They always are, in various ways.
The most eye-catching name is Lucas Herrington, the 18-year-old centre-back formerly of Brisbane Roar, and more recently of Colorado Rapids, where he has been absolutely killing it to the point where he is keeping former Arsenal defender Rob Holding on the bench. His ex-coach at the Roar, Ruben Zadkovich, once described him as the best defender in Australia. Yes, a big call, but it appears many other coaches share a similarly glowing view of Herrington. A good performance here could put him genuinely in the mix for a World Cup spot; that’s the level of talent we’re talking about here. As they say, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
Also: the midfield. With Jackson Irvine left in Germany, Popovic has named Aiden O’Neill alongside Connor Metcalfe, who is usually deployed in the wide attacking roles. He’s played central midfield before, of course, but not with great regularity for the Socceroos, so this seems like a bit of an audition for the FC St. Pauli star.
And then up front, in the absence of nailed-on No.9 Mohamed Toure, Deni Juric gets a start. This will be the first cap for the younger brother of former Socceroos frontman Tomi Juric, who set up the goal here at Accor Stadium that won the 2015 Asian Cup for Australia. The Juric boys will become the eighth set of siblings to represent the Socceroos. Deni’s been enjoying a good season in Poland with Wisla Plock, and given Australia’s relative lack of depth when it comes to centre forwards, this is a huge opportunity for him.
Everyone else is on the bench – duh, obviously, that’s how it works – except for Kye Rowles, the late call-up who replaced the injured Fran Karacic in this squad. He arrived in Sydney this morning, I believe.
