The Dutch Magician Pulls Few Surprises Out Of His Hat
Australia’s 23 man squad for the World Cup in Germany was announced today. Hiddink’s squad consists mainly of experienced campaigners with no major surprises. The World Cup bolter was the inclusion of German based striker Josh Kennedy along with Mark Milligan, the versatile Sydney FC defender, as the other uncapped rookie.
Australia's 2006 World Cup Squad is:
Goalkeepers: Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England)
Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (uncontracted), Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England)
Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Parma, Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England), Josip Skoko (Stoke City, England), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel, Switzerland), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol, England)
Forwards: John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Josh Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden, Germany), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, England).
Hiddink announced that he had made up his mind on the majority of the squad but the last 3 positions were up for grabs right down to the last minute.
"We had to think - Graham Arnold, Johan Neeskens and me - about two or three positions who were open still until the last date," Hiddink said.
"It was not a guarantee which I told the players in Holland when we started preparing before the Uruguay games, that it is not a fixed selection. In the end we managed to bring in some young players as well for the number 20-23 positions."
"Of course we have in our heads the basic positions of the team. Of course we can be flexible and we will work on that regarding our opponents. Sometimes it's good to play with four strikers, sometimes it is good during a game to play with two strikers so we will work on that but basically the format is fixed."
On announcing the squad via video linkup the Dutch maestro announced that Australia was in no way going to Germany just to make up the 32 teams.
"We're happy to be there, of course, but this team is not just going to be participating," the Dutchman said in broken English.
"This team wants to go to a surprise and make the second round of the competition. But we have a tough group.
"Japan is a good team, with many European based players. Brazil - everyone knows about Brazil. Brazil will be a special game, and Croatia is tough because of the links between them and Australia."
Australia begins its World Cup campaign on June 12 against Japan in Kaiserslautern before taking on World Champions Brazil on June 18 in Munich.
The Socceroos finish the group stage against Croatia on June 22 in Stuttgart.
The Socceroos will play 3 warm up matches in preparation for Germany. European champion Greece will be the first opponent in Melbourne on May 25, before the Socceroos travel to Rotterdam to play Hiddink’s home nation Holland on June 4. Finally they take on minnows Liechtenstein in Germany on June 7.
Look out for more to follow on The Soccer Squirrel as we preview some of the lesser lights that made the Socceroos World Cup squad.
Australia's 2006 World Cup Squad is:
Goalkeepers: Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England)
Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (uncontracted), Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England)
Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Parma, Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England), Josip Skoko (Stoke City, England), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel, Switzerland), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol, England)
Forwards: John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Josh Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden, Germany), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, England).
Hiddink announced that he had made up his mind on the majority of the squad but the last 3 positions were up for grabs right down to the last minute.
"We had to think - Graham Arnold, Johan Neeskens and me - about two or three positions who were open still until the last date," Hiddink said.
"It was not a guarantee which I told the players in Holland when we started preparing before the Uruguay games, that it is not a fixed selection. In the end we managed to bring in some young players as well for the number 20-23 positions."
"Of course we have in our heads the basic positions of the team. Of course we can be flexible and we will work on that regarding our opponents. Sometimes it's good to play with four strikers, sometimes it is good during a game to play with two strikers so we will work on that but basically the format is fixed."
On announcing the squad via video linkup the Dutch maestro announced that Australia was in no way going to Germany just to make up the 32 teams.
"We're happy to be there, of course, but this team is not just going to be participating," the Dutchman said in broken English.
"This team wants to go to a surprise and make the second round of the competition. But we have a tough group.
"Japan is a good team, with many European based players. Brazil - everyone knows about Brazil. Brazil will be a special game, and Croatia is tough because of the links between them and Australia."
Australia begins its World Cup campaign on June 12 against Japan in Kaiserslautern before taking on World Champions Brazil on June 18 in Munich.
The Socceroos finish the group stage against Croatia on June 22 in Stuttgart.
The Socceroos will play 3 warm up matches in preparation for Germany. European champion Greece will be the first opponent in Melbourne on May 25, before the Socceroos travel to Rotterdam to play Hiddink’s home nation Holland on June 4. Finally they take on minnows Liechtenstein in Germany on June 7.
Look out for more to follow on The Soccer Squirrel as we preview some of the lesser lights that made the Socceroos World Cup squad.
posted by The Soccer Squirrel at 10:07 pm
1 Comments:
Yeah, squad was fairly predictable. This Kennedy bloke could be an interesting addition. He's our Walcott. I don't know much about Milligan however I read he's versatile so will suit Guus. Sterjovski is an interesting one. Striker who is now a midfielder he didn't seem to have any pace in the game I saw against boro but other than that I'm not sure what he's capable of. He's playing a better standard than any other possibles though so was the wise choice. I trust Guus has got it right.
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