Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou has strengthened his attacking options for the Asian Cup after conceding the team lacked depth up-front at the World Cup in Brazil.
Postecoglou named his 23-man squad in Melbourne on Tuesday and it featured Hyundai A-League top scorer Nathan Burns, who sits on 10 goals this season with Wellington Phoenix.
And with Wanderers central striker Tomi Juric added alongside the likes of Tim Cahill, Robbie Kruse, Tommy Oar, James Troisi and Mat Leckie, it’s a squad that has a genuine attacking intent.
Socceroos' 23-man Asian Cup squad named
“In any tournament going into it with the more attacking options you have – again going back to the World Cup, I thought it was an area we were pretty limited,” the Socceroo coach said.
“When you look at games of football they are usually won in the last part of the game.
“So if you can throw some attacking options on there it helps you.”
Postecoglou added it wasn’t just about form and fitness but of players fitting in to the system he’ll employ.
“I’ve know Nathan [Burns] a long time, since I coached him in the Joeys.
“I’ve always known he had the ability and he’s the type of player who’ll fit in with what we want to do but his form is compelling.”
Postecoglou revealed Burns was close to being named in the squad for November’s Japan game but the 26-year-old wasn’t quite fit enough.
Another exciting striking option is Tomi Juric, a recent ACL winner with the Wanderers.
“Tomi is one we’ve been keen to get involved with. He was in a couple of camps and missed a couple [of camps] through injury.
“He’s another one for the future. He doesn’t have the same sort of form as Nathan Burns but we’re picking a tournament specific team.
“So Tomi gets an opportunity and we’ve specifically picked more attacking players because of the nature of this tournament.”
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