Head Coach Ange Postecoglou today named the 30-man Socceroo preliminary squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Mark Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Mark Milligan, Josh Kennedy and Luke Wilkshire are a step closer to representing Australia at three straight FIFA World Cups while the 30-man Socceroo squad contains two uncapped players, Ben Halloran and Bailey Wright, and has an average age of 25.5.
Postecoglou showed his belief in the rapidly improving Hyundai A-League by naming 10 locally-based players with 22 members of the 30-man squad staring their professional career in the A-League.
The squad will begin arriving in Australia tomorrow (Thursday) for a pre-World Cup Camp in Gosford and Sydney before flying to Brazil on May 28 where they will face defending Champions Spain, 2010 World Cup runners up the Netherlands and South American danger side Chile.
“We’re excited to announce the preliminary 30-man Socceroos squad for the World Cup,” Postecoglou said. “We’ve selected a squad we believe will represent the people of Australia with pride on the biggest stage in world sport.
“The squad has been selected with form and fitness as key indicators as well as having one eye on the future.
“We face a formidable challenge in Brazil but it is also a big opportunity and we head to the World Cup with no barriers as we look to write a new chapter in our rich football history.”
Postecoglou will trim the squad to 27 after the Socceroos play South Africa, presented by NAB, on Monday 26 May at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The final 23-man squad will be named on 2 June.
“We’ve named 30 players for the camp and will leave Australia with 27 before cutting the squad to 23 before the first game but we want all 30 players and the staff to get a meaningful experience out of the camps and World Cup,” Postecoglou said.
“We want the camp to be competitive to make sure the training intensity is as high as possible as players strive to make the final 23 squad but everyone is equally important as we also have one eye on the future.”
GOALKEEPERS
Mark BIRIGHITTI (Newcastle Jets FC, AUSTRALIA)
Eugene GALEKOVIC (Adelaide United FC, AUSTRALIA)
Mitchell LANGERAK (B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, GERMANY)
Mat RYAN (Club Brugge KV, BELGIUM)
DEFENDERS
Jason DAVIDSON (SC Heracles Almelo, NETHERLANDS)
Ivan FRANJIC (Brisbane Roar FC, AUSTRALIA)
Curtis GOOD (Dundee United FC, SCOTLAND)
Ryan McGOWAN (Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, CHINA)
Matthew SPIRANOVIC (Western Sydney Wanderers FC, AUSTRALIA)
Alex WILKINSON (Jeonbuk Hyundai FC, KOREA REPUBLIC)
Luke WILKSHIRE (FK Dinamo Moscow, RUSSIA)
Bailey WRIGHT (Preston North End FC, ENGLAND)
MIDFIELDERS
Oliver BOZANIC (FC Luzern, SWITZERLAND)
Mark BRESCIANO (Al Gharafa, QATAR)
Joshua BRILLANTE (Newcastle Jets FC, AUSTRALIA)
James HOLLAND (FK Austria Vienna, AUSTRIA)
Mile JEDINAK (Crystal Palace FC, ENGLAND)
Massimo LUONGO (Swindon Town FC, ENGLAND)
Matthew McKAY (Brisbane ROAR FC, AUSTRALIA)
Mark MILLIGAN (Melbourne Victory FC, AUSTRALIA)
Tommy OAR (FC Utrecht, NETHERLANDS)
Tommy ROGIC (Melbourne Victory FC, AUSTRALIA)
Adam SAROTA (FC Utrecht, NETHERLANDS)
James TROISI (Melbourne Victory FC, AUSTRALIA)
Dario VIDOSIC (FC Sion, SWITZERLAND)
FORWARDS
Tim CAHILL (New York Red Bulls, USA)
Ben HALLORAN (Fortuna Dusseldorf, GERMANY)
Josh KENNEDY (Nagoya Grampus 8, JAPAN)
Matthew LECKIE (FSV Frankfurt 1899, GERMANY)
Adam TAGGART (Newcastle Jets FC, AUSTRALIA)
The final chance to see the Socceroos on home soil before they head to Brazil 2014 will be when they take on South Africa in a farewell game on May 26 in Sydney. Tickets for the match, presented by NAB, are on sale now. Click here to secure yours today.