Hibs’ pair Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine have been named in the Socceroos squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait, Chinese Taipei, Nepal and Jordan in Kuwait City.
Former Hibs’ striker Jamie MacLaren who currently plays for Melbourne City has also been selected along with former Hearts’player Ryan McGowan.
Manager Graham Arnold said the players selected had been rewarded “for their outstanding performances at their clubs over the past six to twelve months”.
He said: “I have said many times that I believe that the strength of the Socceroos is through its young players. Along with my staff, I can’t wait to work with the many fresh faces in this squad as we continue to build the depth of the national team. Equally so, we are excited to work with the experienced and senior players we will have with us, as together we strive to advance to the next round of qualifying with eight wins on our record.
“Our extended 31 player squad will provide us with the flexibility and adaptability that we will need given we will play four matches in 12 days, and the acclimatisation and preparation period that half of our squad will have here in the UAE will be crucial ahead of the first two games in Kuwait.”
The full Socceroos squadis as follows: Aziz Behich (Kayserispor, Turkey), Brandon Borrello (Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany), Martin Boyle (Hibernian, Scotland), Milos Degenek (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), Kenneth Dougall (Blackpool, England), Mitchell Duke (Western Sydney Wanderers), Denis Genreau (Macarthur FC), Apostolos Giannou (OFI Crete, Greece), Curtis Good (Melbourne City), Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC), James Holland (LASK Linz, Austria), Ajdin Hrustic (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Chris Ikonomidis (Perth Glory), Jackson Irvine (Hibernian, Scotland), Fran Karacic (Brescia Calcio, Italy), Mathew Leckie (Hertha BSC, Germany), Awer Mabil (FC Midtjylland, Denmark), Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City), Ryan McGowan (Sydney FC), Riley McGree (Birmingham City FC, England), Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City), Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC), Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa, Israel), Mathew Ryan (Arsenal, England) Trent Sainsbury (KV Kortrijk, Belgium), Brad Smith (Seattle Sounders, USA), Harry Souttar (Stoke City, England), Adam Taggart (Cerezo Osaka, Japan), Lawrence Thomas (SønderjyskE Fodbold, Denmark), Ruon Tongyik (Central Coast Mariners, Danny Vukovic (KRC Genk, Belgium).
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
