“Hopeless” Archie and Allsopp In Lastest Socceroos Squad

Australian coach Pim Verbeek held nothing back as he labelled the famed Melbourne pairing of Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp as “absolutely hopeless” in their last start against Indonesia when he named his latest squad to face Kuwait on Thursday week.

This was taken in good humour by the attending crowd, and Pim was quick to follow that up by saying that despite the poor performance for the Socceroos, the pair have since played several good games together.

With Verbeek’s brazen attack on the Melbourne strikers, the chance is now open for Queensland youngster Mitch Nichols and Central Coast striker Matt Simon to step up and lead the attack. Simon impressed after coming on as a sub mid way through the second half of the Indonesia game, and Nichols’ recent efforts in the Roar’s impressive finish to the season are justly rewarded.

In an embattled performance, Pim was forced on the back foot several times, having to fend off questions regarding his statements condemning the quality of the A-League, and more recently his supposed turn around in the Jason Culina saga. While initially welcoming the return of the PSV midfielder to play for Gold Coast, Verbeek last week made commented on how it will now jeopardise his chances for the Socceroos.

Verbeek dismissed the barbed questions, saying that it is his job to get the most out of his players and qualify for the World Cup and Asian Cup, and that his words are often taken out of context by the media.

As expected, players from A-League grand finalists Melbourne and Adelaide dominate the squad, with debut call ups for Daniel Mullen, Fabian Barbiero, Ben Kantarovski and Nichols.

Danny Allsopp (Melbourne),
Fabian Barbiero (Adelaide United),
Billy Celeski (Melbourne),
Shannon Cole (Sydney FC),
Robert Cornthwaite (Adelaide United),
Tarek Elrich (Newcastle),
Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United),
Dean Heffernan (Central Coast),
Scott Jamieson (Adelaide United),
Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle),
Matthew McKay (Queensland),
Craig Moore (Queensland),
Daniel Mullen (Adelaide United),
Mitch Nichols (Queensland),
Tom Pondeljak (Melbourne),
Paul Reid (Adelaide United),
Matt Simon (Central Coast),
Michael Theoklitos (Melbourne),
Archie Thompson (Melbourne),
Matthew Thompson (Newcastle),
Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Newcastle),
Rodrigo Vargas (Melbourne),
Danny Vukovic (Central Coast),
Michael Zullo (Queensland).