Popovic: Games against Canada and USA a wonderful opportunity
CommBank Socceroos Head Coach Tony Popovic said that the upcoming games against Canada and the United States were a fantastic opportunity to continue building towards the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The Socceroos boss spoke to media on Monday as the players arrived in camp in Montreal for the international window.
Popovic gave injury updates on various players and explained his thought process behind squad selection for the two friendly games.
Read a summary of the press conference below.
Purpose of the window
It’s a wonderful opportunity. I'm grateful that we've got these types of games, playing two [FIFA World Cup 26™] host nations, playing in these conditions. Obviously, we have to play in altitude as well in the States, which is a different challenge, which we may be faced with at the World Cup. They’re quality opposition, a lot of international experience, players that are playing regularly at a very high level. So it's a fantastic test, fantastic challenge, but also a great opportunity for us to play these teams and show what we can do.
Withdrawal of Fran Karacic from the squad
It’s unfortunate for Fran. The last two windows, he's had to pull out as a late withdrawal. I've stated before that I do expect this to happen. It's unfortunate. But injuries occur, and we always feel that it's possible, before getting in camp, that a player has to withdraw from the squad. It gives Jacob Italiano a chance. We're trying to see as many players as possible at the moment. They’re not qualifiers, they're preparation games, or friendly games, as they're called. So it gives us a chance to look at as many as possible before the World Cup. And he's playing regularly, he's been fit and healthy, so looking forward to seeing him in camp.
Injury updates – Mo Toure, Jackson Irvine, Harry Souttar
We believe Mo will be fine. He did come off in the game [for his club over the weekend], which is true, but it's a shoulder injury. I think he fell awkwardly, and the medical staff over there and Mo himself has have assured us that he'll be fine, and not just for the game - in a couple of days, he'll be able to train.
Jackson had a little bit of a setback. A couple of weeks ago, he was on the bench for his team, and had a bit of a setback in part of the warm-up, with a little niggle in his quad. So that's set him back a couple of weeks, where I'm sure he would have been available for the November window.
With Harry, he's still working through his rehabilitation. It's a long-term injury. When it's around the Achilles, you have to be really careful. I think he's being very diligent in his rehabilitation. We'd love to have him back, of course, but I'm sure his club would as well. He’s going through the protocol required to hopefully come back and stay fit and healthy and be a good option for his club and obviously for his country.
Alex Robertson’s selection
Alex has made himself available for the Socceroos. He wants to play for Australia, and he informed us of that about a month ago. Since that time, we've been monitoring him. The medical staff and physical staff, the conditioning coaches have been in regular contact with him in terms of understanding what he's doing.
I just felt it was a good time to see where he is now. He obviously has no minutes under his belt… but if he gets the football, which we anticipate he will, it gives him an opportunity to be selected for the World Cup. If not, then obviously we have the Asian Cup that follows. And with all these young players, we hope that there's a bright future for all of them moving forward in the next couple of World Cups.
Mix of experience and youth in the squad
When I think of what Mitch [Duke] did for us in two very important games - against Japan, when he came on and made such a difference, and against Saudi he assisted a goal and scored a goal - you can't buy that experience.
We need these young boys to get to that level, but that doesn't just happen overnight. It’s exciting that these young boys are coming through. There may be young boys at the World Cup, yes, but they will be there because they can contribute, because we believe that they can contribute in that moment.
We are fortunate, and we are grateful that we have this opportunity to try and expose these players, these young boys, to our environment. We try to put them under pressure, place expectations on them, and see how they are right now. Then, if in 20 or 30 games' time, there is a selection headache, that would be great.
Progress towards preparing for the World Cup
We're happy with the progress. You're always looking to do it better. You're always searching for that extra detail or something that we can do to make a difference. We just finished important qualifiers that have brought us to the World Cup. So that was one part gone, and now, we've decided to go down a path where we will bring many different types of players, players that we haven't seen, to judge them in our environment.
I anticipate and would like to see more of those boys in the next window, and then we have to start putting it a little bit together in the March window. And obviously, you know, make that vital call come the World Cup.