The Socceroos’ journey to the 2026 World Cup began this month with two wins over Bangladesh and Palestine.
While the outcome was the same in both games – a valuable three points secured in the lengthy qualification journey – the matches themselves were starkly different. It began about as well as Socceroos’ fans could have hoped with a 7-0 thumping on home soil, but was followed by a tense 1-0 win where Australia performed well below their best.
Now the road to 2026 is put on hold for Graham Arnold and his Socceroos as attention turns to a more pressing concern: January’s Asian Cup in Qatar.
It is a rare chance for major silverware for the Socceroos, who have won the competition just once before (in 2015 in Australia).
And on the back of a best-ever World Cup performance in 2022 – also in Qatar – expectations are understandably high for Australia.
But much has changed for the Socceroos in the 12 months since that World Cup began, and Arnold now faces a tricky balancing act between short-term trophy-hunting and the long-term development of his squad with 2026 on the horizon.
With a host of young talents on the rise, there will be plenty of difficult selection decisions to make – but the tournament provides a key opportunity for Arnold’s Socceroos to take a major step forward.
The tournament itself comes at an awkward and inopportune time for Australia. It was scheduled to be held in June of this year, only for China to withdraw from hosting in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Qatar picked up the tournament but, like the World Cup, weather conditions forced a shift from mid-year to the cooler months.
Had it been held in the middle of 2023 as initially planned, Arnold’s approach would probably have been more straightforward: the ageing core of the squad used throughout the previous World Cup cycle could push through for one last title tilt.
After the Asian Cup, Arnold could have focused fully on the next generation and his plans to rebuild with ’26 in mind.
Instead, Arnold has been forced to delay the full-scale overhaul of the roster until after this cup – given the established core of stalwarts provide the best chance of winning the tournament. They are, particularly in the wake of Qatar 2022, battle-hardened and tournament ready.
The next generation are not. Not quite yet, anyway.
But on the road to 2026 and the big dance, the Asian Cup is the single biggest opportunity for the next generation to experience elite tournament football – to gel as a unit and experience the unique pressure of playing repeated games on short turnarounds on the other side of the world.
It is just another factor in the difficult decisions that face Arnold in the months ahead.
The core question is simple: should he prioritise winning the cup or blooding the next generation?
So far, Arnold has unleashed plenty of young guns this year, thanks to a rare bevy of friendlies including tough tests against top opposition like world champions Argentina, England, and Mexico.
Mixing youth with experience has not been such a problem in this environment – the youngsters are allowed to learn the standards from the older generation and develop in that environment, rather than battle against the likes of Lionel Messi without the guidance of those stalwarts who have been there, done that.
But in prioritising the stability (and win-now readiness) of the current team rather than immediately committing to a long-term rebuild has meant that – including in the two recent World Cup qualifiers – some rookies have been kept on the outer rather than handed valuable match minutes.
Think of Jordan Bos playing against Bangladesh before being benched against Palestine in favour of the veteran Aziz Behich.
But balancing youth and experience while rebuilding the team is never an easy proposition – and the mix hasn’t always been right. It’s something that Graham Arnold acknowledged after the clash with Mexico in September where the Socceroos gave up a two-goal lead with some poor errors.
In that match, a series of second-half substitutes tilted the balance too much towards inexperienced youngsters, who struggled under the pressure of a high-octane opponent roared on by partisan Mexican fans.
Arnold recently told the Herald Sun: “It’s crucial you have the blend right – It’s OK to have a lot of young players, but you need senior players and good leaders around them.
“Against Mexico, you look at the players I had on the field in the last 10 minutes when we folded a bit, they were all kids … they didn’t deal with the pressure of 75,000 Mexicans in the stands going crazy.”
Call it a warning on the risks of youth, or call it a valuable learning experience – for both Arnold and the young players involved in that draw.
The last edition of the Asian Cup was also a brutal learning curve for the manager and the team.
In 2019 in the UAE, Australia were the defending champions and the second-highest ranked team in the competition.
But it came just months after Arnold took over the Socceroos job, and he inherited a team very much experiencing a generational change. Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak had retired after the 2018 World Cup, leaving Arnold with a new-look team where 11 of 23 players had fewer than ten caps entering the tournament. Arnold’s much-changed team laboured from the start.
They squeaked out of the group thanks to a 93rd minute goal to Tom Rogic, before overcoming Uzbekistan on penalties in the Round of 16 following a goalless draw. A difficult tournament came to an end at the quarterfinal stage in a 1-0 defeat to hosts UAE.
This time around, the likes of Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic have retired. Mat Leckie hasn’t featured in the A-League Men’s campaign yet after a September injury, while Riley McGree has been injured since early October and won’t return to club action for some weeks yet. Milos Degenek and Trent Sainsbury have also fallen out of favour as new defenders rise through the ranks.
These are just a handful of the difficult choices that confronting Arnold. Should he opt for experience and solidity, or youthful exuberance and potential, in other words Aziz Behich or Jordy Bos?
In some cases (particularly Connor Metcalfe) the performances from young guns have been so impressive that they simply demand selection.
Souttar surges Socceroos to early lead | 00:43
WHY THINGS ARE EASIER FOR THE YOUNG GUNS NOW
But there is one key reason why backing the youth is not so risky as it was in 2019. Arnold has now managed more (A-International) games than any other Socceroos manager. He has been in charge for five years and has successfully embedded his tactical system not just at the senior international level but also at the Under-23’s or Olyroos, who he took charge of in both qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics and in that tournament proper.
It meant that many youngsters entered the Socceroos set-up already understanding the system and their individual role, making it easier to slot into the squad successfully. Combine that with the difficulty of opponents that the youngsters faced in friendlies this calendar year, and there’s no doubt that the rookies have been forged in fire – and are more capable of stepping up to the difficulties of tournament football.
Perhaps that gives Arnold a better opportunity than ever to roll the dice on youth, even if that comes with the risk of repeating the sort of collapse that occurred against Mexico.
But after all, on the road to 2026 there will be no better teacher in the demands of tournament football on the road than this Asian Cup, where Australia’s path to glory includes likely knockout matches with Saudi Arabia then Japan.
Arnold has enough credit in the bank from the 2022 World Cup – and a long-term contract to boot – that his future is secure even if things go sour at this tournament.
That won’t mean he won’t go for gold. But perhaps that means he can trust the next generation to do the job – and bet all his chips on building for 2026.
It’s been 20 years since the Socceroos took down a star-studded English outfit on their home turf and Australian coach Graham Arnold says the locals haven’t forgotten as his Australian team looks for a repeat in this weekend’s historic showdown at Wembley.
Superstars including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen were all wearing the three Lions over their hearts that night at Upton Park in February 2003 when Harry Kewell was one of three Socceroos goalscorers in the 3-1 upset that rocked the sport.
Headlines in the English tabloids screamed “Shockeroos” and “Kanga-poo” and after arriving in England last week for the inaugural clash between Australia and England at Wembley, Arnold was left in no doubt the loss still hurt at least the local press.
Arnold said he would be driving home the importance of the great sporing rivalry between the two nations for much of his team’s short preparation.
“100 per cent,” the Socceroos boss said.
“I did some English media the other day and they are still talking about Upton Park in 2003, how we beat them 3-1 and that’s the type of rivalry you need.”
Wayne Rooney battles with Tony Vidmar and Stan Lazaridis in 2003. Picture: Phil Cole/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
The clash with England is the Socceroos’ fourth against a high-quality opponent in recent months after matches with Ecuador, World Cup winners Argentina and Mexico, all part of Arnold’s quest to make his team world class ahead of massive assignments, including the Asian Cup in 2024 and the next World Cup in 2026.
“My preference straight after the World Cup when I re-signed was to play against top opposition because it’s the only way we learn,” he said.
“If you play against easy opposition you don’t learn and we’ve had these games against Ecuador and Argentina and Mexico and the boys have learned a lot. We’ve got two games in a week and it’s going to test the depth of the squad and it’s a fantastic opportunity.”
The headline on page 1 of The Sun newspaper after the Socceroos’ 3-1 win in 2003.Source: News Limited
Arnold said the recall for forgotten star Massimo Luongo, who is back in the Socceroos squad for the first time since 2019, was reward for his stellar work at English club Ipswich Town.
But he also said recent retirements and injuries had robbed the Australians of experience and the likes of 31-year-old Luongo was crucial as Arnold continues to rebuild his squad with young players.
“We’ve got some injuries and it gives an opportunity to players who are playing well at club level to show us what they can do,” he said.
“Through all the hard work for Mass Luongo, he thoroughly deserves a call-up, he’s been excellent at Ipswich. When I first took over he was an integral part of the set-up and plans going forward, but he’s had a couple of years of injuries and you can see he’s in a very happy place mentally and he thoroughly deserves the call-up.
“We are going through a bit more of rebuild situation at the moment and when you look at the squad overall we have 11 players who have had less than 10 caps, there’s five or six players who have between 11 and 20, so it’s quite an inexperienced squad.
“And I did feel with Mexico when I did take off Mitch Duke or Jackson Irvine got injured we lost a bit of experience and with the retirement of Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic, we are going through that process of introducing some younger players.
On a searingly sunny day in 1978, Brazil football superstar Rivelino stepped off a Concorde aeroplane in Riyadh to a massive roar from thousands of fans waving the flag of Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.
He was ushered to a Rolls Royce and taken to a luxurious royal palace, where he was treated to a banquet hosted by members of the Saudi royal family.
The Brazil legend was, alongside Pele, a standout of the 1970 World Cup-winning side that is widely viewed as the greatest national team in history. When Saudi Arabia came calling in ‘78, he boasted 100 caps for the national team and wore the captain’s armband.
On that evening in Riyadh, he inked his signature on a multimillion-dollar contract that came with lavish bonuses: a brand-new Mercedes, a $10,000-a-month living allowance, and a royal’s palace in which to live.
One of the world’s finest and most well-known players had been wooed by money and luxury.
Forty-five years later the parallels are clear. Saudi Arabia is again embarking upon a transformational project to boost its local sporting industry and shake up the established global order, and football is at its core.
Instead of Rivelino, it’s Ronaldo. Cristiano, one of the greatest players of all time and one of the most famous figures in world sport, began an exodus of top players to Saudi Arabia when he signed for state-owned Al-Nassr in January for a reported €200 million ($A330 million) per year.
Like Rivelino, Ronaldo was the first drop in what has quickly become a flood – one that some believe poses an ‘existential threat’ to the traditional leagues of Europe including the Premier League.
Indeed, in the just-concluded transfer window, only the Premier League spent more money on transfer fees than the Saudi league’s combined $1 billion-plus USD outlay.
