Best yet to come, says Socceroo Juric

SOCCEROOS striker Tomi Juric insists his best is yet to come as he prepares to take a senior role in the Graham Arnold era.

The 27-year-old has fast become one of the Socceroos’ elder statesmen following the international retirements of Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak. With 38 he has the fifth most international caps in Arnold’s 24-man squad training in Dubai ahead of Tuesday’s friendly with Kuwait.

And he will likely be relied upon to lead an inexperienced squad that has 13 players with less than 10 appearances in the green and gold – five of them uncapped.

“Unfortunately I am one of the more senior players now,” Juric said yesterday.

“I remember my first few camps. I just had to keep my head down, work hard, and make sure I was doing what I was doing at my club.

“That’s the best advice you can give to the youngsters: just keep doing what they’re doing at their clubs, that’s why they’ve been selected to come here.”

Juric enters the Kuwait clash with little game time since Australia’s World Cup campaign, with knee and hamstring injuries limiting him to just two matches for club side FC Luzern.

And ahead of Australia’s Asian Cup defence in January, held in the UAE, he is adamant Socceroos fans have yet to see the best of him.

Juric’s lack of match fitness pales in comparison to fullback Alex Gersbach, happy to be reuniting with his former Sydney FC mentor in Arnold.

Gersbach played 31 games for the Sky Blues before joining Rosenborg in Norway, where he has featured in six matches in the past three weeks. “It’s really nice coming into camp and being around familiar faces,” Gersbach said.