The coach says the Olyroos’ hopes of reaching the Paris Olympics are being damaged by a reluctance by clubs in Europe to release their players for warm-up fixtures and qualifiers.
European teams are pressuring young Australian players to reject international call-ups and focus on their club careers – a worrying trend that Graham Arnold fears could jeopardise the Olyroos’ Olympic hopes.
Arnold named a 25-man squad on Thursday for the Socceroos’ upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon, headlined, however, was not named. Nor was he included in the Olyroos squad unveiled last week for a warm-up tournament in Saudi Arabia, ahead of next month’s Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.was not included in the Socceroos’ Asian Cup squad either . Arnold made the calculation that by leaving him out of that tournament, his club Parma would be more likely to let him play in the Olympic qualifiers, which will take place outside the usual FIFA windows which compel clubs to release their players for national duty. European clubs tend to take a dim view of Australian players being involved in youth internationals or playing bit-part roles for senior international teams because of the long-haul travel involved which impacts on their availability for club fixtures. Arnold now believes it is doubtful that Parma, who are pushing for promotion to Italy’s top flight, will release Circati for those matches, and says the squad Tony Vidmar will take to the qualifiers to determine whether the Olyroos join the Matildas in Paris will be predominantly drawn from the A-League. “That’s to be determined. But I have to say, I’d be doubtful about that,” Arnold said when asked about Circati’s availability.“Tony Vidmar at the moment is getting quite a number of overseas-based clubs refusing to release players in April. I spoke to and I think it’s one thing a lot of people need to understand: the pressure that kids get put under from their clubs overseas to play for Australia is a lot., exactly the same. They just want to focus on their club careers at this moment in time. I do believe that Alessandro, especially, will play for Australia, and I do believe Cristian will want to play for Australia. It’s just at the moment, the timing is probably not right for them – especially with Alessandro; they’re going for promotion with Parma to get up in Serie A.”Circati is eligible to play for Italy and is not yet locked in for Australia because he hasn’t played in a competitive fixture, having made his debutArnold steered the Olyroos – Australia’s under-23s men’s team – to qualification for the Tokyo Olympics for the first time since 2008, and then coached them to a win over Argentina and defeats to Spain and Egypt.Goalkeepers: Maty Ryan , Thomas Glover, Joe Gauci Defenders: Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles, Cameron Burgess, Nathaniel Atkinson, Jordan Bos, Thomas Deng, Gethin Jones, Lewis Miller Midfielders: Jackson Irvine, Keanu Baccus, Ajdin Hrustic, Craig Goodwin, Connor Metcalfe, Riley McGree, Patrick Yazbek Forwards: Mitchell Duke, Adam Taggart, Kusini Yengi, John Iredale, Bruno Fornaroli, Brandon Borrello, Sam Silvera While he has handed the reins of the team over to Vidmar, Arnold sees the Olyroos program as a crucial conduit to senior international football and the Olympics as a prized opportunity for young Australian players to showcase their abilities to scouts and clubs on the world stage. The Socceroos will face Lebanon in Sydney next Thursday night and then again in Canberra the following Tuesday in what is nominally an ‘away’ fixture, relocated due to the tensions in the Middle East and the lack of availability of suitable venues in that country. Two wins will assure Australia’s spot in the next round of qualification for the 2026 World Cup, and would turn June’s fixtures against Bangladesh and Palestine into dead rubbers.Arnold said he would “potentially” look to experiment with his squad in that event, having overlooked in-form A-League players Josh Nisbet and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos for this window. Scotland-based midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof would have been picked were it not for a hamstring injury, Arnold confirmed, while there is a chance Lewis Miller – who conceded the last-gasp penalty which turned Australia’s last month – may have to withdraw after sustaining a hamstring strain while playing for Hibernian on Thursday morning .
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