Socceroos Coach Popovic Urges Emerging Players to Grab Their Chance Before World Cup

The friendly match on Tuesday at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium marks the last preparation game for the Socceroos on home ground ahead of the finals from June 11 to July 19. It comes after a hard fought 1-0 victory against Cameroon in Sydney last Friday.

Although the win over Cameroon failed to alleviate worries about Australias offensive flow, right back Jacob Italiano and the 18 year old debutant centre back Lucas Herrington stood out with their composure at the back.

Popovic is eager for more players to complicate his choices by performing well against Curacao, the tiniest country ever to reach the World Cup, hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Clearly we are evaluating some of the other lads in camp who have now adjusted and grown familiar with the setup, and I hope they get playing time tomorrow, Popovic shared with journalists on Monday.

This is the World Cup, so everyone in the current squad believes they are near the final selection before heading off for pre tournament preparations.

As players, you must feel you are in contention, and then you need to give your all to prove you belong on that flight.

This could open doors for uncapped forward Ante Suto, born in Croatia and playing for Hibernian in Scotland, who only arrived on Australian soil for this training stint.

Midfielder Alex Robertson from Cardiff City, with his father and grandfather both having played for Australia, might also seek to build on his two previous appearances under Popovic, following his last outing under Graham Arnold in 2023.

The Socceroos encounter a unique challenge from world ranked 82 Curacao, a Caribbean team with Dutch influences keen to rebound from their 2-0 loss to China in Sydney last week and gain steam for their first World Cup outing.

For such a tiny country its a remarkable feat, Popovic remarked about the nation of 156,000 people.

Two countries clashing at the World Cup we are approaching it with full respect.

Following the game with Curacao, Australia travels to a training base in Florida prior to facing Mexico in a friendly on May 30 at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.

In Group D at the World Cup, Australia will take on the US, Paraguay, and whichever team emerges from Tuesdays qualifying playoff between Turkey and Kosovo.