It’s a staggering figure, especially since the overwhelming majority came straight from government coffers – and it doesn’t include the staggering world-record wages being doled out. Wages included, Saudi Arabian teams may have even spent more than the Premier League this year.
The story of Saudi Arabia’s sporting investment began in 1978, but it’s just getting started. And it’s already having a massive impact on the world of sport.
HOW MUCH IS SAUDI ARABIA SPENDING … AND ON WHAT?
From January 2021 to July 2023, the country spent at least $6.3bn USD ($A9.74bn) on sports, according to data from The Guardian. It represents an exponential growth on the estimated $1.5bn the nation spent on the industry between 2014 and early 2021, based on analysis from Grant Liberty.
It’s a mind-blowing outlay, but the real figure of their recent spending is likely even higher given a shroud of secrecy surrounds the investment activities of the nation’s Public Investment Fund and its reported $620 billion USD in assets.
But what is evident is that the nation isn’t just targeting one sport, but investing in almost every code you can imagine – from motorsports to horseracing, boxing to handball, tennis to chess.
WWE wrestling events have been held in the nation since 2014, while the desert nation has even turned its attention to winter sports, reviving the Asian Winter Games that have not been held since 2017 with a successful bid to host the games in 2029.
That’s despite the winter temperatures at the proposed hosting location going down to minimums of just three degrees – hardly ideal for snow sports.
But when money is no object, even the weather isn’t a problem.
A general view over the F1 circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Source: Getty Images
Even Esports are in the sights of the Saudis. The Guardian’s $6.3bn USD appraisal of Saudi Arabian sports spending didn’t include the billion dollars PIF invested in video game company Embracer Group, or the eight per cent stake they picked up in Nintendo, as well as multiple major events being held in the nation.
All this is to show the sweeping breadth of Saudi Arabia’s stratagem – one as calculated as it is audacious.
“This is a sports strategy that is as comprehensive and more detailed than any other in the world,” a sporting executive told The Guardian under the condition of anonymity. “It is not a fad, this is not just some rich man’s whim.”
The first major disruption of the global sporting landscape came in October 2021 when the PIF founded LIV Golf, a rival to the PGA Tour that quickly handed out astronomical pay cheques to convince players to defect.
Phil Mickelson was paid a reported $200 million USD in guaranteed money and Dustin Johnson $125m, with Forbes claiming half of each player’s figure was paid upfront. Tiger Woods was offered around $700-800 million. All up, LIV cost an estimated $2 billion USD to found.
It sparked a golfing civil war, with verbal barbs and lawsuits being fired back and forth like archers’ volleys. But the Saudis would not relent, and the bitter dispute appears headed to a civil conclusion that will see a new organisation formed to unite golf under one banner – with Saudi Arabia to gain at least a minority stake to the tune of at least another billion dollars.
The long-running and high-stakes LIV saga explains much of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to reshape the sports world: to disrupt the established order with spending that cannot be matched by the traditional authorities, forcing them to make major concessions – and to cede a significant degree of influence and power to the Middle Eastern monarchy.
LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson.Source: AFP
That approach has now also been taken towards boxing and mixed martial arts, with the Saudis reportedly investing $100 million USD into a UFC rival in the Professional Fighters League, the body which has recently signed superstar fighters Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul. Saudi Arabia is expected to host multiple PFL pay-per-view events in 2024.
In other cases, Saudi Arabia is happy to use its money to operate within the established structures, rather than seeking to create or back opposing competitions.
In December, the ATP’s Next Gen finals will be held in Jeddah after a four-year deal to host the year-end tennis tournament.
In Formula One, another key focus of Saudi Arabia’s sporting investment, Saudi Arabia pays a reported $65 million USD to host a grand prix in Jeddah each year. But it also sponsors Formula One to the tune of $40-45m annually, as well as the Aston Martin team, both through the Saudi state-owned company Aramco. Aramco is the world’s largest oil company and the world’s second-largest company by revenue, with an annual revenue over half a trillion USD.
That funding also isn’t included in the Guardian’s estimate of $6.3bn USD spent by Saudi Arabia on sports since early 2021. Nor is their deal with the International Cricket Council that makes Aramco title sponsors of every ICC event including the upcoming Cricket World Cup. Aramco also has a partnership with Chinese basketball and is the backer of a fledgling women’s golf tour.
It’s not just the PIF that is pouring money into sports – the nation is using every financial arm at its disposal to grow its stake in the world of sport.
For all the sports the nation has invested in, there’s no doubt that football remains at the core of their strategy.
The primary reason is simple: it’s the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia – and the world.
WHAT HAPPENED IN FOOTBALL?
Saudi Arabia really announced themselves in the world of football when they purchased Premier League club Newcastle in October 2021 for around £300m, having strongly considered a takeover of Manchester United in the months before that deal was confirmed.
The nation had brought some major football events to Saudi soil before then – the Spanish Super Cup has been played in Jeddah since 2019 – but this was a major step forward.
The PIF then signed sponsorship deals with Saudi Pro League clubs worth a reported £1.8bn, before taking full control of four of the largest teams, paving the way for an unprecedented spending spree.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January for a reported €200 million per season plus a €100m signing bonus.
It kickstarted a stunning assault on the transfer market by the four state-owned clubs in the recent transfer window that closed earlier this month.
This window, Premier League clubs splashed out a record €2.8 billion on players, with a net spend of €1.278bn. Saudi Pro League clubs were second, spending €956.88m with a net spend of €892m.
The spending is an exponential increase from last season, when the Saudi Pro League’s expenditure was the 20th highest in the world with a net spend of just €34.15m.
This year, they blew that figure out of the water – and their €892m net spend doesn’t even include the extraordinary wages being handed out.
94 foreign players arrived, and the list of high-profile players who joined the four state-owned clubs is immensely impressive.
Al-Nassr: Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich), Otavio (Porto), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Alex Telles (Manchester United), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan).
In this handout picture release by the Saudi Pro League on June 6, 2023, French football player Karim Benzema holds the jersey of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad club, in Madrid. Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema will join Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia after signing a three-year deal with Al-Ittihad, the Jeddah-based club confirmed on June 6. (Photo by jorge ferrari / Saudi Pro League / AFP)Source: AFPIn this handout picture release by the Saudi Al-Hilal football club on August 15, 2023, Brazilian forward Neymar (L) poses for a picture with Hilal President Fahad bin Nafel at the Al-Hilal stadium in Riyadh. Brazil forward Neymar has signed for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain, the clubs announced today, joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema as the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state. (Photo by Saudi Pro League / AFP)Source: AFP
In fact, more than 90 per cent of Saudi Pro League spending came from the four clubs owned by the PIF.
Al Hilal’s €351.72m net spend was more than any other club in the world, while Al-Ahli was second with €195.75m – just above Chelsea.
Meanwhile, four rival Saudi clubs broke even or made money. Another four had a net spend less than €2m.
Sure, a couple of the privately-owned clubs did spend money. Al Ettifaq signed Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Moussa Dembele and Demarai Gray, as well as the legendary Steven Gerrard as coach. But their net spend was still just €36m.
Al Shabab spent around €15m, signing the likes of Habib Diallo and Yannick Carrasco.
Outside of that, you’d need to be something of a football nerd to recognise any other names who joined the Saudi league.
Effectively, four clubs are spending like Premier League giants, and another two like minnows from the top five leagues. The rest are still operating on a relatively minuscule budget. This isn’t an entire league outspending the rest of Europe, but rather a handful of clubs with almost unlimited funding – and no financial fair play rules to follow.
ARE THEY JUST BUYING HAS-BEENS?
There was another key trend in the biggest clubs’ spending – age. The majority of signings were players in their late 20s or their 30s, ones with prestige and popularity and plenty of skill to boot.
Ronaldo is 38, reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema 35, Jordan Henderson 33, and so on.
Many of the players remain in the prime of their careers, however, and Saudi clubs fought off interest from even Premier League clubs or heavyweights like Barcelona to sign them.
That was the case for players like Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
But if you look at younger players, Saudi Arabia is not an attractive destination – yet.
According to the player grading system from Twenty First Group consultancy, Saudi clubs signed just two of the 100 best players under 26 years old that moved this transfer window.
That’s compared to the SPL signing 15 of the top 100 players overall that moved this window (second to the Premier League’s 28).
Aleksander Ceferin, the head of European football’s organising body UEFA, took aim at the Saudi transfers by saying they were only landing “players at the end of their careers and others who aren’t ambitious enough to aspire to the ‘top’ competitions.”
“As far as I know, [Kylian] Mbappe and [Erling] Haaland don’t dream of Saudi Arabia,” he added.
“I don’t believe that the best players at the pinnacle of their careers would go to Saudi Arabia.
“When people talk to me about the players who went there, nobody knows where they’re playing.”
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal had a world-record €300m bid rejected for Mbappe – plus a one-year contract with a basic wage worth €200m alongside up to €700m in commercial and image rights.
The 24-year-old’s refusal to even talk with Al-Hilal shows that for elite young players, Saudi Arabia isn’t an attractive footballing proposition. And all the money in the world isn’t enough to convince players to give up on playing for the world’s biggest clubs.
For now, the majority of players that Saudi Arabia has signed are high-profile ageing stars. But as the quality of the competition grows – and it certainly has already – European leagues will become increasingly fearful that young talent will be lured by money as well as the chance to play alongside the likes of Ronaldo or Neymar.
There are two core reasons: to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy, and to improve the nation’s global reputation and influence.
Saudi Arabia has long relied on oil as the basis of its economy. It is the world’s second-largest producer of oil, and the industry currently contributes around 40 per cent of the nation’s GDP.
That reliance leaves the country vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil price and especially the world’s anticipated reduction in oil usage in response to climate change.
As Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at the Skema Business School in Paris, told AFP: “Saudi Arabia is up against the clock.
“Saudi Arabia has 20 years to diversify. In the meantime they’re being exposed to oil-price fluctuations.
“They’ve got to move fast, they’ve got to move strategically, they’ve got to move effectively.”
In response to this pressing need, Saudi Arabia in 2016 launched a plan for long-term reform called Vision 2030, a programme of sweeping reforms to diversify the economy and reduce its dependence on oil revenue.
The modernisation project is immensely broad-reaching and ambitious – it aims for radical economic development by increasing foreign investment and growing new industries such as transportation and entertainment – including sport.
There’s also government-funded mega-projects like NEOM, a futuristic megacity which includes a 160km-long skyscraper and is estimated to cost over $500 billion USD.
In this broader context, sport is just one aspect in an all-encompassing restructuring of the economy.
But sport is an industry with massive potential for growth and can drive domestic and foreign tourism – especially if they host major events like the FIFA World Cup, which they are hoping — and appear likely — to land in 2034.
