The Socceroos will commence the road to the 2022 World Cup on Wednesday morning (AEST) when they take on Kuwait in their opening qualifier.
Graham Arnold’s squad has a fresh feel to it, with eleven of the 23 having made less than 10 appearances in the green and gold.
Fox Football’s John Kosmina this week joined Box2Box to look ahead to the match, which falls firmly into the bracket of a ‘banana skin’ clash.
“It’s the beginning of a new era for Australia. There are a lot of players that have been good enough to play for Socceroos in recent times, like Brandon Borrello, but the numbers haven’t allowed him to fit in. So it’s time for them to shine”.
Arnold has expressed he believes this group has the potential to be one of the best Socceroos outfits ever by the end of the cycle, maintaining his super-positive stance as boss of the national team.
“Good on Arnie, (the team) had to change, someone had to do it. But, they went to the Asian cup, there was a lot of positive talk and not really enough of an outcome, it didn’t match the chat”
“He made some statements that didn’t come to fruition and people were pretty quick to stick the boot in”.
The Asian Cup campaign was dogged by the sides’ inability to find the net, which Kosmina believes can be remedied with the inclusion of in-form striker Adam Taggart.
“He’s always been a great talent but has never really been consistent. It seems he’s got his head in the right place. For me, he’s got to be a starter”.