Paul Okon-Engstler named in Socceroos squad for FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia
Paul Okon-Engstler is the surprise inclusion in the Socceroos squad for Australia's FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia.
The 20-year-old son of Socceroos great Paul Okon, currently an assistant coach of the national team, impressed last week at a national training camp in the UAE, with the uncapped midfielder – who is on the books of Portuguese club Benfica – rewarded with squad selection for Thursday night's game in Perth against Japan and the June 11 (AEST) battle with the Saudis in Jeddah.
However, there is no room in the squad for Johnny Warren medallist Nicolas Milanovic.
The squad also includes six players from Saturday night's A-League grand final.
Champions Melbourne City will be represented by defenders Aziz Behich and Kai Trewin, as well as winger Marco Tilio.
Injury prevented a fourth City player – Joe Marston Medal winner Mathew Leckie – being chosen.
ðŸ'‹ Tony Popovic's squad for the Subway #Socceroos ' June #FIFAWorldCup Qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia is here! ðŸ'Š
🗞� Details: https://t.co/YL3ijudg8B #WAtheDreamState pic.twitter.com/4Iz1H8lIax
— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 1, 2025
The contingent from losing grand finalists Melbourne Victory are playmaker Daniel Arzani, midfielder Ryan Teague and uncapped left-back Kasey Bos.
Parma defender Alessandro Circati also makes his Socceroos return after recovering from a knee reconstruction.
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said his squad was ready to 'embrace this challenge', with the Australians a chance to seal 2026 World Cup qualification in these two games.
'We've put ourselves in a good position within the group to be in control of our destiny,' Popovic said.
'We are ready to embrace this challenge with great respect of our opponents, though full of belief and confidence to achieve our goal of automatic qualification.
'We've had the opportunity to work with a large group of these players in a training camp in Abu Dhabi, which has been extremely beneficial both on and off the pitch.
'I look forward to welcoming the remainder of the squad into camp in Perth for what will be a great build-up and fantastic occasion at Perth Stadium.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Telegraph
an hour ago
- Daily Telegraph
Matt Nable urges NRL to join fight against motor neurone disease
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News. Matt Nable spent the early hours of last Friday morning crying. The acclaimed Australian actor, writer and iconic voice of Fox League's NRL coverage has had an awful week. The week before, was only marginally better. The week before that, no good either. Tears. Blank stares through the car windshield. Not hungry. Scrolling his phone through old photos and videos. Seconds, minutes, days, spent trying to fill the indescribable emptiness. Nable has come to terms with the realisation that he will never be whole again without his baby brother Aaron, 46, smiling the cheekiest of grins back at him. This is how each day goes for the thousands of brothers, sisters, mums, dads, cousins and friends of loved ones impacted by the hideous motor neurone disease (MND). 'You realise when you lose something like this, it's hard to accept,'' Nable, who lost his brother Aaron in March, 2024, said. Aussie actor and writer Matt Nable is headed to Melbourne for 'The Big Freeze'. Picture: Sam Ruttyn 'I won't ever be the same. I won't be whole again and that's part of life. 'We all go through that. 'But it doesn't make it any easier. 'Aaron's presence was so much that it's a massive hole that he's left. 'He has three little boys that are 12, four and three and when Aaron got the disease, that was his focus. Providing something for his children. (L-R) Aaron and Matt Nable. Picture supplied 'It's tough. He was such a gregarious man. A gentle man, he had a big life. 'He touched a lot of people. He was an A-grade scallywag with a beautiful heart. 'There were 2,000 people at his funeral. I don't even know 2,000 people. 'But he had a huge impact on a lot of people. He's really missed.'' It's the reason why Nable is headed to Melbourne next weekend to join the likes of fellow Aussie stars Eric Bana and Asher Keddie for the annual Fight MND 'The Big Freeze'. In it's 11th year, The 'Big Freeze' is an annual fundraising and awareness campaign dedicated to finding treatments and a cure for MND. The disease attacks the motor neurons that carry messages from the brain to the muscles via the spinal cord. These messages allow us to make movements like walking, swallowing, talking and breathing. 'He took that disease to the end. In the end all he could move was his eyebrows, so I saw first-hand what that disease is capable of,'' Nable said. Ever since it's inception in 2015, the Big Freeze just keeps getting bigger, inspired following the diagnosis of former AFL player, coach and Australian of the Year, Neale Daniher. The event, to be held across the King's Birthday long weekend, features a variety of activities, including a 'Big Freeze'' at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Nable and other celebrities will slide into an ice bath. Nable is on a mission to do more. The 53-year-old, who also played first grade for Manly and South Sydney in the early 1990s, has recently held meetings with NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and chair Peter V'landys to create a Fight MND Big Freeze NRL match or round next season. 'Pete and Andrew were remarkably sympathetic when I approached them about the NRL supporting the Big Freeze and they see the value in raising awareness,'' Nable said. 