The Socceroos have an app packed with news, analysis and excellent videos. Download now, it’s great. But there’s another Socceroo app, and it’s one you can’t find on iTunes.
This private app is accessible only to the players and Ange Postecoglou and his coaching and medical team.
With their own usernames and passwords, Socceroos from London to Moscow, Leverkusen to Swindon, fill it in daily.
No ifs or buts, it’s done every day for all players in the squad and even those on the fringes of selection.
The app monitors everything about the players’ physical condition - a vital part of pre-planning before the Asian Cup.
How often the players train and for how long, how hard it was, what type of session it was, how they feel post-training, how they slept and any injuries.
And when Ange Postecoglou and his team wake up each day, the first thing they do is check the app to keep a track of each Socceroo’s physical state.
It’s all part of the meticulous physical preparation that helped the Green and Gold lift the Asian Cup trophy.
And it will continue to help the Green and Gold as they begin the road to Russia and the 2018 World Cup. And that's something powerhouse right back Ivan Franjic is all for.
“It’s very good because it keeps them [Socceroo medical and coaching staff] on top of us and how we’re travelling.
“It’s definitely a great idea,” the Socceroo right back told www.socceroos.com.au
After six powerful performances for the Socceroos in the Asian Cup, Franjic proved himself a colossus down the right, playing every minute of every game – including two energy-sapping clashes in the sapping humidity of Brisbane.
The former Roar man even set up Tim Cahill for one of the greatest ever Socceroos goals in the 2-0 win over China – his looping header falling at the feet of the green and gold talisman.
Franjic instituted his own ‘pre-season’ in early December with a personal trainer prior to the Socceroos camp in Melbourne – due to a lack of game time at his Russian club. It paid dividends.
What's more, with a demanding pre-Asian Cup camp in Melbourne under their belts and information from the app constantly feeding into the coaching staff’s analysis of players' bodies during the tournament too, little wonder Franjic and the Aussies ended the Continental showpiece as the fittest team in the Cup.
And as Franjic cautioned, if you take shortcuts in preparation, it shows when it matters.
“It’s all about honesty. The boys are very honest about what they fill in. Every morning I fill it out," he said.
“We like to push one another and get the best out of each other. There’s not much cheating going on around here.
“If you do take short-cuts you’ll see it on the field.”