‘Keep the expectation high’: Popovic talks up young and ‘fearless’ Socceroos squad

Oakland: Tony Popovic insists the Socceroos’ youthful World Cup is not geared just for the future but is ready to make an impact now as he encourages the Australian public to set high expectations for his team despite its inexperience.

Popovic unveiled his final 26-man squad for the tournament on Monday (AEST), which includes 17 first-timers, two uncapped players and two veterans – captain Maty Ryan and Mathew Leckie – who will make record-equalling fourth World Cup appearances for Australia.

The composition of the squad was largely as expected but, as usual with Popovic, there was a late curveball: debut call-ups for Cristian Volpato and Tete Yengi, who will gain their first experience with the Socceroos at the highest possible level.

Volpato, 21, only arrived in camp on the previous morning after finally declaring his allegiance to Australia over Italy, while Yengi, 25, had been almost written off by Popovic as an option months ago – until a transfer to Japanese club Machida Zelvia changed his perspective.

Yengi is the younger brother of fellow Socceroo Kusini and stands an imposing 197cm tall, offering a different look at the point of attack to Australia’s other strikers.

“I believe Tete probably sums up the whole process since we’ve started in giving players an opportunity and not closing the door on anyone,” Popovic said.

“I saw some games online of him playing in Scotland. We saw him, we were monitoring him, we wrote some notes on him, and left it at that stage. Then he moved to Japan, and we saw he was playing well ... I went to watch him personally, and he’s just stayed on our mind in terms of the profile that he has. It’s very different to anything that we have here in terms of his size and presence on the pitch.”

Popovic said he will “always remember” the faces of the players who he informed had made his squad for the World Cup. Conversely, that meant a series of tough conversations with the four players who were cut and who have returned home immediately: Martin Boyle, Brandon Borrello, Kye Rowles and Joe Gauci.

Boyle’s omission comes after he missed out on the last World Cup due to an ACL injury, the extent of which was discovered only when he arrived in Qatar. He stayed on as the Socceroos’ unofficial “chief vibes officer” but had spoken about how determined he was to finally get on the field in one.

“I’ve always kept the door open for everyone, and when you do that, it can cost someone that’s been through the journey a spot at the World Cup,” Popovic said. “Unfortunately for Martin, he was one of those players.

“Those discussions are never easy and there’s no perfect way to give someone that type of news. Once they hear the news, how much they hear after that, I’m not sure, really, in terms of whatever I say after that can be a blur to most of them. It’s tough for them, and they need to process that.”

Popovic said he would not have been in a position to select Leckie or centre-back Harry Souttar, who were both coming off injury-wrecked seasons for their clubs, if it wasn’t for the lengthy Florida training camp which enabled them to reach the required levels of fitness.

Now the Socceroos have only one more friendly – on Sunday (AEST) against Switzerland in San Diego – before their campaign in Group D kicks off against Turkey.

And while he admitted this squad would be even better in four to eight years, once they’ve gotten a sense of what playing at a World Cup was like, he wasn’t prepared to talk down their chances, describing them as a side the nation should get behind.

“What we have is a lot of young exuberance, a lot of exciting talent, which is I think the start of a new cycle,” he said.

“I think they’re fearless. I would like them to be more fearless than what they are, because I think sometimes that comes with maturity and experience that when the pressure’s on, they go in their shell a little bit.

“It would be easy for me to say that we’re looking to the future with a lot of these players and water down expectations. I don’t want to do that. I think we should keep the expectation high now.

“The players aren’t just picked because they’re young. I believe in these young boys. I think they should believe in themselves more, and I know that will come with time.

“But they should feel assured and confident that they have a coach that believes in them, and that’s why they’re selected. They know they are selected for this World Cup. They’re not selected for future ones.”

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