And it has a social impact too – making the nation a more appealing place to live, especially since almost two-thirds of the population is aged under 30.
At the same time as this crucial economic restructuring, Saudi Arabia is also seeking to enhance its global reputation – something which can encourage foreign investment, tourism, and boost the nation’s influence on the world stage through so-called ‘soft power’.
The country has been broadly condemned for its poor human rights record, such as its routine use of the death penalty, with global human rights organisation Amnesty International reporting 196 people were executed in 2022.
Migrant workers have suffered exploitation and abuse – including in the building of government megaprojects like NEOM – while immigrants have also allegedly faced torture and death in detention centres.
Human rights activists have faced exceptionally long jail terms, including Salma al-Shehab, a PhD student who in August 2022 imprisoned last year for 34 years for tweeting in support of women’s rights.
The country has taken some steps forwards in terms of women’s rights since 2019, including reducing strict dress codes and gender segregation in the workforce. But the entrenched system of male guardianship still poses major problems with regards to gender-based discrimination in domestic life, activists say.
Same-sex activity also remains outlawed.
Man United sink lower with loss in UCL | 00:36
And one of the defining incidents when it comes to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record remains the murder and dismemberment of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, who had been critical of the Saudi government. It caused an international scandal, and US media reported the CIA concluded with “medium to high confidence” that the killing had been ordered by the nation’s leader Mohammed Bin Salman himself.
The country has sometimes been made a global pariah due to its human rights record, which has obvious impacts on a range of economic factors too – such as limiting tourism and foreign investment from both private companies and foreign governments.
By investing heavily in sport, Saudi Arabia can associate itself with the positive characteristics of sport and divert attention from their poor human rights record – a tactic known as ‘sportswashing’.
The approach has been widely used by other countries in the past, from nations such as Nazi-era Germany, or Russia and China in more recent times. But Saudi Arabia’s spending is unprecedented in scale.
When Premier League club Newcastle United was bought out by the PIF for 300m pounds in 2021, Amnesty UK’s chief executive, Sacha Deshmukh, said the deal was “a clear attempt by the Saudi authorities to sportswash their appalling human rights record with the glamour of top-flight football”.
But some experts believe that sportswashing isn’t the primary point at all, and instead believe the Saudis are almost completely focused on their economic goals.
Princeton professor Bernard Haykel, author of a book on Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation under the Vision 2030 plan, recently spoke on The Afikra Podcast.
He rejected claims that Saudi Arabia was sportswashing, saying: “I think it’s a crock of you know what”.
Ali Khalid, sports editor of Riyadh-based Arab News, told AFP that: “Cynics will say what are the reasons behind it,” referring to sportswashing.
“But a lot of it is they’re bringing to their people, who for a long time had no access to any entertainment of that level, they’re bringing the best of it.”
And Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman this week delivered a rare television interview with Fox News where he played down accusations of sportswashing.
Bin Salman said: “If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by one per cent, then we’ll continue sportswashing.
“I don’t care. I have one per cent growth in GDP from sport and I am aiming for another 1.5 per cent.
“Call it whatever you want – we are going to get that 1.5 per cent.”
WHAT IS THE LEAGUE LIKE – AND HOW ARE THINGS CHANGING?
Last month star signing Neymar made a staggering appraisal.
“For the names that went to Saudi Arabia, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saudi league is better than the French,” Neymar declared.
That’s right – already better than one of the top five leagues in the world, which began back in 1932-33 as a professional competition.
There’s no doubt that the Saudi league has come a long way since the days when Rivelino joined in 1978, just two years after the competition was founded.
“It was almost amateur football at the time as football was really just starting there,” Rivelino said in an interview with Brazilian television in 2019.
“We trained at the same stadium in which we played the games. There were three teams in Riyadh and so we trained from 6 to 7pm, the next team from 7 to 8 and then the third from 8 to 9.”
Then there was the heat – the Brazilian famously played with a wet cloth in his mouth for his first few games to counteract the oppressive conditions. Not that that stopped him from showing his immense skills on the field, leading the team to a league title with just one defeat in his debut season, before winning the King’s Cup in his second year and scoring 23 times before retiring.
These days, the league is fully professional – though it reached that milestone just 16 years ago, a drop in the ocean of time compared to historic European football competitions.
But the league has been highly successful when compared to Asia – in the Asian Champions League, only South Korea and Japan have won more titles than teams from Saudi Arabia. Al-Hilal’s four titles and five runners-up finishes are both records.
That said, the competition is a world away from the likes of the Premier League. Last year, crowd sizes averaged around 10,000 per game. Compare that to the Premier League or the Bundesliga, both averaging over 40,000 fans per game last season. Italy, Spain, France, and even Mexico all had over 20,000 fans per game.
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – SEPTEMBER 30: Jordan Henderson of Al Ettifaq claps after Saudi Pro League match between Al Ahli and Al Ettifaq at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on September 30, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesJEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – SEPTEMBER 30: Steven Gerrard coach of Al Ettifaq claps after Saudi Pro League match between Al Ahli and Al Ettifaq at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on September 30, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
But there’s no doubt that the arrivals of the star names have increased interest in the competition.
In the 21/22 campaign Al Nassr averaged 8,121 fans. Last season – where Cristiano Ronaldo joined halfway through – they averaged 17,638 fans. A full season of Ronaldo and his new supporting cast is likely to improve that figure significantly.
There’s also greatly expanded interest overseas, with more nations around the world broadcasting the competition – including regional rivals Iran for the first time ever.
The competition is growing. Fast.
WILL IT LAST?
The biggest question is whether the Saudi spending spree is sustainable or a flash in the pan, a short-lived tactic destined for failure.
After all, this isn’t the first time that nations have splashed the cash in an attempt to muscle in on a slice of the rich footballing pie.
Go back to the 1970s, when the North American Soccer League (NASL) exploded in popularity after Brazil legend Pele signed for the New York Cosmos (owned by Warner Media) in what author Gavin Newsham called “the transfer coup of the century”.
That team later signed Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto and averaged over 40,000 fans a game for three seasons! Other NASL teams landed the likes of Johann Cruyff and George Best. But by 1985, the league was dead and buried – once Pele retired, the league died a slow death as popularity waned and economic recession struck.
There was a similar story in China over the last decade or so, after the government announced a desire for the nation to become a global powerhouse in the sport. From 2011 onwards, Chinese business magnates bought teams like Guangzhou Evergrande and spent millions on superstar signings.
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba was one of the first to go, before things peaked in 2016-17’s winter transfer window when Chinese Super League teams spent a world-leading €388 million on players. That included the December 2016 signing of Chelsea’s Brazilian midfield gun Oscar for over €60 million by Shanghai SIPG. Like Saudi Arabia, and like the NASL before it, China convinced players to sign on simply by offering them massive pay packets.
Then-Chelsea coach Antonio Conte warned that the rise of China was a “danger for all teams in the world” – something that’s been said almost word-for-word about the Saudi Pro League this year.
But the priorities of the Chinese government turned. Concerned about the massive amounts of money going to foreign teams around the world (as well as foreign players and agents), the Chinese government in 2018 introduced transfer taxes and salary caps. The league quickly nosedived.
Socceroo Rogic announces retirement | 00:34
Billions of dollars of transfer spending had little long-term impact. And China’s men’s national team is currently ranked just 80th in the world – worse than in 2011 when the project began.
For Saudi Arabia, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from all the way back in the 1970s and the days of Rivelino.
Back then, it was members of the royalty who owned clubs and bankrolled the spending – also signing the likes of Zico, Hristo Stoichkov or iconic coach Mario Zagallo. There was no government plan or support. And when the oil prices tumbled and crippled Saudi Arabia’s economy, football quickly became a casualty.
So is this time any different?
Firstly, it’s backed by the seemingly endless coffers of the PIF and the Saudi government, not by individual members of the royalty owning clubs.
Saleh al-Khalif, Al-Riyadiah newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief, told AFP: “Rivo (Rivelino) came and some other Tunisian players who played well in World Cup 1978. But the experience was eventually a failure.”
“It depended on the honour members of the clubs (royal owners), not a government plan or spending,” he added.
“It was not sustainable so it didn’t survive. This is totally different from the current push.”
Secondly, it’s just part of a much broader strategy. The nation is not just seeking to pour money into the domestic league, but to boost youth development all the way through to the national team – the Green Falcons who stunned eventual champions Argentina at last year’s World Cup.
To that end, the nation has now signed Italian mastermind Roberto Mancini, who stunned his home nation by quitting the national team job to take up the same gig for Saudi Arabia – with a pay cheque worth 25 million euro per year after tax.
The Saudi national team is coming from a much stronger starting point than China, for example, with a current ranking of 57th and a historic best of 21st in the world.
Saudi football president Yasser al-Misehal said: “Roberto believes in Saudi football and our desire to develop top competitive players and take them to new heights on the world stage – including the Asian Cup in Qatar and qualification for the 2026 World Cup … We’re a footballing nation and we [are] continuing to invest at every level in our journey to compete with the best in the world.”
The strategy – and Vision 2030 itself – is long term – especially if you include a potential FIFA World Cup on Saudi soil in 2034.
Just as in the 1980s, Saudi Arabia remains vulnerable to fluctuations in the global oil price, and a major downturn could potentially force the nation to pull back on its football spending. Or there could simply be a change in the government’s approach – like happened in China.
But if Saudi Arabia commits to its current path for the long term, the implications could be immense. Right now, all signs are pointing to this transfer window being just the start.
And when it comes to the players they missed out on, the PIF almost certainly will be back.
Take Liverpool’s talismanic attacker Mohamed Salah, with Al-Ittihad offering a transfer fee valued at £100m rising to £150m with add-ons. Liverpool rejected a move for their star man out of hand, holding firm despite rumours Al-Ittihad would return with a bid potentially valued as high as £200m. The player himself was reportedly offered a salary around £1.5 million a week – four times his current salary which is a Liverpool club record.
Al-Ittihad will almost certainly make another attempt in January’s transfer window, but a move at season’s end is more likely. Salah will then be 32 years old with one season left on his Liverpool contract – making the Reds far more likely to cash in on their star man rather than lose him for free a year later.
HOW BIG IS THE THREAT TO THE CURRENT ORDER?
For all of Saudi Arabia’s spending, it’s worth remembering that many of the traditional leagues were probably the biggest benefactors this transfer window. Clubs that were struggling to meet their financial fair play obligations were more than happy to offload players in return for trumped-up transfer fees – especially the likes of Wolves in the Premier League or even big-spending Chelsea.
That was especially the case with selling ageing players or those with one year remaining on their contracts – the kinds of players that don’t typically attract big transfer fees.
