Socceroos / Matildas / World Cup / Asian Cup

[one-eyed]

FFA appoints Graham Arnold to succeed Bert van Marwijk as Socceroos boss after World Cup.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/ffa-appoints-graham-arnold-to-succeed-bert-van-marwijk-as-socceroos-boss-after-world-cup/news-story/b8be840bdeeaceed23aa7306093b49c1

[Assange Tiger 😎]

Graham Arnold, what a great coach

[dwaino]

What a waste.

[Diocletian]

New bloke off to a good start...but then again, hard to compete with men of such rich Viking stock:

[dwaino]

National team is heading into an unprecedented dark age.

[mightytiges]

Bring back Ange.

[Diocletian]

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/australia-could-boycott-soccer-world-cup-over-russian-nerve-agent-attack-20180327-p4z6h1.html

[dwaino]

Yet Bishop says there is no consideration of a boycott?

[one-eyed]

Australia will play Syria, Palestine and Jordan in Group B at the Asian Cup in January, a relatively benign introduction for Graham Arnold in what will be his first major assignment once he takes over from Bert van Marwijk as coach after the World Cup.

As defending champions, after defeating South Korea in the final in 2015 under Ange Postecoglou, Australia will travel to the tournament in the UAE with confidence.

To ease their path further, the tournament has been expanded to 24 teams from 16, meaning several of the third-placed teams will progress from the group stage to the Round of 16.

If Australia top their group, which will be favourites to do, they will face the best-ranked third place team from one of three groups, before a potential quarterfinal with rivals Japan.

The 2019 Asian Cup will be played at eight venues in four cities in the UAE - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Al Ain, in a tournament that will run from January 5 to February 1.

ASIAN CUP DRAW:

GROUP A: United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India, Bahrain

GROUP B: Australia, Syria, Palestine, Jordan

GROUP C: South Korea, China, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines

GROUP D: Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Yemen

GROUP E: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, North Korea

GROUP F: Japan, Uzbekistan, Oman, Turkmenistan

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/socceroos-opponents-for-the-2019-asian-cup-have-been-revealed/news-story/691319334d11d96cfe470604f84b0b76

[one-eyed]

Daniel Arzani and Fran Karacic have been confirmed as the selection bolters for Australia's preliminary 32-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Melbourne City wing prodigy Arzani has represented Australia at junior level but due to his heritage was also eligible to play for Iran.

Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk has looked to ensure Arzani's future lies with Australia by naming him in his initial squad, which will be whittled down to 23 players by the eve of the World Cup in Russia.

Socceroos' 32-man preliminary World Cup squad

Goalkeepers:

    Brad Jones (Feyenoord), Mitch Langerak (Nagoya Grampus), Mat Ryan (Brighton), Danny Vukovic (Genk)


Defenders:

    Aziz Behich (Bursaspor), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F Marinos), Alex Gersbach (Lens), Matthew Jurman (Suwon Bluewings), Fran Karacic (NK Lokomotiva), James Meredith (Millwall), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney), Trent Sainsbury (Grasshoppers), Aleksandar Susnjar (FK Mlada Boleslav), Bailey Wright (Bristol City)


Midfielders:

    Josh Brillante (Sydney FC), Jackson Irvine (Hull City), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa), Robbie Kruse (Bochum), Massimo Luongo (QPR), Mark Milligan (Al Ahli), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Tom Rogic (Celtic), James Troisi (Melbourne Victory)


Forwards:

    Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City), Tim Cahill (Millwall), Apostolos Giannou (AEK Larnaca), Tomi Juric (FC Luzern), Matthew Leckie (Hertha Berlin), Jamie MacLaren (Hibernian), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds), Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-07/socceroos-name-preliminary-world-cup-squad/9733740

[one-eyed]

 


https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1002532194013798400

A brace to Leckie.
Good interplay between Rogic and Mooy as attacking mids.
Classy strike and finish by Nabbout .

[mightytiges]

SOCCEROOS’ WORLD CUP SQUAD

Brad Jones, Mat Ryan, Danny Vukovic; Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Matthew Jurman, James Meredith, Josh Risdon, Trent Sainsbury; Jackson Irvine, Mile Jedinak, Robbie Kruse, Massimo Luongo, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic; Daniel Arzani, Tim Cahill, Tomi Juric, Mathew Leckie, Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Nabbout, Dimitri Petratos.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/world-cup/teams/australia/socceroos-make-final-cuts-to-world-cup-squad-daniel-arzani-makes-23man-travelling-party/news-story/51afe50ed5e726943d39ffd45a54f3cf

Not an obvious back 4. We've even used Milligan as a CB. We wouldn't want to cop a couple of injuries in defence  .

A guess at the starting 11? A 4-5-1 formation against France?

                            Ryan
   Behich    Sainsbury     Jurman    Risdon
Kruse    Luongo      Mooy    Rogic       Leckie
                            Juric

I'm presuming we'll begin with our starting 11 for the France game against Hungry in the final friendly.

[dwaino]

I'd probably go similar to you. Reckon Petratos would be handy off the bench with late game set pieces. So good to see him finally make the team, well deserved and long overdue. Maclaren and Nabbout could be pretty handy off the bench. It has been a long time since we've had pacy options, usually it's Cahill for Juric/Juric for Cahill.

[mightytiges]

I watched the Hungry game early this morning. More questions than answers as far as the starting 11 after that slop. Aside from all 3 goals belonging more in a U12s match, our backs coughed up schoolboy errors and we lacked connection between defence and midfield which meant we were too slow moving the ball forward to penetrate Hungry's defence and looked out of ideas if we couldn't feed the ball out wide. Risden was torn apart and exposed at right back especially in the first half. Up front neither Nabbout nor Juric showed anything. Says it all Timmy was brought on to replace Juric and placed up front. It's a big call but Arzani deserves a start. Still very young and it's a risk against France who will most likely dominate possession but he is a class above most of his more experienced Socceroo teammates. I thought Irvine was one of our best when he came on too.

[dwaino]

Stayed up as well. Risdon is a worry at RB but we're really weak there. I wish Mooy/Luongo combo worked better but it just doesn't. Jedinak has to start but that throws everything out a bit because Luongo is better than a sub but Rogic is our best attacking mid and while Mooy is slower than refrigerated honey he is one of our better play makers.

Still wouldn't start Arzani. Not against France anyway. He's worked magic as a sub against two average teams. He won't get that sort of sniff against France and I'd worry it would destroy him.

Sallai ripped us to shreds. Not looking forward to what Dembele and co will do.