He may’ve played for the England U-21s as recently as a couple of months ago, but Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou has high hopes for Liverpool’s on-loan defender Brad Smith.
Smith, on a season long loan at Swindon Town, is one of the new Socceroo faces named by Postecoglou in a 20-man squad for the upcoming games with Belgium and Saudi Arabia in Europe.
The Socceroo boss said that after the World Cup in Brazil, he had time to reflect on the previous six to eight months in charge of the national team.
From this analysis, Postecoglou came up with a clear idea of what the national squad needed ahead of the 2015 Asian Cup and beyond.
“What was pretty evident to me was we needed to broaden our base and get some depth in various positions,” Postecoglou told FFA TV.
“The next series of games are really important in trying to get some depth and broaden that base.
“We’ll be pretty bold in the way we select our squads and give some people an opportunity.”
See the full interview with Ange Postecoglou here
One of those given an opportunity is 20-year-old Smith, who is contracted to Liverpool but currently on loan at the Robins in League One of English football.
Smith made his debut for Swindon this month but has since returned to Liverpool for treatment on a knee injury.
The Sydney-born rising star was forced off with the injury in a League Cup tie win over Luton but it’s expected he’ll be fit for the Socceroo games in September.
“He made his debut for Liverpool at the back-end of last year and is rated highly.
“He is a player we’ve been monitoring since I’ve been in the job anyway,” said Postecoglou. “And he plays in a position where we don’t have a great deal of depth – he plays left back.
“And he’s very committed to playing for Australia. And after having chats with him we were very keen to get him in the green and gold.
“He’s quick and from our perspective, these games are a chance to maybe expose some young players to international football, and hopefully create some depth in areas where we’re light on.”
The 20-man Socceroos squad is:
|
NAME |
CLUB, COUNTRY |
A-International Caps (goals) |
|
Terry ANTONIS |
Sydney FC, AUSTRALIA |
3 (0) |
|
Joshua BRILLANTE |
ACF Fiorentina, ITALY |
1 (0) |
|
Tim CAHILL |
New York Red Bulls, USA |
71 (34) |
|
Jason DAVIDSON |
West Bromwich Albion F.C., ENGLAND |
10 (0) |
|
Ben HALLORAN |
Fortuna Dusseldorf, GERMANY |
5 (0) |
|
Chris HERD |
Aston Villa FC, ENGLAND |
- |
|
Mile JEDINAK |
Crystal Palace FC, ENGLAND |
47 (5) |
|
Tomi JURIC |
Western Sydney Wanderers FC, AUSTRALIA |
3 (1) |
|
Robbie KRUSE |
TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, GERMANY |
29 (3) |
|
Mitchell LANGERAK (gk) |
B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, GERMANY |
3 (0) |
|
Matthew LECKIE |
FC Ingolstadt 04, GERMANY |
11 (1) |
|
Massimo LUONGO |
Swindon Town FC, ENGLAND |
1 (0) |
|
Mark MILLIGAN |
Melbourne Victory FC, AUSTRALIA |
30 (2) |
|
Tommy OAR |
FC Utrecht, NETHERLANDS |
18 (1) |
|
Mat RYAN (gk) |
Club Brugge KV, BELGIUM |
10 (0) |
|
Trent SAINSBURY |
P.E.C. Zwolle, NETHERLANDS |
- |
|
Brad SMITH |
Swindon Town FC, ENGLAND |
- |
|
Carl VALERI |
Melbourne Victory FC, AUSTRALIA |
50 (1) |
|
Alex WILKINSON |
Jeonbuk Hyundai FC, KOREA REPUBLIC |
6 (0) |
|
Bailey WRIGHT |
Preston North End FC, ENGLAND |
- |
Thu 4 Sep Belgium v Australia, Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Leige 8.45pm (4.45am AEST)
Mon 8 Sep Saudi Arabia v Australia, Craven Cottage, London 8.00pm (5am AEST)
Both matches will be broadcast LIVE and exclusive on FOX SPORTS.
Tickets to the Socceroos matches and other 2015 AFC Asian Cup games are on sale at www.afcasiancup.com/tickets .