By signing so many Premier League players, Saudi Arabia’s deep coffers essentially helped to fund the Premier League’s record spending spree.
But it’s other leagues that will feel most threatened by the aggressive Saudi transfer strategy, given those clubs have significantly less income – and therefore a greatly reduced ability to compete financially with the spending power of Premier League clubs and Saudi clubs.
Making the battle more one-sided is that Saudi Arabian teams have no financial fair play restrictions – meaning they can spend as much as they want and not have to worry about balancing their books.
UEFA’s financial restrictions and those of the individual European leagues mean the vast majority of European clubs cannot match the wages or the transfer fees offered by Saudi Arabian teams.
Consider this: the four major European leagues behind the Premier League (the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Spanish LaLiga and France’s Ligue 1) ended this transfer window with more income than expenditure – a combined net total of €620.41m!
So while Premier League and Saudi clubs were spending big, the rest of Europe’s big five leagues were far more restricted by financial constraints.
But should the Premier League itself be worried?
Jason Burt wrote in The Times: “Of course players from all around the world come to the Premier League because it is such a well-organised, well-run competition and life is good in England.
“But no-one should kid themselves that they do not mainly come here for the money. And if the money is better in Saudi Arabia and enough of their teammates, countrymen and stars are already there then they will follow.
“Make no mistake what the Saudis are doing represents one of the greatest existential threats European football, and certainly the Premier League, has ever faced.”
Audio released from controversial VAR | 01:43
However, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters recently said he was not worried about the threat of the Saudi league, saying they could not match the history, fan engagement, and professionalism of the English game.
“I have been asked if I’m concerned by that and you know the answer – it’s something we have to keep an eye on … We are way off worrying about that at the minute,” he said.
For now, the Premier League is benefiting from big transfer fees for players to leave to Saudi Arabia, while simultaneously facing pressure to increase player wages to stop their best players from taking a Middle East payday.
It’s a delicate balance – but there’s no doubt that the Premier League is better poised than European rivals operating on a fraction of the budget of English clubs.
Perhaps the key to the future will lie in the ability of Saudi clubs to convince younger players – those still on the rise or in the peak of their career – to join the competition.
So far, Saudi clubs have mostly signed ageing stars rather than young guns or those in the peak of their careers.
But with every high-profile player that signs on, the allure for younger players grows stronger – especially when the financial incentive is overwhelming.
21-year-old Gabri Veiga was one of the most gifted young guns in Spain’s La Liga, having developed through the Celta Vigo academy to reach the first team. He had been set for a €36m transfer to Italian side Napoli this window – only for Al-Ahli to pip them by paying his €40m release clause and offering him a wage reportedly FIVE times higher than the Italians.
If Saudi Arabia is not just a pre-retirement league but a genuine destination for world-class talent of all ages, it then well and truly threatens the traditional football hierarchy.
And if, as Neymar says, the league is already higher quality than the likes of France’s Ligue 1, a seismic shift has already begun.
But maybe that’s just how football works.
New Saudi national team coach Roberto Mancini said: “The same thing happened in Italy many years ago, lots of big foreign players came to Italy and we improved a lot. It’s good for the Saudi players.”
Former Nigeria international and ex-Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo was named as the SPL’s inaugural director of football in July. He argued that the league should also be viewed in the same way as the European competitions.
“What Saudi football is doing, is no different from what the Premier League have done. There was a time when it was all about Italy. There was a time when it was all about Spain. What we’re looking for in the industry is an opportunity to compete, and to compete on an even scale and to improve upon whatever exists in the industry,” Emenalo claimed.
“I think the Saudi League offers a new opportunity first and foremost for the entire industry, and I think it will create avenues for good competition and for more development of young talent.
“The world can’t have enough of good footballers, the world can’t have enough of good football, the world can’t have enough competition between rival clubs, between countries, between rival leagues.”
Socceroos midfielder Tom Rogic has retired from football, declaring it was time he devoted himself to his growing family following fertility issues that had troubled him and his wife for several years.
A little more than three months after fellow Socceroos playmaker Aaron Mooy announced his retirement, 30-year-old Rogic has also hung up his boots after a decorated career that included 53 caps for Australia and 16 major trophies with Scottish giants Celtic.
The Canberra product left Celtic in May last year before joining English Championship club West Bromwich Albion four months later for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Rogic’s final appearance for West Brom was on April 23 in a 2-1 loss to Sunderland.
Rogic announced his retirement on social media, saying it was “important for people to understand why and how” he made his decision.
“Throughout the past seven years, my wife and I have been on an immensely challenging journey with fertility issues. After years of trying and many failed rounds of IVF, my wife and I were fortunate enough to welcome the birth of our daughter in 2021,” Rogic said.
“I have loved every minute of being a dad and consider it my greatest achievement in life.
“After experiencing some more struggles and heartache with fertility treatment, we have recently received the amazing news that our family is growing and we will be expecting twins in 2024.
“Given our past and how hard we have fought for this, along with the challenges that will come with having twins and a two-year-old, now seems like the right time to give my focus and attention to what is the most important thing in my life – my family.
“After being away for so many years, my family and I have now returned home to Australia as we look ahead to next year and the arrival of our new family members.”
Tom Rogic has retired from football. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
Rogic said he felt “very lucky” to have represented the Socceroos and played for Celtic.
“As a young boy growing up in Australia I couldn’t have imagined experiencing all I was able to do in football,” he said.
“I’d like to thank all of my teammates for everything over the past 12 years. It’s been a special journey which I’ll look back on with fond memories. I feel very lucky to have formed some wonderful friendships through football and experienced so many special moments together.”
He also expressed special thanks to former Celtic chief executive officer Peter Lawwell and Celtic’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond for their help with Rogic’s hopes of starting a family.
“Without their help all of this would not have been possible. Through Peter and Dermot, I was put in direct contact with one of the world’s leading medical experts, which eventually led to my wife and I being placed at the clinic that would give us the best chance possible to start a family – I will be forever grateful,” he said.
Rogic also thanked a host of his former coaches, including Ange Postecoglou, and “all the fans”.
Who will make the next Socceroos squad for the match against Mexico on September 10.Source: Getty Images
BELGIUM
The Jupiler Pro League in Belgium recently gained two Aussies, with former Melbourne City duo Jordan Bos and Aiden O’Neill joining KVC Westerlo and Standard Liege respectively.
The pair were some of Melbourne City’s finest performers last season en route to a premiership and grand final appearance and resulted in Socceroos call-ups for both.
Bos’ switch to Westerlo broke the record for the most expensive outgoing from Australia, with the deal reportedly worth $AUD2 million.
Westerlo have wasted no time in throwing the left-back into the deep end as Bos has started three from four games for his new club.
As for O’Neill, he has started all four games for Standard Liege as a defensive midfielder but is yet to taste victory.
With Bos and O’Neill enjoying regular game time so far, it bodes well for the rest of the season as they look to maintain their spots in Graham Arnold’s Socceroos squad.
The other Aussie in Belgium is Jason Davidson, who joined KAS Eupen last season.
Davidson has been a left-back for most of his career but has impressed for Eupen as a centre-back this season and has played every minute of his side’s four games with two wins and a
Jordan Bos battling Angel di Maria of Argentina.Source: Getty Images
ENGLAND
Tom Glover, Riley McGree and Sammy Silvera (Middlesbrough)
There’s three Aussies at Boro this season, with Olyroos gun Samuel Silvera also joining the books just last month. But it hasn’t been a great start to the season, with the team failing to win any of their first three Championship matches. Left-winger Silvera has been having the best run so far, with an assist to pick up a draw last time out, and another assist in a cup win. After starting on the bench in the opening league game, he’s now started three straight games (all comps) and the 22-year-old looks set to have a big impact as he takes a major step up this season after joining from the Central Coast Mariners.
25-year-old Glover, who also moved from down under in July, played the cup game but is currently the number two gloveman at the club behind Senegal international Seny Dieng, who joined one day later. But with Boro struggling defensively, Glover will be hoping to crack into the first team – or else enjoy a good cup run to get minutes under his belt.
McGree meanwhile started the first league game but has since come off the bench in the three other matches – and bagged a goal in the cup. The 24-year-old even had a stint at an unfamiliar left-back position in pre-season. As the team looks to climb up the ladder after their miserable start, he could find a way back into the starting side more regularly.
McGree in action against Argentina in June.Source: Getty Images
Harry Souttar (Leicester City)
There’s been plenty of talk over a possible exit from the club after they were relegated from the Premier League, but it hasn’t happened … yet. Leicester sold Harvey Barnes and James Maddison for big money to balance their books, but they still need to trim a bloated squad (and wage bill!). Harry Souttar hasn’t been given much of a look-in by new manager Enzo Maresca, and an exit appears reasonably likely. He was left on the bench for their first league game and out of the squad completely for the two following games. Maresca said: “Harry’s a guy who since day one has been working very well. But because the window is open, for Harry and for the rest of the 25 players that we have, something can happen.”
Scottish giants Rangers have been linked with a move that would reunite Harry Souttar with his brother John. Without a move, Souttar seems likely to only get limited game-time.
Alexander Robertson (Portsmouth, on loan from Manchester City)
The 20-year-old central midfielder has settled in very well to life in League One at Portsmouth, playing all five of their matches (all comps) since his loan move this month. He scored in a penalty shootout win after coming on as a substitute in the EFL Trophy (formerly the Papa John’s Trophy, a cup competition), and has started their last two league matches. The young playmaker looks extremely classy and comfortable on the ball and the early signs are promising a breakout campaign in his first full season of senior football. Making it into Manchester City’s senior team still feels a while away, but with Kevin de Bruyne’s serious injury and subsequent surgery ruling him out until the end of the calendar year, another injury or two could see Pep Guardiola recall the Aussie young gun from loan for added depth. It’s not likely, but it’s not out of the realms of possibility – and every week that Robertson continues to impress at Portsmouth helps to build his case.
There’s another Aussie at Portsmouth in 24-year-old Kusini Yengi, a former Olyroos player, with the left-winger starting the season brilliantly by scoring four goals in three appearances before an ankle injury ruled him out until mid-October. When he’s back, keep a close eye on the former A-Leagues star.
There’s also several other Australians in England who are either in or awfully close to the Socceroos squad.
Ipswich Town duo Massimo Luongo and Cam Burgess are no doubt loving life at the minute.
It’s early days in a long and gruelling Championship season, but the Tractor Boys are in first place having won three games from three and conceding just one goal in that time.
Luongo and Burgess have played every minute of Ipswich’s campaign so far and have caught the eye of Arnold who reportedly watched the duo last weekend.
Burgess was set to be included in the Socceroos squad for the Argentina friendlies but was ruled out with injury, yet his form so far has no doubt boosted his chances.
