Socceroos name under-strength squad for Jordan friendly amid player safety fears

Football Australia will continue to assess security ahead of the Socceroos’ planned friendly against Jordan after an under-strength squad was named amid player concerns over safety.

Tony Popovic’s squad was released at 10:30pm on Saturday night for upcoming friendlies against Qatar in Doha on November 13 (November 14, AEDT) and Jordan in Amman three days later.

The friendlies were initially meant to serve as preparation for the Asian Cup, which has since been pushed back from January to December 2027 due to security concerns in host country Saudi Arabia.

Professional Footballers Australia on Friday said players had “overwhelmingly expressed their view that the Jordan match should be rescheduled or relocated”.

Captain Maty Ryan and fellow veterans Jackson Irvine and Milos Degenek, plus midfielder Aiden O’Neill, are the most prominent omissions from coach Tony Popovic’s squad, which includes seven uncapped players. It is unclear whether those players made themselves unavailable for safety reasons.

As yet, there has been no movement on the Amman fixture, despite Indonesia recently cancelling their own planned friendly in Jordan.

“For the match against Jordan, we will continue to assess the security environment and provide players and staff with timely, comprehensive updates, including relevant safety advice and risk assessments,” FA chief executive Martin Kugeler said in a statement. “The safety and wellbeing of our players and staff remains our highest priority.”

There are eight changes to the squad from September’s friendlies against Brazil in Australia.

New call-ups are Central Coast defender Diesel Herrington, older brother of Hull City ace Lucas Herrington, Portsmouth striker Thomas Waddingham and FC St. Pauli midfielder Sam Klein.

Attacker Daniel Arzani returns after finding form at Ferencvaros, along with defender Gianni Stensness (Viking FK), who scored against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Striker Kusini Yengi joins brother Tete, while goalkeepers Joe Gauci (Lincoln City) and Tom Glover (RB Omiya Ardija) have been recalled.

“While the Asian Cup has been rescheduled, that does not take away from the importance of this window,” Popovic said in a statement. “We have limited opportunities to be together as a group, so every camp and every game is important.

“We will have an eye on continuing to evolve the squad for the future, with our World Cup 2030 qualifying campaign and the Asian Cup both now in the second half of 2027. This camp gives us another chance to work with new players and see how they fit into what we are building.”

Qatar and Jordan were finalists from the last Asian Cup, and were viewed as ideal opponents for the Socceroos in their preparation for the next edition of the tournament.

The postponement has not only thrown those plans into disarray, but raised questions over the future of Popovic, who signed a short-term contract extension earlier this year which officially ends in March.

To remain in the job for the 2027 Asian Cup’s new dates – which take place over the Christmas and New Year’s period to avoid Ramadan, which begins on January 28, 2028 – Popovic and Football Australia will need to agree terms on a new contract, whether it be another 12-month term or encompassing the full World Cup cycle through to 2030.

Garriock has set a Christmas deadline to sort out Popovic’s future, warning that other coaches were “knocking on the door” – including, sources say, Kevin Muscat, who shapes as their primary target if Popovic decides to step away from the Socceroos.

Muscat’s contract with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port expires at the end of the year, and the former Melbourne Victory and Yokohama F. Marinos title-winning coach has long held ambitions of steering the national team.

with AAP