japan (June 5, Perth) and Saudi Arabia (June 11 AEST, Jeddah), Popovic and his coaching staff will conduct a training camp in late May in Abu Dhabi.

Popovic hopes talented young defender Alessandro Circati is part of that camp,

Circati, 21, hasn’t played since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in September last year but has recovered sufficiently to be on the bench for his Italian top-flight club Parma’s past three matches.

“(Socceroos assistant coach) Paul Okon will be going to visit him in the next few days to have a really close look at where he’s at in terms of his training and to see his level,” Popovic said.

“He’s at a club that’s in the Serie A that’s recently got some great results and look like staying in the league, so that’ll be important.

“The boy has already put his hand up that he wants to be involved, which is fantastic.

“He feels he’s ready, but we have to consider all factors before selecting him.

“We will have a camp in Abu Dhabi, so there’ll be a 10-day window to bring some of these boys like ‘Ale’ into that camp, where we can have a good look at them.

“Then we can see what level he’s at and whether he can be part of the squad for Perth.”

Originally published as Absence of injured star Jackson Irvine a ‘blow’ for Socceroos, admits coach Tony Popovic