Socceroos squad named to face Argentina
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has called on youth after naming his 23-man squad for Australia's clash with world champion Argentina in Chine on 15 June.
As planned, Arnold is using June’s FIFA men’s international window to present an important opportunity for some emerging national team players to demonstrate what they can produce against Argentina, as the Socceroos continue their preparation for January’s Asian Cup.
Receiving their first senior team call ups are 19-year-old, Parma Calcio 1913 defender Alessandro Circati and Melbourne City FC goalkeeper Thomas Glover, while Denis Genreau (Toulouse FC) and Gianni Stensness (Viking FK) have both been recalled following their outstanding club form.
Due to injury, several players are unavailable for this window including Aziz Behich, Jason Cummings, Milos Degenek, Craig Goodwin, Jackson Irvine, Aaron Mooy, and Bailey Wright, where eleven of the 23-players selected to face Argentina represented Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Upon unveiling the squad, Head Coach Graham Arnold said: “There is no better test than playing the current World Champions in Argentina straight after a World Cup, which reflects how highly regarded Australian football teams are amongst the leading nations.
“Irrespective of who we played during June; I have made no secret that this window would provide a glimpse into the future, where we were always going to reward players who have had strong seasons at club level to show what they can do on the international stage.
“With the benefit of having five friendlies before our 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign starts this November, we need to use every one of these matches to prepare as best we can, as well as having one eye on January’s Asian Cup,” Arnold said.
Full 23-man squad:
- Keanu BACCUS
- Brandon BORRELLO
- Jordan BOS
- Alessandro CIRCATI
- Cameron DEVLIN
- Mitchell DUKE
- Joe GAUCI (Gk)
- Denis GENREAU
- Thomas GLOVER (Gk)
- Ajdin HRUSTIC
- Joel KING
- Mathew LECKIE
- Jamie MACLAREN
- Riley MCGREE
- Connor METCALFE
- Aiden O’NEILL
- Alexander ROBERTSON
- Kye ROWLES
- Mathew RYAN (Gk) (Cpt)
- Gianni STENSNESS
- Harry SOUTTAR
- Ryan STRAIN