Massimo Luongo is in the Championship for the first time since 2020-21.Source: Getty Images
Elsewhere in League One is Aussie duo Callum Elder and Kenny Dougall who are at Derby County and Blackpool respectively.
Elder came off the bench for slim minutes in the first four of Derby’s league matches and the 28-year-old left back is struggling as he pushes for a first-team spot.
30-year-old central midfielder Dougall has two starts, one in the cup and one in the league, with two more league appearances off the bench.
However, with Arnold taking a view towards the future in his squad selections the chances of Elder and Dougall returning to the Socceroos fold appear limited.
There’s also Tyrese Francois with Premier League side Fulham. Francois, a 23-year-old midfielder, spent part of last season on loan at HNK Gorica in Croatia after making one Premier League appearance off the bench. He suffered an injury late last season and it’s unclear if he’s currently fully fit, having trained with the first-team squad but not travelling with them to the USA in pre-season. He has not been named in a Fulham squad so far this season. A transfer is also a possibility, as is a loan deal, as he needs more match minutes to grow in his career.
FRANCE
Denis Genreau (Toulouse)
Denis Genreau will look to pick up right where he left off after the midfielder enjoyed a strong end to the 2022/23 Ligue One campaign.
The midfielder, who dealt with a series of niggling injuries last season, started Toulouse’s first league game of the season in a 2-1 win over Nantes before coming on as a substitution in a 1-1 draw with PSG.
At 24 years of age, Genreau is only going to get better and if he can nail down a regular spot in Toulouse’s midfield, there’s no reason to assume otherwise.
He made the Socceroos squad for the recent Argentina friendly and will hope to maintain it in the lead-up to the Asian Cup.
In France’s second tier is Mohamed Toure, who linked up with Paris FC on loan from Reims.
The teenager came on as a sub in Paris’ second game of the Ligue Two season against Grenoble but wasn’t in the squad for their other two fixtures due to an unknown injury.
Even if Toure doesn’t get the minutes he hopes for, a loan experience at 19 is invaluable as he looks to prove himself in France.
Toulouse’s Australian midfielder Denis Genreau (L) in a pre-season friendly with Roma this month.Source: AFP
GERMANY
Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe (FC St Pauli)
Many have said it before, but it’s hard to think of a footballer who fits a club’s ethos quite like Jackson Irvine does at FC St Pauli.
The all-action midfielder, who dons the captain’s armband for the club in the German second tier, has started every game for St Pauli this season and will no doubt be a key figure in their push for promotion.
Irvine is joined at the club by fellow Australian Connor Metcalfe, who moved to St Pauli last season.
Although the 23-year-old showed glimpses of his quality, he never quite found a consistent run of form.
But Metcalfe has also started in St Pauli’s three league games so far as a right winger which bodes well for getting opportunities to shine.
St Pauli came awfully close to promotion to the Bundesliga last season and finished fifth, so expectations will be high for Irvine and Metcalfe to deliver if they are to achieve their ultimate goal.
Irvine captaining St Pauli this month.Source: Getty Images
INDIA
Jason Cummings (Mohun Bagan)
Not many score a hat-trick to win an A-League grand final in their last game, but then again, not many footballers are Jason Cummings.
The cult hero left a lasting impression both on and off the field in a two-year stint with the Central Coast Mariners where he scored 31 goals from 50 games and earned a spot in Australia’s World Cup squad.
Cummings has since moved to India for a life-changing salary and has already scored twice for his new club Mohun Bagan in three games.
However, his status with the national team could come into question given the level of football on show in India.
Time will tell whether it proves to be a detrimental factor but if Cummings scores goals in India like he did in Australia, it will be hard to argue he doesn’t deserve a spot in the Socceroos squad.
There’s also Rostyn Griffiths in India, with Mumbai City. The 35-year-old has never been capped for Australia and has missed his chance, but keep an eye out for the Asian Champions League, where he’ll face Saudi mega-team Al-Hilal featuring Neymar, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Cummings moved to India after winning the A-League with the Central Coast Mariners.Source: Getty Images
ITALY
Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo)
Cristian Volpato finds himself in new surroundings after moving to Sassuolo from Roma in the summer window for an estimated £6.4 million.
It is hoped a switch to Sassuolo will lead to increased game time for the talented 19-year-old, although both of his first two games for his new club have come from the bench.
Volpato did chalk up an assist in Sassuolo’s 5-2 win over Cosenza in the first round of the Italy Cup.
Prior to the 2023/24 season, Arnold confirmed he would visit Volpato in an attempt to convince him to represent the Socceroos ahead of Italy, but as of now there are no indications who he will play for on the international stage.
Time will tell on Volpato’s international future, but the teen must focus on performing for his new club first before thinking about whether to don the green and gold or the famous blue of Italy.
Alessandro Circati (Parma)
After a lengthy courting process, Arnold finally convinced promising defender Alessandro Circati to pledge his international allegiance to Australia ahead of the Argentina friendly.
The teenager had the benefit of playing in a defensive unit for Serie B side Parma with legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon barking orders behind him.
Although Buffon has since retired, Circati has no doubt taken on plenty of wisdom from the Italian superstar and will look to apply it this year for club and country.
The 19-year-old was part of a defensive unit that kept a clean sheet in Parma’s Serie B opener against Feralpisalo and in their Italy Cup first round clash against fellow promotion hopefuls Bari.
Ajdin Hrustic (Hellas Verona)
Having long been heralded as Australia’s key attacking force from midfield, Ajdin Hrustic has struggled in recent times.
Hrustic moved to Verona from Eintracht Frankfurt in last year’s summer window in search of game time but that never quite materialised.
The 27-year-old also underwent ankle surgery in early January and is yet to return to the field for Verona in Serie B after they were relegated at the end of last season.
There’s still plenty of time for Hrustic to turn things around at club level but if he cannot get on the park in the Italian second division, it will spark serious fears for his hopes of making Australia’s Asian Cup squad.
Hrustic has a lot of work to do.Source: Getty Images
JAPAN
Mitch Duke (Machida Zelvia)
The veteran striker joined Machida Zelvia in January and has had a strong season, with five goals and six assists in 24 appearances in the second division plus a cup goal. He was a regular starter earlier for most of the year but has come off the bench in the last four games for the team currently six points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. His team still has 12 matches to play as they chase promotion.
Socceroos star Duke and Lionel Messi shake hands at the World Cup.Source: Getty Images
Mitch Langerak (Nagoya Grampus)
Langerak is having yet another fantastic season for top-flight side Nagoya Grampus. The entrenched starting goalkeeper has played 28 games in all competitions with just 23 goals conceded and 11 clean sheets. He was a shock omission from last year’s World Cup and at 35 years old appears to be on the outer of the national team, but is consistently performing at the top level and could fill in for the Socceroos at any point. Nagoya are third on the ladder, five points off the lead.
Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata)
Deng is also in the top flight with Albirex Niigata, the 14th-placed team. It’s been an up and down season (which began in February) for the 26-year-old central defender. From late May to early June he dropped out of the squad completely, but regained his place for seven-straight starting appearances before a stint off the bench last time out. Overall he’s made 21 appearances in all competitions this year. If he can lock down that place in the starting XI, he’ll continue to press his case for a spot in the Socceroos’ defensive line.
KOREA
Harrison Delbridge (Incheon United)
Delbridge continues to be a mainstay in the backline for Korean side Incheon United, starting 19 of 27 league games this season.
His impressive form last year earned a call-up to the Socceroos for the double-header against New Zealand where he made his international debut.
However, Delbridge likely faces an uphill battle to break back into the team with the likes of Souttar, Kye Rowles and Circati ahead of him in the pecking order.
Delbridge for the Socceroos in September last year.Source: Getty Images
NETHERLANDS
Garang Kuol (Volendam, on loan from Newcastle)
18-year-old Kuol had a difficult first season in Europe, making just nine appearances for Hearts in Scotland on loan from Premier League side Newcastle – and almost all of them coming off the bench. Now he’s been sent to Volendam, a renowned nursery for young players, to get more minutes and continue his development. He got 24 minutes in their first league match of the season but was left out of the squad for the second match. Coach Matthias Kohler said: “We have to be patient with him. That is simply the case with a young player who comes from a foreign competition.”
Despite his limited minutes at club-land, he picked up his first Socceroos goal against Ecuador in March.
This will be a big season for Kuol’s growth, and getting as many minutes as possible is crucial.
Kuol celebrates his first goal for the Socceroos in March.Source: Getty Images
Mat Ryan (AZ Alkmaar)
The 31-year-old gloveman is the settled number one at AZ Alkmaar, having joined the Dutch club in January. The Socceroos skipper has had a great start to the season, with two clean sheets in his first five matches – four wins and a draw. Their two league wins and a +6 goal difference has them top of the Eredivisie league ladder, having finished a strong fourth last season.
On Friday morning, his side continued their bid to reach the third-tier European continental competition – the Europa Conference League – with a 1-1 draw in the first leg against Brann of Norway. Ryan made five saves in another strong showing.
NORWAY
Gianni Stensness (Viking FC)
The 24-year-old centre-back/defensive midfielder had been in fine form in recent months, earning himself a first Socceroos call-up in 12 months against Argentina in June. But things came crashing down when he tore his ACL in training later that month. He’ll be out until the end of the year.
But young Aussie teammate Patrick Yazbek, 21, is having a sensational season, bagging one goal and five assists in 18 appearances (all comps). The centre-midfielder looks to be a key figure in the Olyroos team aiming to reach the Paris Olympics.
Rounding out the Australian trio at Viking is Nick D’Agostino, although the striker has largely been consigned to an impact role off the bench.
The Heart of Midlothian contingent again features FOUR Aussies this season, although Garang Kuol has been replaced this year by another young gun Calem Nieuwenhof.
The team is third in the league after two rounds, with a win and a draw, and are also competing in the Europa Conference League play-offs, where they suffered a 2-1 first-leg loss to Greek league leaders PAOK on Friday morning.
Right-back Nathaniel Atkinson has started five games so far including that defeat, after a very strong finish to last season after a rollercoaster year saw him bounce in an out of the side but mostly feature off the bench. Early signs are very promising for the 24-year-old as he looks to take a step up in his career.
25-year-old Kye Rowles has played every minute of their six games in centre-back and is a lock to start. He’ll be hoping to avoid another injury like the metatarsal fracture he suffered in September last year that threatened his World Cup hopes. Luckily he returned in time to star in Qatar and quickly nail down his place in the Hearts’ starting side after that – and this season promises another strong campaign.
