Socceroo places up for grabs
NEW Socceroos boss Bert van Marwijk is poised to give at least some new faces a chance to make a dramatic late run for the World Cup in his reduced squad to play friendlies against Norway and Colombia later this month.
Czech- based defender Aleksandar Susnjar, Jets winger Dimitri Petratos and Urawa Reds new signing Andrew Nabbout are all believed to be in the squad cut from 29 to 25 and which will assemble early next week in Oslo.
Van Marwijk will reveal which of the 29 players has been cut today, with one of the four goalkeepers chosen – Matt Ryan, Brad Jones, Danny Vukovic and Mitch Langerak – likely to be among them.
Susnjar impressed Socceroos assistant coach Ante Milicic in the Asian U23 Championships in January, while Nabbout’s tremendous form for Newcastle earned him a move to the J- League only last month. Petratos has also been in excellent form for the Jets, and has combined well with Nabbout all season.
Centrebacks Trent Sainsbury and Matthew Jurman are both included in the Australian squad despite not having played in 2018 since having groin and knee surgery respectively.
Both are believed to be training fully with their clubs, Grasshopper of Zurich and Suwon Bluewings, and van Marwijk is keen to view them in close up given their excellent form for the national team last year.
The players will take on Norway on Saturday, March 24 then transfer to London to take on Colombia early the following Wednesday.
The camp will be van Marwijk’s only chance to work with his players before naming an initial squad of up to 35 players by May 14. That has to be reduced to 23 by June 4.