🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic at last brought together his first Socceroos squad, the new coach presented a series of standards. A lot were clear and to the point – ideal in light of the turmoil surrounding his abrupt arrival, after Graham Arnold’s departure, and with less than three weeks to get ready for critical 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic insisted that any player who hoped to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “top-tier” attitude to secure, or keep that honour. But there was an additional theme. Less a demand and a call to greatness – and one that has been brought clearer into perspective with every step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

“My visions were to do something remarkable, in my introductory 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 shifted, even if Popovic’s goals stay the same. The coach, for one, seems genuinely at home as Socceroos head. The 52-year-old’s reputation for strictness stands in stark contrast with the approachable and at times cheerful figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become frequent interviews with football media. Similarly have the results of his team changed, with memories of a defeat to Bahrain and stalemate with Indonesia feeling rather remote after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June booked the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s worldwide tournament.

Those triumphs came as part of an 11-game winning streak under Popovic, one that was only broken away by the United States earlier this month. It’s performance that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected precipice of crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The results of November friendlies 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 – are significant in this context.

While Popovic acknowledges that he arrived in the job assuming to only be able to rely on a main squad of players, he now feels the group he can trust has expanded. This doesn't only come through the emergence of youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the likes of Miloš Degenek’s comeback from the obscurity and Paul Izzo’s development into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the ability to challenge Maty Ryan.

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

This unforeseen rise of talent, and the change in outlook it has brought about in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet considered 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 every chance 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 new faces,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to feel that they have an opportunity. Why can’t there be one more player that comes in in June?”

But this broadening, in a way, brings us back to Popovic’s introductory address as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to surprise him, to do something outstanding and rise above the predictions others have for them, he wants his team to have the same attitude.

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

“I keep saying 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 special from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”