Arzani, Cahill make Socceroos’ final World Cup squad

By Deputy Chief EditorJune 3, 2018

141 2 minutes read

Antalya: Daniel Arzani will have a chance to become the youngest Australian man to play in a World Cup after making the final 23-man Socceroos' squad for the tournament in Russia.

The 19-year-old prodigy headlines the announcement made by coach Bert van Marwijk late on Saturday night in Turkey after the Dutchman told the players individually the day following their 4-0 thrashing of Czech Republic.

Russia bound: Daniel Arzani is set to become the youngest Australian man to play in a World Cup.

Photo: FFA

The highly-rated teenager will be joined on the plane to Russia by one of his mentors, Tim Cahill, who is on the cusp of becoming the first Australian to play in four consecutive World Cups after being selected by van Marwijk. The 38-year-old is one of four centre-forward options included in the squad with Jamie Maclaren a shock inclusion in the 2018 World Cup campaign given his initial axing from the preliminary squad a fortnight ago. The Hibs striker was called into the squad last week as an injury replacement for Tomi Juric and has worked hard enough in a short period of time to earn his ticket to Russia.

So too has Juric, however, who recently resumed training following his knee injury and will be part of van Marwijk's World Cup campaign. It was no surprise to see Andrew Nabbout's name on the team sheet after the Urawa forward opened his international account in Friday's win over the Czechs.

Bolter: Andrew Nabbout is in the final 23-man squad for Russia.

Photo: AP

If there was a startling omission from the final squad it was perhaps that of James Troisi. The Melbourne Victory attacking midfielder has not enjoyed the best season at club level by his standards but is an experienced campaigner with the Socceroos being part of the 2014 World Cup squad and winning the Asian Cup in 2015. Beating him to one of the last spots on the roster was Newcastle Jets' playmaker Dimitri Petratos who only made his debut for Australia in March.

Troisi's journey ended on Saturday night as well as that of Sydney FC midfielder Josh Brillante, winger Nikita Rukavytsya and Croatian-born fullback Fran Karacic. The latter lost out to Josh Risdon for the right fullback role while Millwall left back James Meredith was included despite not having played for Australia since November 2015.

“I have been very pleased with the effort and application of all of the players during our time in Turkey, and in Austria” van Marwijk said. “Every step of the selection process has been difficult because the players have all given everything to make the final selection.”

“However considering many factors, we have now settled on our final squad for Russia. I believe this group of players can do Australia proud at the worlds biggest football tournament if we continue to work collectively and intensively over the next two weeks and into the competition,” he said.