Fresh faces are the order of the day with the announcement of the Socceroos squad this morning by coach Graham Arnold for the international friendly match against South Korea next month, with many of the more familiar faces from the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup campaigns given a rest.
As foreshadowed in Thursday morning's newspapers, Sydney FC's Andrew Redmayne and Brandon O'Neill have been named in the squad, as is Adelaide United's Craig Goodwin and Melbourne Victory's Lawrence Thomas. For Redmayne, O'Neill and Thomas, it's their first call-up to the senior national team.
Also making their debut in the squad are Brandon Borrello (SC Freiberg), 20-year-old Harry Souttar (Stoke City) and Ryan Williams (Rotherham United).
Williams will join his brother Rhys, who plays in Saudi Arabia, and has played 14 times for the Socceroos, becoming the first brothers to be named in a squad for Australia since Adam and Joel Griffiths in May 2008.
Almost half of the 24-man squad have been selected from the A-League with Josh Brillante and Rhyan Grant added to Redmayne and O'Neill from the champions. Premiers Perth Glory are represented by Chris Ikonomidis and Matthew Spiranovic; Terry Antonis and Thomas Deng join Thomas from Melbuorne Victory; while both Adelaide's Goodwin and Dimi Petratos from Newcastle Jets have been given a chance to add to their caps so far.
Spiranovic, along with Aziz Behich (PSV Eindhoven), are the two most experienced members of the squad with 35 caps apiece, fllowed by Bailey Wright (Bristol City) with 23.
Arnold said that this friendly international marks the beginning of World Cup qualification.
“This provides us the opportunity to expose more players to international football, which is vital as we prepare for a long qualification campaign.
“We have seen how arduous the previous World Cup path was for our squad and it is imperative that we spend this valuable time together to have a close look and some of our next generation.
“We have eleven players in this squad who have all had excellent seasons in the domestic competition and my message to those playing in the A-League is that if you are playing regularly and consistently for your club, you will come into consideration for the next phase of World Cup qualifiers,” he said.
Arnold said it also gives him an opportunity to spend time with more experienced players who haven't been involved in international football recently, naming Spiranovic, Rhys Williams, Adam Taggart, Bailey Wright, Josh Brillante and Brad Smith.
He added that he had rested some senior players as the it has been a tough period in recent years.
“I know what those guys are capable of and I believe it is important they start their new campaigns with fresh bodies and minds. They will all be considered again for our first round of qualifiers in September,” Arnold said.
The match takes place on Friday 7 June, the night before the 2019 World Cup kicks-off, and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Network 10 at 9pm AEST.
Australia will discover its opponents for the first phase of qualifiers in July, and will play preliminary World Cup qualifying fixtures for the 2022 World Cup at home and overseas in September, October, and November 2019.
FIFA announced overnight that the 2022 World Cup will not be expanded to 48 teams, despite earlier indicating that was their preference. Australia is currently ranked fourth in Asia at number 41 in the world, behind Iran (#21), Japan (#26) and South Korea (#37). Only four Asian teams are guaranteed of qualification for Qatar 2022.
Full squad
Mustafa Amini, Aarhus Gymnastikforening, Denmark
Terry Antonis, Melbourne Victory
Aziz Behich, PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands
Brandon Borrello, SC Freiberg, Germany
Josh Brillante, Sydney FC
Thomas Deng, Melbourne Victory
Craig Goodwin, Adelaide United
Rhyan Grant, Sydney FC
Chris Ikonomidis, Perth Glory
James Jeggo, Austria Wien, Austria
Matthew Jurman, Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia
Mitch Langerak, Nagoya Grampus, Japan
Awer Mabil, FC Midtjylland, Denmark
Brandon O'Neill, Sydney FC
Dimitri Petratos, Newcastle Jets
Andrew Redmayne, Sydney FC
Brad Smith, Seattle Sounders, USA
Harry Souttar, Stoke City, England
Matthew Spiranovic, Perth Glory
Adam Taggart, Suwon Bluewings, South Korea
Lawrence Thomas, Melbourne Victory
Rhys Williams, Al-Qadsiah, Saudi Arabia
Ryan Williams, Rotherham United, England
Bailey Wright, Bristol City, England