23 May Six debutants in Socceroos squad for Korea friendly

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has named six debutants in his squad for the upcoming friendly against Korea Republic in Busan on June 7.

Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC), Brandon O’Neill (Sydney FC) and Lawrence Thomas (Melbourne Victory) were all rewarded for their outstanding A-league campaigns with maiden international call-ups.

Harry Souttar (Stoke City), Ryan Williams (Al-Qadsiah) and Brandon Borrello (SC Freiberg) are the uncapped overseas players selected in the 24-man squad.

Recently crowned A-League champions Sydney FC have four representatives in the squad in what is Australia’s first international since their failed 2019 Asian Cup campaign.

“Our World Cup qualification campaign preparations start now,” Arnold told reporters.

“The upcoming camp and friendly international in Korea Republic provides us the opportunity to expose more players to international football, which is vital as we prepare for a long qualification campaign.

“We have seen how arduous the previous World Cup path was for our squad and it is imperative that we spend this valuable time together to have a close look and some of our next generation.

“We have eleven players in this squad who have all had excellent seasons in the domestic competition and my message to those playing in the Hyundai A-League is that if you are playing regularly and consistently for your club, you will come into consideration for the next phase of World Cup qualifiers.”

*Australia’s 24-man squad: *

Mitch Langerak (Nagoya Grampus)
Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC)
Lawrence Thomas (Melbourne Victory)
Thomas Deng (Melbourne Victory)
Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC)
Matthew Jurman (Al-Ittihad)
Brad Smith (Seattle Sounders)
Harry Souttar (Stoke City)
Matthew Spiranovic (Perth Glory)
Rhys Williams (Al-Qadsiah)
Bailey Wright (Bristol City)
Mustafa Amini (Aarhus)
Terry Antonis (Melbourne Victory)
Josh Brillante (Sydney FC)
James Jeggo (Austria Vienna)
Brandon O'Neill (Sydney FC)
Ryan Williams (Rotherham United)
Brandon Borrello (Freiburg)
Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United)
Chris Ikonomidis (Perth Glory)
Awer Mabil (Midtjylland)
Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets)
Adam Taggart (Suwon Bluewings)