{"id":183829,"date":"2025-06-01T03:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/01\/socceroos-greats-son-among-bolters-as-squad-for-final-world-cup-qualifiers-named\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T03:02:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:02:00","slug":"socceroos-greats-son-among-bolters-as-squad-for-final-world-cup-qualifiers-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/01\/socceroos-greats-son-among-bolters-as-squad-for-final-world-cup-qualifiers-named\/","title":{"rendered":"Socceroos great\u2019s son among bolters as squad for final World Cup qualifiers named"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Paul Okon-Engstler is the surprise inclusion in the Socceroos squad for Australia\u2019s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old son of Socceroos great Paul Okon, currently an assistant coach of the national team, impressed last week at a national training camp in the UAE, with the uncapped midfielder \u2013 who is on the books of Portuguese club Benfica \u2013 rewarded with squad selection for Thursday night\u2019s game in Perth against Japan and the June 11 (AEST) battle with the Saudis in Jeddah.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1.<\/a> Limited time offer.<\/b><\/p>\n

However, there is no room in the squad for Johnny Warren medallist Nicolas Milanovic.<\/p>\n

The squad also includes six players from Saturday night\u2019s A-League grand final.<\/p>\n

Champions Melbourne City will be represented by defenders Aziz Behich and Kai Trewin, as well as winger Marco Tilio.<\/p>\n

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Injury prevented a fourth City player \u2013 Joe Marston Medal winner Mathew Leckie \u2013 being chosen.<\/p>\n

The contingent from losing grand finalists Melbourne Victory are playmaker Daniel Arzani, midfielder Ryan Teague and uncapped left-back Kasey Bos.<\/p>\n

Parma defender Alessandro Circati also makes his Socceroos return after recovering from a knee reconstruction.<\/p>\n

The Socceroos can clinch a spot at the World Cup if they beat Saudi Arabia on June 11<\/a>, but they would already be virtually locked in if they beat Japan on June 5 – as they\u2019d then need to lose to Saudi Arabia by four or five goals to miss out.<\/p>\n

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said his squad was ready to \u201cembrace this challenge\u201d, with the Australians a chance to seal 2026 World Cup qualification in these two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve put ourselves in a good position within the group to be in control of our destiny,\u201d Popovic said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ready to embrace this challenge with great respect of our opponents, though full of belief and confidence to achieve our goal of automatic qualification. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had the opportunity to work with a large group of these players in a training camp in Abu Dhabi, which has been extremely beneficial both on and off the pitch. <\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to welcoming the remainder of the squad into camp in Perth for what will be a great build-up and fantastic occasion at Perth Stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n

Socceroos:<\/b> Daniel Arzani, Aziz Behich, Brandon Borrello, Kasey Bos, Martin Boyle, Cameron Burgess, Anthony Caceres, Alessandro Circati, Milos Degenek, Mitchell Duke, Joe Gauci, Jason Geria, Paul Izzo, Riley McGree, Connor Metcalfe, Lewis Miller, Paul Okon-Engstler, Aiden O\u2019Neill, Kye Rowles, Mat Ryan, Mohamed Toure, Adam Taggart, Ryan Teague, Marco Tilio, Kai Trewin, Patrick Yazbek.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Okon-Engstler is the surprise inclusion in the Socceroos squad for Australia\u2019s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia. The 20-year-old son of Socceroos great Paul Okon, currently an assistant coach of the national team, impressed last week at a national training camp in the UAE, with the uncapped midfielder \u2013 who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":183830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[1859,44539,42616,1641,2231,83,1736,11053,8884,3213,55757,60504,12917,1425,60506,60505,48235,20050,40112,20075,11062,1430,862,8892,16809,2895,44428,1728,15717,43668,33373,1431,10527,4465,13971,12783,16706,1465,1847],"class_list":{"0":"post-183829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-abu-dhabi","9":"tag-adam-taggart","10":"tag-anthony-caceres","11":"tag-asia","12":"tag-assistant-coach","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","15":"tag-automatic-qualification","16":"tag-aziz-behich","17":"tag-brandon-borrello","18":"tag-city-player","19":"tag-fantastic-occasion","20":"tag-francois-nel","21":"tag-getty-images-inc","22":"tag-goalkeeper-joe-gauci","23":"tag-grand-finalists","24":"tag-jason-geria","25":"tag-johnny-warren","26":"tag-knee-reconstruction","27":"tag-lewis-miller","28":"tag-martin-boyle","29":"tag-mat-ryan","30":"tag-melbourne","31":"tag-mitchell-duke","32":"tag-mohamed-toure","33":"tag-newswire-sport","34":"tag-nicolas-milanovic","35":"tag-oceania","36":"tag-patrick-yazbek","37":"tag-paul-izzo","38":"tag-paul-okon","39":"tag-riley-mcgree","40":"tag-ryan-teague","41":"tag-saudi-arabia","42":"tag-squad-selection","43":"tag-tony-popovic","44":"tag-training-camp","45":"tag-victoria","46":"tag-western-asia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}