Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren is embracing the competition for places leading into the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, starting with Thursday night’s international friendly against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium.
It will be the first time the two nations have encountered since 2011 and Maclaren said the upcoming matches against the All Whites are extremely important for Australia’s preparation.
Thursday night’s contest serves as the Socceroos’ farewell game on home soil ahead of the world’s biggest sporting tournament.
Three days later Graham Arnold’s side face the same opposition in Auckland.
Maclaren admitted he was looking forward to returning to a familiar hunting ground and playing in front of a home Aussie crowd – something he never takes for granted.
The incumbent Melbourne City talisman enjoyed two prolific years at Brisbane Roar between 2015 and 2017.
“They (the friendlies) are very important,” Maclaren explained at a press conference on Monday.
“It’s almost like a friendly rivalry if you want to call it. We’ve got some familiar faces that play for New Zealand as well.
“It’s a chance for us to one, show that we want to be on that plane to Qatar but also to our fans it’s our farewell.
“It’s our last game in Australia before going to Qatar and we love playing in front of our home fans, we haven’t had the luxury of doing that the last couple of years and when you do get that, you don’t take it for granted.
“We can’t wait and on a personal level I’ve had some very good moments at Suncorp Stadium.”
With Arnold calling up fellow attackers Jason Cummings and Garang Kuol along with the likes of Mitchell Duke and Adam Taggart, the competitiveness to be named in the final 26-player squad for the World Cup is extremely high.
The four-time Isuzu UTE A-League Golden Boot winner was unperturbed, insisting that can only be a good thing for the national team.
Maclaren played a vital role in Australia’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification campaign, scoring 7 goals as well as converting a penalty in the shootout against Peru in June.
“You want that (competition) as an individual it makes you stronger,” he said.
“I think to have competition across the group, you look it’s a 31-man so it’s not just about the strikers.
“There’s obviously midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers that are all fighting for their spot.
“… It’s an exciting time as a player and you want to be challenged and for myself I know what I have to do and that’s go back to my club and score goals and represent myself as best as I can.”