Australia's Possible World Cup Squad
Guus Hiddink names the Australian World Cup squad today. The Soccer Squirrel assesses the contenders from the definites to the outside bets.
Australia’s World Cup squad which will be announced at 11 am this morning is believed to be mostly made up of the 23 players that participated in the two legs against Uruguay in November.
The best starting XI only has one query and that is Tim Cahill. The Everton midfielder is still struggling with a knee injury and it will be a race against time to see if he is available for the first match against Japan on June 12. Cahill will be included in the squad as Australia will take 3 standby players to Germany in case of injury.
Hiddink has been known to gamble on youth – especially in big games – however it looks likely only Michael Beauchamp, Brett Holman and Mark Milligan will be the youth included that did not make it to Uruguay. Milligan and Beauchamp, the two candidates from the A-League, will provide backup in defence. Holman is a creative midfielder who could be a replacement for Cahill if the injured star does not recover.
Craig Moore is a welcome re-inclusion into the squad after battling his way back from a series of injuries that blighted his season. The solid defender has been a rock in recent games with his club Newcastle United only conceding 4 goals in his last 7 games.
There will be few surprises in midfield and attack as the proven stars of Australia have been in dominating form for their respective clubs. Kewell and Viduka, arguably our two best players, have been hitting peak form at the right time of the season. Both will play in Cup finals as their final club games for the season before participating in the World Cup. Viduka will be leading the attack for Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday whilst Kewell will line-up on his left wing for Liverpool in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Let’s hope this is not the last Cup final that our stars feature in this year…
POSSIBLE AUSTRALIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD
Definites: Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Marco Bresciano (Parma, Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, England), John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Archie Thompson (PSV Eindhoven, Holland), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England).
Probables: Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden), Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (uncontracted), Ljubo Milicevic (FC Thun, Switzerland), Josip Skoko (Stoke City, England), Brett Holman (Excelsior, Netherlands), Ahmad Elrich (Fulham, England), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol City, England).
Possibles: Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel, Switzerland), Joel Griffiths (Leeds United, England), Michael Thwaite (National Bucharest, Romania), Jon McKain (Politehnica Timisoara, Romania), Neil Kilkenny (Birmingham City, England).
Outside Bets: Brad Jones (Middlesbrough, England), Josh Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden, Germany), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leicester City, England).
Australia’s World Cup squad which will be announced at 11 am this morning is believed to be mostly made up of the 23 players that participated in the two legs against Uruguay in November.
The best starting XI only has one query and that is Tim Cahill. The Everton midfielder is still struggling with a knee injury and it will be a race against time to see if he is available for the first match against Japan on June 12. Cahill will be included in the squad as Australia will take 3 standby players to Germany in case of injury.
Hiddink has been known to gamble on youth – especially in big games – however it looks likely only Michael Beauchamp, Brett Holman and Mark Milligan will be the youth included that did not make it to Uruguay. Milligan and Beauchamp, the two candidates from the A-League, will provide backup in defence. Holman is a creative midfielder who could be a replacement for Cahill if the injured star does not recover.
Craig Moore is a welcome re-inclusion into the squad after battling his way back from a series of injuries that blighted his season. The solid defender has been a rock in recent games with his club Newcastle United only conceding 4 goals in his last 7 games.
There will be few surprises in midfield and attack as the proven stars of Australia have been in dominating form for their respective clubs. Kewell and Viduka, arguably our two best players, have been hitting peak form at the right time of the season. Both will play in Cup finals as their final club games for the season before participating in the World Cup. Viduka will be leading the attack for Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday whilst Kewell will line-up on his left wing for Liverpool in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Let’s hope this is not the last Cup final that our stars feature in this year…
POSSIBLE AUSTRALIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD
Definites: Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Marco Bresciano (Parma, Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, England), John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Archie Thompson (PSV Eindhoven, Holland), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England).
Probables: Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden), Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (uncontracted), Ljubo Milicevic (FC Thun, Switzerland), Josip Skoko (Stoke City, England), Brett Holman (Excelsior, Netherlands), Ahmad Elrich (Fulham, England), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol City, England).
Possibles: Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel, Switzerland), Joel Griffiths (Leeds United, England), Michael Thwaite (National Bucharest, Romania), Jon McKain (Politehnica Timisoara, Romania), Neil Kilkenny (Birmingham City, England).
Outside Bets: Brad Jones (Middlesbrough, England), Josh Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden, Germany), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leicester City, England).
posted by The Soccer Squirrel at 10:10 am
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