Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has named five local products in his extended 30-man squad for Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Thailand next month.
Australia face Thailand at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on November 15, with Postecoglou to trim the squad to 23 players after this weekend.
Former Bexley North Public School student Tim Cahill, fresh from his heroics for new club Melbourne City in the A-League, is in line to earn his 95th cap in the green and gold alongside another St George product in Queens Park Rangers attacking midfielder Massimo Luongo.
Former Endeavour Sports High School student Tomi Juric will look to add to four international goals, with former Sutherland Sharks left back Alex Gersbach and Cronulla’s Chris Ikonomidis also in the squad.
A-League-based players Luke Brattan, Jason Geria, Josh Risdon, Tommy Oar as well as overseas-based Nathan Burns, Milos Degenek and Aziz Behich have been added to the squad that drew 2-2 with Saudi Arabia and 1-1 with Japan.
Postecoglou said he had named the extended squad for the Thailand fixture to have a look at players involved in matches across the world this weekend.
“We have players who are in the squad or on the fringe, including those playing in the Hyundai A-League, that are just starting their seasons and with the tight turnaround from Japan to Thailand I wanted to have another look at them after they have showed good signs in the opening rounds,” he said.
“It is yet another good sign of the depth we are creating and when we announce the team after this weekend there will be players who miss out that are playing well enough to be part of the squad.”
Australia’s clash with Thailand will proceed as planned following uncertainty over the match after the death of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Postecoglou said he was happy the match was going ahead in Bangkok as scheduled but also understood the sensitivities following the death of the King of Thailand.
“We will be in Bangkok for a longer than usual period as we only have one match in this window so we will have a good lead in to ensure we are well prepared,” he said.
“We are currently sitting second in what is a very tight group and after this game we will be at the halfway stage of qualification so this game is important.”
Kick-off is at 11pm (AEDT).