🔗 Share this article

As soon as Tony Popovic eventually assembled his maiden Socceroos squad, the fresh coach presented a series of standards. The majority were clear and concise – perfect given the turmoil following his unexpected entry, in the wake of Graham Arnold’s departure, and with fewer than three weeks to get ready for vital 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.

Popovic maintained that any player who hoped to represent in a Socceroos shirt would need to take on an “premier” mindset to earn, or keep that honour. But there was another message. Not so much an order and an invitation to excel – and one that has been thrown sharper into perspective with every step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.

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

Just over a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have changed, even if Popovic’s goals stay the same. The coach, for one, seems genuinely comfortable as Socceroos boss. The 52-year-old’s standing for discipline sharply contrasts with the approachable and at times jovial figure engaging openly for over an hour in what have become periodic discussions with football media. So too have the fortunes of his team changed, with thoughts of a loss to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia feeling rather distant after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June guaranteed the Socceroos’ spot in next year’s worldwide tournament.

Those wins came as part of an 11-game unbeaten run under Popovic, one that was only snapped away by the United States earlier this month. It’s momentum that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely edge of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The performances 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 final games of European qualifying – loom large in this respect.

Even though Popovic concedes that he arrived in the job thinking to only be able to depend on a main squad of players, he now believes the group he can rely on has expanded. This isn’t just through the rise of young players such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the examples of Miloš Degenek’s reappearance from the obscurity and Paul Izzo’s growth into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the capability to challenge Maty Ryan.

“The squad has completely changed in my mind – of what’s attainable 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 get by and make them better.’ Now, I believe like there are 15, 20 players that have come into that, and I’m convinced there are others to come that I feel can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unforeseen rise of talent, and the transformation in outlook it has brought about in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the edges of the squad. Even those not yet regarded amongst those ranks can hold out hope that, come 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 play regularly, then the coach is stating plainly they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a restriction or a halt 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 feel that they have an opportunity. Why can’t there be an additional player that comes in in June?”

But this broadening, in a way, brings us back to Popovic’s initial address as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to surprise him, to do something special and go beyond the expectations others have for them, he wants his team to have the same philosophy.

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

“I keep saying it to the group: one day, Australia will go deep in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m observing and praising something exceptional from the Socceroos? Why should we have limits? Why not do it now?”