Tonight both Greece and Australia will get much needed World Cup practice as they both compete in friendlies.
The Socceroos, under the guidance of coach Ange Postecoglou, a former Greek coach actually, will be taking on Ecuador in London, while Greece will be up against South Korea at home in Piraeus.
The two teams, quite different in their make up and miles apart in ranking will be testing the waters of a preliminary final squad for the Cup in June.
As the lowest ranked qualified team and in terrifying group, the Socceroos are in desperate need to get World Cup ready fast.
Postecoglou announced his friendly squad this week, giving some players a chance at international duty, with many coming directly from the A-League. In what he calls the “next golden generation for Australian football” the team will see four uncapped players, five plying their trade in the A-League and three players
brought back into the squad after missing the 1-0 win over Costa Rica last November.
“There is a need to balance experimentation and experience,” Postecoglou said about his selection.
Curtis Good (Dundee United), Chris Herd (Aston Villa), Massimo Luongo (Swindon Town) and Ben Halloran (Fortuna Dusseldorf) will all have the opportunity to make their Socceroo debut while Luke Wilkshire, Adam Sarota and Brad Jones will feature under Postecoglou for the first time.
Big names are still there, Victory’s Mark Milligan and new addition Tom Rogic, while a noticable absence is former Socceroo captain, Lucas Neill. The snub hasn’t come as a shock, as the coach has made it crystal clear that consistent game time is an imperative to be considered in the team.The A-League players will all depart from Australia following this weekend’s matches.
For Greece, their team was chosen last week, and will have a short time to get match ready. With great match performances, the team is likely to remain unchanged.
