Moore still under consideration for Socceroos
Queensland Roar captain and key defender Craig Moore is still being considered for the Socceroos match against Qatar, despite not being selected in the list of 22 players for the first mini camp for players from the Hyundai A-League that is being held in Sydney next week at Marconi Stadium.
Queensland Roar captain and key defender Craig Moore is still being considered for the Socceroos match against Qatar, despite not being selected in the list of 22 players for the first mini camp for players from the Hyundai A-League that is being held in Sydney next week at Marconi Stadium.
Moore and Wellington Phoenix-s Ahmad Elrich were notable absentees from the list, but coach Pim Verbeek was quick to hose down suggestions that Moore-s days with the national team were over.
The former Rangers and Newcastle United central defender has been a shining light for Queensland this season and a main reason for their rise to the top of the Hyundai A-League table. But his absence from the camp has raised questions over his international future, with his last match being against Ghana in November 2006.
“I spoke with Craig, I know Craig very well,” Verbeek said after the announcement of the players who will make up the first mini camp. “It doesn-t mean he is not on the list for the Qatar game, it-s just that I would like to see players I haven-t seen or haven-t spoken with since my arrival in Australia.
“Craig is for me not a question mark. I will keep all options open, until Craig tells me privately that he is not available anymore.
“He is of course a very experienced player; he is doing well here also. For me, only one thing is important and that is we win against Qatar, so if I need Craig Moore I will speak with him and if I think I can do it with other players, I will speak with him also.”
One position that will give Verbeek some headaches is at left fullback, with the local favourite Dean Heffernan, ruled out with a broken leg after the pre-Christmas clash with Sydney FC.
Heffernan-s absence though has opened the door for several players to come in and press their claims with Newcastle Jets Matt Thompson and Perth Glory-s Nikolai Topor-Stanley (as part of the Olyroo squad) to be looked at.
“(Dean) Heffernan is a bad injury for me, to be fair. For him it-s worse of course, but he was definitely on my list. I think he is a very good left back, so I will miss him."
“We have some possibilities,” Verbeek added, when asked on possible replacements. “We have (Matt) Thompson, I saw him play again. So, he is a right-footed player, but he can do a job on that side. There is an interesting player in the Olyroos - Nikolai Topor Stanley - I haven-t seen him yet, but Graham told me about him. We also have some players abroad, so we will keep our options open.”
In all, nine players in the list, have yet to play for the national team, with Sydney FC-s Ufuk Talay finally getting his chance to impress close up after it looked like his chances of ever playing for the Socceroos were long gone. Inexperience at this level will also not count anybody out of making the squad for Qatar, with Verbeek only interested in current form.
“A player like (Ufuk) Talay, he-s an interesting player for me,” Verbeek said. “He is not a spectacular player, but he does a job in midfield; he knows what he can do. I missed him last week in the Adelaide game; I am very curious to see him, but he is the type of player I like.”
Verbeek went on, “I don-t care if they haven-t played for the Socceroos; I have just selected those players at this moment. I don-t care about history; I want to see the players, who can win the game against Qatar.”
Verbeek again made it clear that he is not sure which way he will go with his team selections and whether he believes he will need to bring a lot of players from overseas.
“It-s possible that I will take all overseas-based players; it-s possible that I take all A-League players, that-s why I like camps like this. I have seen many games now, not live but also on DVD and I have got a much better impression about my players.
“It-s good to have them with me next week; I can speak with them, I can explain what I like, what I expect from the players and to give them a fair view of what-s coming in the next weeks and months.”
“They (the overseas players) are all available; they are all very willing to come. The only problem is that they can only arrive a few days before the game and that-s the biggest issue.
“So it-s up to me to find out if its worth to pick players and bring them over two days before the game or is better to have a training camp for seven, eight days with all the players together and prepare them for the game.
“Of course I want to have players like that (Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill or Mark Viduka), because they are at a different level; a different class of player. Cahill is scoring every week, but do I bring him in, arriving on a Monday morning; is he fit enough and ready to play a game on the Wednesday? That is the question.”