Cameron Devlin has enjoyed a bright start to the season.Source: Getty Images
Cammy Devlin bagged a brace in the Europa Conference League play-offs a week ago and has started five matches already, coming off the back of a breakout 41-game season last time around. With Aaron Mooy’s retirement, he’ll back himself to step up and fill the gap in the midfield – and his early form certainly boosts his case.
Calem Nieuwenhof, 22, made the move to Scotland on the back of a truly outstanding individual campaign for the Western Sydney Wanderers. The versatile midfielder is on a four-year contract and has plenty of time to grow, but appears to have settled well after a transfer he called an ‘easy decision’. He started their first league game in an attacking midfield role and a cup game in a defensive midfield position, and his ability to play in different roles is a key reason he should feature plenty off the bench, if not force his way into the starting team.
Devlin celebrating his brace.Source: Getty Images
Marco Tilio (Celtic)
Tilio broke the record for an outbound transfer from Australian shores at the start of July when he left Melbourne City for the Scottish giants for a fee over $2 million Australian. The youngster who turned 22 this month is however still recovering from an unknown injury that he suffered on Olyroos duty in June, with Celtic coach Brendan Rogers revealing last month that Tilio would miss the first few weeks of the season.
It will take him some time to get up to speed with the intensity of Scottish football and life at the champions. With the likes of Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda on the wings at the club, he’ll find it hard to break into the first team as a regular starter, but he’s got plenty of promise and will look to show what he can do off the bench at first.
Keanu Baccus and Ryan Strain (St Mirren)
Last season was Keanu Baccus’ first in Scotland after joining St Mirren from Western Sydney Wanderers, and he racked up 36 appearances. That led to St Mirren agreeing a reported £275,000 sale to Bolton in England’s League One (third tier). But the deal fell through – reportedly due to difficulties obtaining a work permit – and reported interest from Scottish rivals Hibernian never eventuated.
The 25-year-old has played every minute of the club’s two league games already – both wins – and has also picked up one assist in three League Cup matches.
His physicality and hard work continues to impress in the rough-and-tumble Scottish Premiership, and he’ll hope to guide St Mirren to better than last year’s sixth placed this time around, especially after they struggled at the dying stages of last season.
With just one year left on his contract, St Mirren will definitely be looking to lock him down on a fresh deal so they can cash in when bigger clubs (almost inevitably) come calling.
And Baccus continues to go from strength to strength for the Socceroos, playing the full game against Argentina in June. With Aaron Mooy’s retirement, coach Graham Arnold could turn to another Scotland-based player in Baccus to step up at the base of the midfield.
Baccus battling Argentina in June’s friendly.Source: Getty Images
Like his club teammate Baccus, Ryan Strain had a standout season in his maiden campaign in Scotland. The right back is receiving interest this transfer window, and a deal could easily still happen before the window closes.
But manager Stephen Robinson said last month that the club had ‘no bids or offers’ for the player, claiming that meant other clubs were “not realising how good a player” he is.
“Long may it continue,” the St Mirren boss told BBC Scotland.
“We don’t want to let him go. We don’t need to sell, we’re not in the [financial] position we were in last year.
“Ryan’s done terrifically well. He’s a very, very good footballer if he doesn’t complicate the game.”
He’s started five cup games and bagged four assists already, and also started both league games in a sensational start to the season.
Scottish journalists are raving about the 26-year-old, with many declaring him the best right wing-back in the league outside of the ‘big two’ of Celtic and Rangers.
He only debuted for Australia last September and missed the World Cup, but the 26-year-old is arguably the most in-form Socceroo in the world right now.
Like Baccus, he also is in the final year of his contract, and St Mirren will make handing him a new deal a priority so as not to lose him for free at season’s end.
It looks like an all-Scottish league battle for Australia’s right back spot between Strain and Atkinson.Source: Getty Images
Martin Boyle, Jimmy Jeggo, Lewis Miller (Hibernian)
Martin Boyle is back! Earlier this month, the 30-year-old winger scored a brace in his first competitive fixture since October 2022, when he underwent surgery on an historical ACL injury. He had said days before that the team’s physios must “hate him,” given how hard he was pushing to return ahead of schedule. All up, he’s now had seven starts for three goals. He’s still not fully fit, but signs are promising that he’ll return to his best.
Jimmy Jeggo has been battling for a spot in the first team at Hibs, making two starts and five bench appearances so far this season. He joined the club in late January and played 17 times in all competitions last season, starting every single one of those games. But Hibernian signed 22-year-old Wales international Dylan Levitt in July, a former Manchester United academy player, and the pair look set to battle for starting duties in the coming weeks.
It’s also worth keeping an eye out for Lewis Miller, the 22-year-old right back who hasn’t yet played for the Socceroos but has featured for the Under-23 Olyroos. Miller is in his second season with Hibernian, but looks set for far more game time this campaign.
However, he’ll have to improve his game after a torrid showing in Hibs’ 5-0 loss to Aston Villa in the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff clash at Easter Road, where three of the goals came from Miller’s flank.
SERBIA
Milos Degenek (Red Star Belgrade)
Degenek is back for a third stint at his boyhood club, having spent 18 months in the US. With three starts, three wins, and three clean sheets – and the team not conceding after he came off the bench in the other league match – it’s been a perfect opening to the new campaign. The 29-year-old has fit right back in, and looks like he’s cemented himself as one of the first-choice options at the heart of defence. He’ll also get the chance to play in the Champions League once again.
Interestingly, six-time reigning champions Red Star are playing a three-man backline this campaign, which could give Arnold room to change up his Socceroos defensive structure.
Degenek is in good form at the start of the new season.Source: Getty Images
SINGAPORE
Bailey Wright (Lion City Sailors)
In a move that caught many by surprise, Bailey Wright left Sunderland a year early to join Singapore Premier League side Lion City Sailors.
The switch to Singapore brings and end to Wright’s time in England where he had played since 2010.
Wright confirmed he had received offers from clubs in England and even from the A-League, but turned it down in pursuit of a new challenge in Singapore.
Having made the Socceroos’ World Cup squad, the decision to move to Singapore is a curious one.
But the 30-year-old has earned the opportunity to pursue a switch for financial reasons and could still venture down to the A-League at some stage in the future.
SWITZERLAND
Awer Mabil (Grasshopper Club Zurich)
The pacy winger will play in a seventh European country this season after signing a deal at Swiss side Grasshoppers.
The team is the most successful in Swiss history, but haven’t won the league in two decades and have struggled in recent years – finishing eighth and seventh in the last two seasons after returning to the top flight after a couple of years in the second division.
They’ve started the new campaign poorly with just one win and one draw from their first four games, meaning Mabil has a great opportunity to cement a spot in the line-up.
It is a much-needed move for the Aussie with 32 international caps and nine goals to his name. Having struggled for game time at Cadiz in Spain’s La Liga (six appearances), he moved to Czechia for the latter half of last season with Sparta Prague, but 15 of his 16 appearances came off the bench. He scored twice (both penalties) and added three assists.
Ahead of his 28th birthday next month, he’ll hope for regular minutes to return to top form. The deal is for two years with an option for a third.
QATAR
Trent Sainsbury (Al Wakrah)
Having been left out of the Socceroos squad for the World Cup, many felt it was the end of the road in the national team for 31-year-old Trent Sainsbury.
Whether he can force his way back into contention remains to be seen, but starting for Qatari side Al Wakrah will give him the best chance possible for that.
Sainsbury started and kept a clean sheet in his side’s Qatar Stars League opener against Muaither SC as Al Wakrah ran out 3-0 winners.
But no matter how often he plays in Qatar, Sainsbury has plenty of bodies in front of him if he is to return to the heart of the Socceroos backline.
Sainsbury’s last Socceroos match in September 2022.Source: Getty Images
WHO ELSE?
Left-back Brad Smith is in the USA for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo, where he’s scored two goals in 15 appearances (all comps). But he’s struggling to lock in a spot in the first team and a recall to the Socceroos looks unlikely.
Meanwhile, Tom Rogic is without a club after leaving West Brom in May after a difficult season. He turned down an optional one-season extension on his contract and has not yet found a new club. It mirrors what happened 12 months ago, when he left Celtic but didn’t find a new club – West Brom – until September. This time around, the 30-year-old might look for an easier challenge, including a possible return down under.
As the dust settles on the majority of European leagues, a raft of Aussies have enjoyed triumphant title celebrations, suffered the heartbreak of relegation and just about everything in-between.
Former Socceroos catapulted themselves back into the spotlight with several impressive performances while for others, they slowly crept further and further out of the national team picture.
Foxsports.com.au takes a look at how the Aussies abroad performed over the course of the season in the Roo Radar Season Wrap-Up!
We begin our end-of-season wrap in England, the nation where the majority of our Aussies abroad are based.
Harry Souttar ended our wait for an Australian player back in the Premier League when he moved from Championship side Stoke City to Leicester City for $26 million in the January window.
The towering defender saw plenty of gametime after his arrival as he started nine games in a row.
However, he was demoted to the Foxes’ bench for five games after a 3-1 loss to Manchester City on April 15.
Although he returned to help Leicester keep a clean sheet in their penultimate game of the season against Newcastle, he was an unused substitute on the final day as the Foxes were relegated.
With Caglar Soyuncu gone and Jannik Vestergaard likely to leave, there will be plenty of opportunities for Souttar to play next season and help his club secure an immediate return to the Premier League.
There was also a Premier League debut for Cam Peupion at Brighton.
The Sydney FC youth product was a constant presence on Brighton’s bench in the final six games of the season but got his first Premier League minutes in a 4-1 loss to Newcastle.
The 20-year-old midfielder came on for a five-minute cameo and here’s hoping there’s plenty more to come next season.
Souttar was relegated with Leicester back to the Championship. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Socceroos midfielder Alexander Robertson unfortunately did not receive any senior minutes for English giants Manchester City, but he made the matchday squads on a number of occasions.
A loan move for the talented City product could be on the cards next season as he looks to gain more experience in senior level football.
Dipping into the Championship and it was mixed fortunes for our Aussie contingent.
Tom Rogic joined West Bromwich Albion on a free deal in what seemed relatively good business at the time.
But Rogic started just four games from 26 and never really got going at the Hawthorns.
He has since been released by the Baggies as Aussies await his next move.
Riley McGree enjoyed a tremendous season under Middlesbrough coach Michael Carrick as a winger en route to a Play-Offs semi-final appearance.
The 24-year-old started 35 games and looks likely to continue flourishing under Carrick’s tutelage.
Goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic continued Australia’s proud history of goalkeepers shining overseas as the 20-year-old made six league appearances for Huddersfield Town.
Bilokapic even registered an assist in a 2-1 win for the Terries over Birmingham City in February.
Ange to coach first Spurs game in Aus | 01:58
Unfortunately Kenny Dougall was relegated to League One with Blackpool but with former boss Neil Critchley back at the helm, the all-action midfielder will look to bounce back.
