🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic finally brought together his initial Socceroos squad, the new coach detailed a set of requirements. The majority were clear and to the point – ideal considering the disruption around his abrupt arrival, following Graham Arnold’s departure, and with under three weeks to get ready for crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.

Popovic maintained that any player who aspired to wear a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “elite” attitude to secure, or keep that distinction. But there was an additional message. Not so much an order and a call to greatness – and one that has been cast more distinctly into focus with each step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.

“My expectations were to do something remarkable, in my initial talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That stays constant.”

Approximately a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have changed, even if Popovic’s ambitions are the same. The coach, for one, seems really at home as Socceroos boss. The 52-year-old’s reputation for discipline differs greatly with the approachable and at times jovial figure engaging openly for over an hour in what have become periodic interviews with football media. So too have the fortunes of his team improved, with memories of a loss to Bahrain and tie with Indonesia appearing rather distant after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June secured the Socceroos’ spot in next year’s global tournament.

Those triumphs came as part of an 11-game unbeaten run under Popovic, one that was only broken away by the United States earlier this month. It’s form that has taken the Socceroos to the surprising precipice of crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The outcomes of November exhibition games against Venezuela, presently ranked 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the last games of European qualifying – loom large in this regard.

While Popovic concedes that he began in the job assuming to only be able to rely on a core group of players, he now believes the pool he can call upon has grown. This isn’t just through the breakthrough of talented youth such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s return from the wilderness and Paul Izzo’s growth into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the potential to push Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally changed in my mind – of what’s possible with players that have come in,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t truly have much apart from this. Just manage and make them better.’ Now, I think like there are 15, 20 players that have come into that, and I’m certain there are others to come that I believe can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unforeseen appearance of talent, and the transformation in mindset it has sparked in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet regarded among those ranks can hold out hope that, by June next year, they could be on the roster. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to miss a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – continues to deliver consistently, then the coach is making clear they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a restriction or a stop on that – to declare in March that this is our squad, and there may be one or two more inclusions,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to believe that they have an chance. Why can’t there be one more player that joins in June?”

But this growth, in a way, returns us to Popovic’s introductory speech as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to impress him, to do something remarkable and rise above the predictions others have for them, he wants his team to have the same mindset.

“Saying I want to do something special is just ‘we don’t want to have restrictions’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into ‘let’s be contenders at the World Cup, and let’s go home and celebrate for being there’.

“I repeat it to the group: one day, Australia will go very far in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m watching and cheering something remarkable from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”