The Socceroos Qualifier Squad (Pt 2)

As promised on Wednesday, here’s the talk on the second half of the Socceroo’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers.

• Mathew Leckie (Forward, 25, 28 caps (2 goals), plays for FC Ingolstadt 04 (Germany)): I saw Leckie’s performance during the 2014 World Cup against Chile, and that told me that this guy’s potential is absolutely brilliant. Watch him.
• Massimo Luongo (Midfielder, 23, 16 caps (2 goals), plays for Queens Park Rangers (England)): The breakout player at the 2015 Asian Cup, Luongo has a big career ahead of him. Will be looking to further boost his visibiliry.
• Ryan McGowan (Midfielder-Defender, 26, 16 caps, plays for Henan Jianye (China)): To be perfectly honest with you, I’d never heard of Ryan McGowan. Turns out he provided the assist for Tim Cahill’s wonder goal at the World Cup.
• Mark Milligan (Midfielder, 30, 47 caps (4 goals), plays for Bainyas SC (UAE)):  Milligan is an Asian Cup winner and a former Sydney, Newcastle, and Victory player. He was in the World Cup squad in 2014 and played in the warm up against Croatia.
• Aaron Mooy (Midfielder, 25, 11 caps (4 goals), plays for Melbourne City): His strike rate when it comes to international goalscoring is proof of his boundless talent. Possibly the best at taking free kicks in all of Australia.
• Josh Risdon (Defender, 23, 1 cap, plays for Perth Glory): One of the new players in the Squad, Risdon made his debut against Bangladesh in November of last year. He played against Manchester United in the A-League All Stars game of 2013.
• Tom Rogić (Attacking midfielder, 23, 13 caps (1 goal), plays for Celtic (Scotland)): Rogić (yes, proper accents are important) has an interesting story, playing for the Futsalroos at the 2010 AFC Futsal Championship. He’s now playing on full-sized pitches.
• Mathew Ryan (Goalkeeper, 23, 21 caps, plays for Valencia (Spain)): Ryan has succeeded his idol, Mark Schwarzer, as the first choice goalkeeper for the Socceroos. He has a large trophy cabinet, winning three domestic Goalkeeper of the Year awards, the A-League Young Footballer of the Year twice, and the AFC Asian Cup Golden Glove.
• Trent Sainsbury (Defender, 24, 15 caps (2 goals), plays for Jiangsu Suning (China)): Sainsbury has a rather laidback attitude, but don’t mistake that for a lack of commitment, as he was Man of the Match in the Asian Cup final.
• Brad Smith (Defender, 21, 4 caps, plays for Liverpool (England)): One of the youngest players in the squad, Brad Smith was plucked from the suburbs of Sydney in 2008 to go to Liverpool’s academy. Scored a goal that saved them against Exeter City in the FA Cup.
• Matthew Spiranovic (Defender, 27, 30 caps, plays for Hangzhou Greentown (China)): Spiranovic has played for loads of teams, from 1. FC Nürnberg in Germany to Al-Arabi in Qatar, and now China. Can also be spelled Špiranović.
• Bailey Wright (Defender, 23, 8 caps (1 goal), plays for Preston North End (England)): Wright made his debut in a friendly against Saudi Arabia, and scored a headed goal in it, not bad for a defender. Was at the Lilywhites when they got promoted.

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