In League One, Aussie duo Massimo Luongo and Cameron Burgess got to enjoy the sweet, sweet taste of promotion with Ipswich Town.
Burgess was a rock at the back for Ipswich who also had the best defensive record in the English third tier.
Luongo joined the Tractor Boys in January and proved to be an extremely influential member in the midfield.
Although the 30-year-old is now out of contract, there’s every chance he is asked to return to Portman Road for the upcoming Championship season and beyond.
Young goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer enjoyed a breakout season for Charlton Athletic and put his name into the conversation for Mat Ryan’s heir.
From November 19 onwards, Maynard-Brewer 26 of 28 games and kept five clean sheets with a string of impressive performances.
But the 23-year-old gloveman earned plenty of praise for his heroics in the Addicks’ EFL Cup fourth round clash against Brighton, with Maynard-Brewer coming up with a big stop in the penalty shootout.
Maynard-Brewer in action for Charlton. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
SCOTLAND
There were no less than 15 Aussie stars taking part in the Scottish top flight this season, but there were mixed fortunes involved for all.
At the top of the table was Aaron Mooy who moved to Celtic on a free transfer.
The midfield maestro scored seven goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions for the Hoops en route to a Scottish treble.
He enjoyed somewhat of a purple patch from December 24 to March 11, as Mooy had 14 goal involvements in 13 games.
The big question will be where he fits into the new manager’s plans after Ange Postecoglou departed for Spurs.
Cameron Devlin, Kye Rowles, Nathaniel Atkinson and Garang Kuol all played their part in helping Hearts to a fourth-place finish and a spot in next season’s Europa Conference League.
Kuol arrived in the January window to get his first taste of senior club football outside of Australia, but struggled to make his mark.
Devlin and Rowles, who moved to the club from the Central Coast Mariners last year, played 41 and 33 games respectively with the former scoring twice and notching seven assists.
Atkinson made 26 appearances in all competitions but was often injected into contests from the bench.
Mooy enjoyed a career resurgence at Celtic. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
One spot below Hearts on the Scottish Premiership ladder was their bitter Edinburgh rivals Hibernian, who boast an Aussie trio of their own in Martin Boyle, James Jeggo and Lewis Miller.
Boyle looked in strong form since he returned from Saudi Arabian club Al-Faisaly but had his season ended early thanks to a knee injury suffered on October 29.
Jeggo joined from Belgian side AS Eupen in January and started in each of his 17 appearances, while Miller featured in 16 games although 11 of those came off the bench.
At St Mirren, Keanu Baccus and Ryan Strain enjoyed breakout seasons.
Right-back Strain was a constant presence in St. Mirren’s lineup and started 39 of 42 games.
His four-goal haul included some stunning free kicks while he bagged five assists.
As for Baccus, who arrived at the club from Western Sydney Wanderers, his tough-tackling performances earned him a spot in the Socceroos World Cup squad and was handed a starting berth against eventual world champions Argentina.
Sadly for Dundee United duo Mark Birighitti and Aziz Behich, they were relegated in what was a dismal season for the Tangerines.
Celtic pay touching tribute to Ange | 02:23
NETHERLANDS
Socceroos skipper Mat Ryan secured a much-needed move away from Real Sociedad and found himself at Danish giants FC Copenhagen.
Although he enjoyed a bright start in the capital, a lingering battle with fellow Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara bubbled away in the background.
Ryan made 11 appearances for Copenhagen and kept five clean sheets, including one in a scoreless draw against Sevilla in the Champions League.
But once Grabara returned from injury, Ryan lost his starting spot.
Not willing to be stuck behind his rival, who took an unnecessary swipe at the Aussie star in the wake of the Socceroos’ loss to Argentina, Ryan found himself a new team: AZ Alkmaar.
Ryan played 25 times and recorded eight clean sheets as AZ finished fourth in the Eredivisie and were one game away from a Europa Conference League final.
With a contract until June 2024, let’s hope Ryan has found himself somewhat of a permanent home after years of turbulence.
Mat Ryan looks to have finally found a home. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
SPAIN/CZECH REPUBLIC
Well, there’s only one Aussie who fits this bill and that is winger Awer Mabil.
The 27-year-old moved to La Liga side Cadiz last summer but started just one game for the Spanish side as game time proved difficult to come by.
He moved to Czech heavyweights Sparta Prague in January and although he started once there too, he saw more time on the pitch as an impact sub.
Cadiz survived the wild final-day relegation shootout in La Liga to stay in the top flight for another season, but Mabil must get more game time if he is to play a continued role with the Socceroos.
FRANCE
After a horror run with injuries, midfielder Denis Genreau finally got to find some form with Ligue 1 side Toulouse.
Genreau saw limited minutes in the early stages of the season, but started in all but two of Toulouse’s final nine league games.
The 24-year-old also got to enjoy some silverware thanks to Toulouse’s stunning 5-1 thrashing of Nantes in the Coupe de France final.
Genreau’s regular starts in the back-end of the season should provide hope for increased game time going forward.
Also in France, 19-year-old forward Mohamed Toure made his Ligue 1 debut for Reims with three consecutive appearances off the bench in the latter stages of the season.
If Toure can kick on next season and gain some rare starts, he’ll no doubt have a strong claim for a Socceroos call-up.
Genreau (left) has returned to the Socceroos fold. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)Source: AFP
GERMANY
Alou Kuol can now say he has played in the Bundesliga, as the talented forward came off the bench for VfB Stuttgart against RB Leipzig on January 27.
Thanks to a 6-1 aggregate win over Hamburg in the relegation play-off to preserve their Bundesliga status, here’s hoping Kuol can make even more appearances in the German top flight next season.
In the 2. Bundesliga, Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe couldn’t quite lift St. Pauli to promotion.
Irvine finished as St. Pauli’s second-top goalscorer with eight, while Metcalfe scored three times in his first season with the club having moved from Melbourne City.
ITALY
Ajdin Hrustic moved to Serie A side Hellas Verona on deadline day last summer but endured a tough start to life in Italy as he started just two league games before undergoing ankle surgery in January.
The attacking midfielder returned to the bench for Verona’s final three games but didn’t see any game time as his side now faces a relegation play-off against Spezia to stay in Serie A.
Should the worst-case scenario occur and Verona go down to Serie B, Hrustic could seek an exit just one year into his deal.
Hrustic’s time in Italy has been hampered by ankle surgery. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
However, one player who made waves in Italy’s second tier was Alessandro Circati.
The highly-rated teenager, who recently earned a Socceroos call-up, enjoyed a solid season for Parma as they came agonisingly short of promotion.
The 19-year-old may have started just ten games, but he also enjoyed the second-highest points-per-game rating in the squad with 2.00 whenever he played.
With legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon behind him, Circati will have learned plenty from one of the greats of the game and will look to continue his development with Parma.
One Socceroo who must be on the move to save his international future is right back Fran Karacic, who was relegated from Serie B to Serie C with Brescia.
BELGIUM
Jason Davidson made his return to European football with Belgian side AS Eupen after joining from Melbourne Victory.
The defender started 30 from 33 games as Eupen finished 15th from 18 teams.
AUSTRIA
Veteran midfielder James Holland moved to Austria Vienna last summer and proved to be an important player as the Austrian side ultimately finished fifth in the league.
The Socceroos will discover their path to Asian Cup glory on tonight at 9pm AEST when the draw for next year’s tournament takes place.
The tournament had been set to run in China in June-July this year, but Covid-19 forced the Asian Football Confederation to move the competition to Qatar – and subsequently reschedule the competition to January-February 2024 due to temperatures.
Follow the draw from 9pm AEST in our LIVE BLOG below!
The draw will be held in Katara Opera House in Doha, with Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold set to attend.
A host of legendary Asian footballers will conduct the draw, where the 24 teams will be split into six groups of four teams.
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It’s been an incredible weekend for Socceroos around the globe, with trophies raised, promotions secured, and goals galore.
However, there has been one sad injury update on an out-of-favour superstar, while another veteran copped an injury as well.
Here’s all the latest in our Roo Radar!
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MASSIMO LUONGO
The midfielder’s stratospheric rise in recent months at third-tier English side Ipswich Town has been one of the stories of the season.
And on Sunday, the fairytale had a perfect ending. Luongo played 75 minutes of a 6-0 win for Ipswich over Exeter City, a result that sees the Blues return to the Championship after a four-year absence.
Luongo scored a goal as he continued an unbelievable streak with the club. He has played 14 consecutive league games for Ipswich, and they’ve won 13 of those games with a draw in the other.
The team banked an incredible 43 goals scored and just two conceded during that streak, with Luongo striking twice himself.
In their three prior seasons in the third tier, the team finished 11th twice and ninth, making this year’s stunning rise to second place and automatic promotion even more impressive.
Having failed to play even a minute for Middlesbrough after an ill-fated move there at the start of the season, Luongo’s revival at Ipswich has suddenly put him back in the frame for a first Socceroos cap since 2019.
Making things even more special for Aussie fans, Luongo was joined by Connor Burgess, a 27-year-old Australian centre half who has played the full game in each of their incredible recent run of matches.
Burgess has played 37 games in all competitions this season despite suffering a facial fracture back in September.
TOM ROGIC
Another out-of-favour former Socceroos mainstay, Tom Rogic, is having a much harder time of it.
He played 32 of Celtic’s 38 league matches last season under Ange Postecoglou before a surprise departure that left him club-less until mid-September, when he signed at English second-division club West Bromwich Albion on a one-season deal.
But after promising flashes of brilliance in the first few weeks at the club, the playmaker has barely made an appearance in recent months.
He hasn’t started a match since January, was left out of the squad entirely for a seven-game stretch the following month, and has been given limited minutes off the bench since then.
In his last seven substitute appearances, only two have seen him play more than 20 minutes.
Now manager Carlos Corberan has revealed nerve pain in the player’s back has been a long-term problem robbing the Australian of more opportunities to make his mark.
Tom Rogic was a bright spark in his early games for West Bromwich Albion.Source: Getty Images
Corberan said: “It’s the fact that he’s had an injury. It has stopped him from being more of an alternative because there is no doubt that he was having more minutes before Christmas. It’s true that since then, the number of his minutes have reduced, but it’s more related to how physically he feels.
“He still doesn’t feel 100 per cent. He can train with the group, but he still has some pain in the back, in the nerve which connects the back and the hamstring. It isn’t something we consider to be a problem, but the pain doesn’t allow him to be at 100 per cent condition.
“At the end, if you’re not 100 per cent, you cannot train with the same intensity that you need to get, to play more minutes. That’s why I consider him a player who can still help us with minutes, still he is a player with a lot of quality and skill, but he’s a player who needs to manage because he’s not in a normal condition.”
