Socceroos Abroad: Scottish Premiership starts, Yazbek debuts, Irankunda vs Postecoglou

The action kicks off in Scotland while pre-season continues across Europe with Nestory Irankunda set to face a familiar figure in Australian football.

A number of Aussies also played in midweek fixtures as well.

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Subway Socceroos

Starting in the United States of America, where Patrick Yazbek (cap #641) made his debut for Nashville SC, playing the full 90 minutes in the League Cup on Thursday as they lost 2-0 to Mazatlán FC.

 


Elsewhere, Brad Smith (cap #575) could also feature for Houston Dynamo’s 1-0 loss to Atlas on Sunday morning.

Over to Italy, where Alessandro Circati (cap #637) came on at half time for Parma on Wednesday morning in a 1 -0 loss against Heidenheim.

Parma continue their pre-season against Atalanta on Monday at 2am (AEST).  

Elsewhere in Serie A pre-season, Maty Ryan (cap #555) could get his first minutes for Roma when they face Olympiacos on Sunday at 1am (AEST). 

In France, Denis Genreau (cap #610) also notched up some midweek pre-season minutes as Toulouse beat Girona 4-0 on Tuesday night. Genreau came on at half time and played 15 minutes.

They face Espanyol on Monday at 3am (AEST) as preparations for Round 1 continue. 

Joe Gauci (cap #631) was also on the bench in Aston Villa's 2-0 friendly loss to RB Leipzig on Thursday.

 


They face Club America on Sunday at 7:30am (AEST). 

Elsewhere with the Premier League sides, Cameron Burgess (cap #633) and Massimo Luongo (cap #571) should feature again for Ipswich Town when they face Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday at 10:30pm (AEST) or on Saturday at 9:30pm (AEST) against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

Harry Souttar (cap #606) could also appear for Leicester City when they continue their pre-season in Germany against FC Augsburg on Saturday at 11:30pm (AEST). 

Riley McGree (cap #509) could also feature for Championship side Middlesbrough on Saturday at 11pm (AEST) when they face Heerenveen.

The Socceroos midfielder committed his long-term future to Boro when he signed a new four-year deal earlier in the summer, and he is gearing up for another big campaign as he eyes promotion to the Premier League.

Kusini Yengi (cap #638) and Samuel Silvera (cap #634) also played 79 minutes for Portsmouth as they drew 1-1 with MK Dons on Wednesday morning to continue their Championship pre-season. 

Portsmouth face Charlton on Sunday at 12am (AEST). Olyroo Jacob Farrell could also get his first minutes for his new club.


In League One preparations, Keanu Baccus (cap #628) could appear for Mansfield Town when they face Grimsby Town on Monday at 12am (AEST). 

Over to Scotland, where the Scottish Premiership kicks off for our Aussies.

Cameron Devlin (cap #625), Kye Rowles (cap #622) and Olyroo Calem Nieuwenhof could all feature for Heart of Midlothian when they host Rangers on Saturday at 9:30pm (AEST) to kick off their season.

Heart of Midlothian made history last season, qualifying for Europe for the third season running for the first time in the club's history so they will be looking for similar success this campaign.


Elsewhere in Scotland's top flight, Hibernian kick off their season on Sunday at 12am (AEST) with Lewis Miller (cap #635) and Martin Boyle (cap #599) expected to feature.

Miller bagged a brace as Hibernian convincingly downed Peterhead in Scotland’s League Cup last weekend.

Hibs finished seventh last season but have impressed in pre-season under new manager David Gray, scoring 14 goals across the three League Cup games, with just one conceded.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (cap #644) could also get his first minutes for his new club when Motherwell takes on Ross County at the same time on Sunday (AEST).

Stamatelopoulos landed the move to the Scottish Premiership after an undisclosed transfer fee was agreed upon between the Newcastle Jets and Motherwell.

The 25-year-old, who made his Subway Socceroos debut in June, joined the Well on a three-year deal with a club option for a fourth and will hope to consolidate his spot in the national team.


In Scottish League One, Ryan McGowan (cap #546) is likely to appear for Livingston as they start their season against Dunfermline Athletic FC on Sunday at 12am (AEST).

Elsewhere in the league, Ryan's brother Dylan McGowan (cap #590) is expected to line up for Hamilton Academical when they face Ayr at the same time.

Over to Bayern Munich, where Nestory Irankunda (cap #643) is likely to see some more pre-season minutes against former Socceroos manager Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham in Korea on Saturday at 9pm (AEST). The sides will then face each other again in a weeks time. 

The 18-year-old scored and contributed two assists in his first-team debut and backed that up with a goal against Duren in a 1-1 draw last weekend. 

Spurs have won all three of their friendlies so far and will face off against ex-players Eric Dier and Harry Kane in the two upcoming Bayern pre-season matches.

 

Elsewhere in German Bundesliga pre-season, Jackson Irvine (#568) and Connor Metcalfe (#611) are likely to line up for St. Pauli when they face Norwich City at Carrow Road on Sunday at 12am (AEST).

Irvine has been handed the captain's armband once again by the new manager Alexander Blessin as the Socceroos midfielder prepares for his first season in one of Europe's top five leagues. 

The 31-year-old joined St. Pauli in the summer of 2021 and has scored 15 goals and provided 15 assists from midfield, playing an integral part in the club’s promotion campaign last season.

 


In Belgium, the Belgian First Division A season continues for Aiden O’Neill (cap #629) when his Standard de Liège side plays their Round 2 match against Club Brugge on Monday at 2:30am (AEST). 

It remains to be seen whether Jordan Bos (cap #632) will recover to feature for Westerlo when they face Mechelen on Sunday at 12am (AEST). Bos was forced off with a quadriceps injury last weekend. 

Over to Denmark, where Mohamed Toure (cap #636) will likely feature again when Randers face fellow undefeated side FC Copenhagen in Round 3 of the Danish Superliga on Monday at 12am (AEST). Paul Izzo should also be the Randers' goalkeeper.

Toure came off the bench for Randers in the 57th minute to score their third in a 3-1 win over Viborg in their last outing. 


John Iredale (cap #640) should also play again in the Danish Superligaen when AaB Fodbold face FC Midtjylland on Sunday at 12am (AEST). 

In the Swiss Super League, Awer Mabil (cap #597) Grasshopper face Basel on Sunday at 2am (AEST) as he looks to build on the assist he registered last week. 

Grasshopper have started the campaign with a loss and a draw while Basel suffered two consecutive defeats. 

In Sweden, Alex Gersbach (cap #587) could feature for Kalmar FF when they host Hammarby Fotboll on Monday at 12:30am (AEST) in the Allsvenskan. Kalmar are second to bottom, two points away from safety.

In Norway’s Eliteserien, Gianni Stensness (cap #671) is likely to feature while Nick D'Agostino (cap #621) could return to the squad when Viking FK face HamKam on Monday at 1am (AEST). 

Viking are second in the league with a game in hand, six points behind FK Bodø/Glimt. 

Subway Olyroos

Louis D’Arrigo might play his first competitive game of the season when Lechia Gdansk travel to Lech Poznan on Sunday at 4:15 am (AEST) in Ekstraklasa.

Giuseppe Bovalina could also feature for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Leagues Cup friendly series on Sunday when they host Club Tijuana at 12pm (AEST).