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Squad Announced!

May 9th, 2006 | By: Matt | 10 Comments »

I just finished watching the Live squad announcement, and as I thought there might be, there were a few shock announcements. First up, here is the Australian World Cup squad for Germany.

Goalkeepers: Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England)

Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (uncontracted), Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England)

Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Parma, Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England), Josip Skoko (Stoke City, England), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel, Switzerland), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol, England)

Forwards: John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Josh Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden, Germany), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, England).

The most notable inclusions being Mark Milligan, Michael Beauchamp, Josh Kennedy, and Mile Sterjovski. I’ll update the blog later today with a full report on the squad announcement.

Tags: Australia, World Cup Squad

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Comments

By Slacker World Cup Coaches Sweat as Roster Deadline Looms - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | May 9th, 2006 at 8:59 pm

[...] Trinidad and Tobago Costa Rica England Mexico Netherlands Ecuador United States Sweden Spain Iran Australia [...]

Posted from United States

By Jack | May 9th, 2006 at 9:06 pm

Other than Lazaridis I think this is a decent roster with our best, most experienced players. BTW, Michael Beauchamp did make it. Nice job getting it up so fast!

By Antonio B | May 9th, 2006 at 9:17 pm

Josh Kennedy who?

Posted from Australia

By Russ | May 10th, 2006 at 1:13 am

Nothin’ wrong with Stan Lazaridis

Posted from Australia

By Matt | May 10th, 2006 at 6:37 am

I’ll be doing a write up on Kennedy, Milligan and Beauchamp in the next few days.

Would have liked to see Brad Jones included.

Posted from Australia

By This WC..Full of Croatians. - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Croatia World Cup Team Blog | May 10th, 2006 at 9:49 am

[...] In adition to the 23 players Zlatko Kranjčar is bringing with him, Guus Hiddink, Australis coach, is bringing 6 of his own. Željko Kalac, Toni Popović, Josip Skoko, Mark Viduka, Ante Čović and Jason Culina are all players of Croatian descent. This, in adition to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Teddy Lucic who play for Sweden, makes us the largest ethnic group at the games. [...]

Posted from United States

By Chris | May 10th, 2006 at 10:10 am

Russ, I challenge you to find something right with Stan Lazaridis (what the hell does uncontracted mean? It can’t be good). He’s listed as a defender but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make a tackle. His biggest strength was his speed and now that he’s 400 years old he’s not nearly as quick as he could be.

I think it’s great (and well past due) that we qualified for this World Cup. Let’s put out a strong team but also have an eye to the future and blood some young players, especially in positions that involve creativity and speed, like the wings. Stan Lazaridis is not the future of Australian football. He’s had a great international career, but let’s leave him at home and give someone else a chance.

Posted from United States

By Matt | May 11th, 2006 at 6:20 am

I think Lazaridis can do his bit for the team. He is uncontracted at the moment because Birmingham have cleared out players due to being relegated. Now that they are in the Championship they are simply trying to reduce the wage bill. I think there is a good chance he will come home now and play in the A-League.

Posted from Australia

By David | May 12th, 2006 at 5:18 am

Talking of Lazaridis…

The World Cup is not about giving people ‘a chance’. (Especially defenders. And yes, I’m presuming Milligan was picked on his merits, not his potential). And before you mention Theo Walcott, Sven-Goran Eriksson picked him because he gave England a surprise option, a bolter who can come off the bench and make a difference. You don’t have time to groom a player over a season like you do in club football, nor is there the need to rotate the squad to prevent fatigue. You need them to perform in the big games - every game at the World Cup.

The fact is that these games are the biggest games Australia have played in 34 years. Bigger than all those World Cup qualifers along the years against Scotland, Argentina, Iran, Uruguay. Bigger than Confederation Cup matches against Brazil and France. Bigger than friendly matches against Scotland, England (although that was a good feeling) and Ireland, bigger than games against friends and neighbours in New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa. Bigger than the unknown Asian friendly tournaments that we had to play in the 80s. The fact is that we’ve got the biggest games for a long time coming up and we might not necessarily qualify next time (but hopefully).

And so, Lazaridis adds to the quality of the squad. Not for two years time, but now. Managers pick squads for the World Cup. And Lazaridis gives us options and is a very solid performer, and he’s a very good wingback. He’s got a pretty decent set piece on him and he’s got a footballing brain. If he comes back to the A-League then he’ll be a star here (the only other first-team Premiership player I can think of who was in the A-League last year was Dwight Yorke) and that’s how the A-League lads got selected.

It might seem that he’s been picked on sentimentality. Not true. He adds something - and he can make a difference.

Posted from Australia

By David | May 12th, 2006 at 8:37 am

Sorry 32 years. Clearly cannot count. But you get the drift

Posted from Australia

By Euler, Happy Seleção Announcement Day! - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Croatia World Cup Team Blog | May 15th, 2006 at 9:11 am

[...] Today is the day. Today we find out who will be on that pitch, defending their title. The Croatian, Japanese and Australian teams have already been announced and now we anticipate the big one, the one everyone will be talking about. Will it be as stated in Eulers scoop that there will be no surprises on the Brazilian WC squad, or will a younger team come out to play. [...]

Posted from United States

By Complete Listing of all World Cup Squads - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | May 15th, 2006 at 9:44 am

[...] AUSTRALIA [...]

Posted from United States

By A Group-by-Group Rundown of World Cup Squads - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | May 15th, 2006 at 9:29 pm

[...] AUSTRALIA Hiddink selects veteran team; German second-division striker Josh Kennedy called up. [...]

Posted from United States

By Alan Tomkinson | May 17th, 2006 at 7:33 pm

Hi from Birmingham England

RE Stan Lazaridis

There is nothing wrong with Stan as a player. He has been a good player for Birmingham City for the past 8 years or so. He is a reliable defender but has been misused by the Australian national team as he is an even better left winger.
The reason he is uncontracted is that his contract has expired and Birmingham City have let all of their out of contract players (7 in total)go to save money following their relegation from the English Premiership which will cost them millions of pounds in lost revenue

By marco | May 23rd, 2006 at 7:01 am

David-that was very clear what you said and you have convinced me that Lazaridis is a good pick, the world cup is about more than who can run the fastest, australia has to go in with the strongest possible team they can on every level. This squad looks great, with a bit of luck we will get a win in the first round and if the gods are smiling on us and we get a couple of wins and go through then anything is possible………..tis the world cup after all…..

Posted from Japan