The club has the option to extend Rogic’s contract by another season – and with the side currently fighting for Premier League promotion, that could even see the 30-year-old back in England’s top flight!
Given his current form and fitness issues, the club seems unlikely to pick up that contract option.
The international future is clouded for the player who missed the World Cup last year and hasn’t represented the Socceroos since February 2022.
AARON MOOY
Aaron Mooy continues to enjoy a dream campaign under Postecoglou at Celtic, with a trophy treble now well within reach.
Having already won the League Cup in February (Mooy started all four of Celtic’s games in that competition, including against Rangers in the final), the Hoops now sit a whopping 13 points clear of bitter rivals Rangers in the league with five games to play.
They could clinch the league – a second straight under Postecoglou – as early as this weekend.
Mooy came off the bench in that 1-0 win, the Australian’s 41st appearance of the season. He has racked up seven goals and 10 assists in that time, making it one of the 32-year-old’s finest years in his storied career.
Celtic face second-division Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the final of the Cup, which will be played at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Saturday, June 3 (local time).
That’s one week after the league concludes, meaning Postecoglou and Mooy could already have lifted two domestic trophies by then.
AWER MABIL
Awer Mabil came off the bench at half time before delivering a game-changing performance for AC Sparta Prague in Czechia.
The on-loan winger netted twice from the penalty spot in stoppage time – first the equaliser, then the go-ahead goal – to turn a draw into three points in a 3-1 win over Liberec.
Asked after the match if he had any nerves when he sent both penalties into the same spot, 27-year-old Mabil said: “No, no, we’ve been working so hard that when these moments come, I just know where to put it.
“And they went in today and the most important is the three points.
“We’re just fighting for that championship.”
His side face Slavia Praha in the cup final on Thursday morning (AEST) and currently sit two points above them in the league with five ‘championship round’ matches to go (against the other top-six teams).
AROUND THE GROUNDS
There’s been some fantastic performances from Australians elsewhere this weekend.
In Germany, FC St Pauli captain Jackson Irvine racked up another 90-minute performance to guide his team back into the winner’s circle 2-1 over Arminia. Fellow Aussie Connor Metcalfe came off the bench in the 66th minute. St Pauli is fifth in the second-tier with just four matches to go. The top two teams are automatically promoted, while the third-placed team plays off against the third-bottom team from the top flight to decide which team gets to play in the Bundesliga the following season.
St Pauli sit six points off the third-placed team.
Striker Nick D’Agostino had a goal and an assist for Norwegian club Viking FK in a bonkers 7-3 win over HamKam. He wasn’t the only Aussie to start and play a key role – Olyroos gun Patrick Yazbek picked up an assist in his 76 minutes on the park, while Gianni Stensness played the full 90 minutes.
Viking is third in the league after four rounds.
In France, Denis Genreau’s Toulouse beat Nantes 5-1 in the final of the Coupe de France to seal their first-every trophy and qualification to the Europa League. Genreau was an unused substitute but has featured 16 times in the league – France’s top division – this year.
In Korea’s second division, veteran forward Mitch Duke is back from injury and back making an impact, nabbing an assist in his 74 minutes for Machida Zelvia in a 2-1 win over Roasso Kumamoto.
There was more good news for young gun Alexander Robertson in Manchester City’s U21 team. Robertson started and got 45 minutes for the City U21s – picking up an assist to boot – in a 4-3 win over Wolves U21 on the weekend. It comes after City won the Premier League 2 Division 1 title last week.
But there was a worrying incident for one Socceroos defender, Milos Degenek, who was substituted just 13 minutes into Columbus Crew’s 2-1 defeat to Inter Miami in the MLS.
The centre-back – just days after his 29th birthday – appeared to suffer a leg injury.
The Socceroos return to home soil this week for their first matches since this historic success in Qatar last year, facing fellow World Cup participants Ecuador in a pair of friendlies on Friday and Tuesday.
Heralded as the ‘Welcome Home’ series, it is an opportunity to celebrate Australia’s finest men’s World Cup showing, as well as the dawn of a new World Cup cycle – a chance for young players to stake their claim in the next iteration of the Socceroos.
Here are the biggest questions ahead of the two blockbuster clashes.
JUST HOW BOLD WILL ARNIE BE?
This question can easily be reframed as such: Will coach Graham Arnold prioritise the next generation or celebrate those players who starred in Qatar?
It will be a difficult balancing act, made harder by the remarkable depth at his disposal.
20 Aussies received match minutes at the World Cup, and 15 of them have been named to this squad. Add to that a handful of others named to this squad (like defender Thomas Deng, midfielder Cameron Devlin, and attacker Marco Tilio) who were at the World Cup but didn’t take to the pitch.
His selection headaches might be made a little easier by injury-forced absences of a quartet of Mat Leckie, Ajdin Hrustic, Aaron Mooy, and Jamie Maclaren. That’s four World Cup heroes who Arnold almost had to play at some point in this pair of games. Instead, he has the chance to give minutes to other players – meaning more chances for fresh faces.
And there’s no shortage of fresh faces. In fact, there are five possible debutants in the 27-man squad: Jordan Bos, Joe Gauci, Aiden O’Neill, and Alexander Robertson, plus train-on player Nestory Irankunda – who Arnold said was in with a strong chance of making the squad for the second game.
“He’s in there as a train-on at this moment, but there are two games, (and) that the back-up (between) the games is very short.
“We play Friday (then) Tuesday, and there’ll be a good chance for the second game especially that he’ll be in the squad.”
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Robertson set to be 3rd gen Socceroo | 02:25
With the four aforementioned veterans ruled out, the squad is tilted towards youth. The average age of the 26-man squad (thus excluding the 17-year-old train-on Irankunda) is 25.8 years. Besides the five possible debutants, 12 other players have seven caps or fewer.
Youth and international inexperience is partly what makes this series so exciting. Will Arnold hand out debuts to all of the exciting quartet of youngsters at his disposal, including the teen sensation Irankunda? If so, who misses out?
Those sorts of tricky questions face every position. Assuming locked-in first-choice goalkeeper and skipper Mat Ryan plays one of the matches, does Arnold reward veteran Andrew Redmayne – the ‘Grey Wiggle’ – for his heroics in the World Cup play-offs by giving him a game?
Or does Arnold look to the future (and reward superior club form) by giving young Adelaide FC gloveman Joe Gauci a debut between the sticks?
At least a couple of debuts are a veritable certainty this series. But who starts, and just how much Arnold is willing to roll the dice on youth, will be one of the big things to look out for.
“It’s a blank sheet of paper, and these guys have been given the first chance,” Arnold said.
Graham Arnold has remained largely consistent in his tactical approach throughout his Socceroos reign. Typically that sees him deploy a 4-3-3 formation with roaming inverted fullbacks to support an emphasis on wide play, and a willingness to play long balls to stretch defences or to a holdup attacker.
Combined with an emphasis on physicality, workrate, and dogged determination – the ‘Aussie DNA’ he champions – it has proven remarkably successful, particularly in backs-to-the-wall situations against more vaunted opposition at the World Cup.
But with the Asian Cup not until January 2024, and the tougher stages of World Cup qualifying further down the track, Arnold now has an opportunity to revolutionise or at least revamp his approach.
Will we see a new formation? A new focus or style in attack?
Man City teenager headlines Aussie squad | 03:24
While the World Cup was our greatest-ever, significant problems confronted the Socceroos through their gruelling slog to qualify for Qatar. The focus on wide play and bombing balls into the box proved ineffective against well-marshalled defences such as Japan and Saudi Arabia, the two top rivals in Asian qualifying last time out.
But the unique skill-sets and attributes of the younger generation also offers Arnold room to change his approach. Australia is blessed with a raft of extremely talented rising stars, such as Melbourne City’s 20-year-old left-back Jordan Bos.
He presents a contrasting style to the incumbent Aziz Behich, the 32-year-old who has 57 caps over a decade.
“He’s a completely different player to Aziz Behich as a left fullback,” Arnold said.
“I don’t think I’ve seen one like this one since Scott Chipperfield. I hate to put a name on it, but he’s a very, very similar player to Scotty.
“He gives you that extra way that we can play, that maybe we don’t need to play with an inverted full back now.
“We can play with a fullback that can be high and wide and give us something different.
“During a game, for example, if we are playing with that inverted fullback, we can change our style and change our way with one substitution.
“That’s what he brings to us now.”
Australia’s depth in central defence – Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles played every game in Qatar, but Thomas Deng, Milos Degenek, and Bailey Wright are still beating down the door – could even tempt Arnold to move to a three-man defensive line.
Jordan Bos of Melbourne City has been in sublime form of late.Source: Getty Images
NO MOOY IN BIG MIDFIELD CHANCE
Tom Rogic, Aaron Mooy, and Jackson Irvine. For almost a decade, Australia’s midfield has been largely dominated by three men, each of whom have played over 50 times for the national team. But Rogic missed the World Cup – having pulled out of the Socceroos earlier last year in mysterious circumstances – and a lack of game time at West Brom in England’s second tier means he hasn’t earned a recall. Mooy pulled out of this series due to a back injury, meaning Irvine is the sole midfield veteran in the squad.
Ajdin Hrustic, Australia’s best player in the previous World Cup qualification cycle, is also out with injury.
Irvine, in stunning form at St Pauli in Germany’s second division, will play a key role in the midfield this series. But Mooy’s absence throws up some interesting questions.
Mooy has played largely as a six – a deep-lying playmaker or defensive midfielder – for the Socceroos in recent years. For Celtic, however, he typically plays in a more attacking role, where he has added plenty of goals to his exceptional passing and creativity.
Irvine and Casemiro’s wholesome moment | 00:36
Arnold strongly suggested he had planned to deploy Mooy this series in a similar role to his club position, due to both the absence of playmaker Hrustic and the greater depth of defensive midfielders in the current squad – namely Keanu Baccus and Cameron Devlin.
The recalled Connor Metcalfe, an unlucky omission from Qatar, provides a more box-to-box option alongside potential debutant Aiden O’Neill, who has been in sensational form for Melbourne City.
Another potential debutant is Manchester City midfielder Alexander Robertson, a genuine number eight who has huge expectations on his young shoulders.
Arnold typically deploys three midfielders – either two holding midfielders in a double-pivot, or one holding midfielder and two further forward. Irvine will take one of those positions in at least one of the two matches, while Riley McGree could be shifted from his usual role on the flanks to an attacking midfield role usually reserved for Hrustic.
But who Arnold taps to fill the other spaces – or whether he shifts formation to drop from three to two midfielders – could give a big hint as to the future.