'The rugby league community has been affected by this. It's not a rare disease anymore. 'It was one in 500 people in 1985 and now it's one in 200 people, so there's something environmentally we're doing that is causing that. 'That's not a hypothesis, that's a fact. 'Inevitably it's about finding a cure, or a medicine where it stops the progress of this disease, so that people have some sort of hope that they can prevent it from moving on to the situation where they pass away and they can live on. 'It's a hard thing to get your head around that in 2025, there's no cure for that. 'It's also about bringing an awareness to people to help understand what the disease is because at the moment the money raised isn't government raised, it's all philanthropic, which is really hard to stomach. 'It's at a point that MND will touch everyone within their circle. I've got a mate Dave Chapman who is 52 and has it. 'He's got two young daughters and an amazing wife and it's heartbreaking. 'Chapo is in the fight and he's willing to come with me to Melbourne to raise awareness.'' The famous actor, who starred in the Australian film The Dry and Hollywood war movie Hacksaw Ridge, and the hype guy before every big match, Nable wakes each day and smirks at the silly three-leaf clover - not four-leaf - with the words 'lucky' on his forearm. Aaron had the entire Nable family ink the tattoo on their bodies before he passed. 'The things that you do in a career and for me, whether it's writing, acting or the stuff I do for Fox, I feel very privileged for all doing that,'' Nable said. 'But things like the Big Freeze, define you much more as a person. 'Getting involved in something like this, as hard as it is to talk about what Aaron went through, gives me and my entire family some real desire to help change the course of this awful disease.'' * Beanies are available by scanning the QR code or at Coles, Bunnings, Shell Reddy Express and online at
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Telstra launches a new satellite text messaging service that's accessible when mobile coverage is out of range
A new satellite to text messaging service has launched in Australia making it possible to send or receive texts from outdoor locations when your mobile coverage is out of range. Telstra has launched the product to give mobile customers the ability to send or receive texts beyond the network's mobile range, benefitting users who live work or travel in regional or remote parts of Australia. The service will help farmers in a back paddock, a person on a remote hike or someone who's broken down or has a flat tyre on a country road. Telstra engineers and employees have been testing the technology for months in some of the nation's most remote locations. Currently, the service only supports texts messages (and emojis) on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series family, but future satellite to mobile capability is expected to extend to other devices, data and making calls. Telstra consumer executive Tom Beach said the service was part of a collaboration with Space X's Starlink Direct to Cell. 'Being able to send or receive a text message from an outdoor location that is beyond the range of our mobile network is a significant step forward and reinforces our commitment to pioneer new connectivity options for Australians,' he said. 'As a new technology, satellite to mobile messaging is currently limited to text messaging only, and, whilst complementary, this service is separate and performs differently to our mobile network. 'Following launch, we will continue to test and refine the service so we can continue to offer the best product we can for customers.'
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Controversial Perth Supercars plan wins a famous fan
Supercars veteran Will Davison has thrown his support behind Western Australia constructing a street track near the Perth CBD, saying it will help bring the sport to the people. In January, WA Premier Roger Cook committed $217 million to create a new motorsport street circuit as well as a 20,000-seat music bowl and a function centre. The motorsport circuit would be constructed in the Burswood Precinct area, which houses the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium. But the plan quickly attracted fierce criticism, with opponents raising concerns over noise pollution and the loss of natural green space. Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Townsville are among the Supercars venues already boasting street circuits. Newcastle also had a street track, but a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, pushback from locals and the failure to secure a new Supercars deal resulted in the council restoring the area back to normal use. Davison, in Perth for this week's Supercars event at Wanneroo Raceway, feels a new street track would work wonders for the sport in Perth. "I've been around this sport for a long time, and I've been a part of a lot of the street races that have started from scratch over the last 10 or 15 years," Davison said. "Some have worked, some haven't. But I'm a huge supporter of local motor sports circuits. "You explain it in a way where you're bringing your sport to the people, particularly in the heart of the CBD. "We have our die-hard fans that love Supercars, love motorsport. "(But) there's a lot of people that are on the fence and (won't change their mind) until they come and experience it first hand, and feel that it's much more than a motor sport event." Davison said street circuits brought a different aspect to motor racing. "There's so much going on at street events that are good for the kids, good for the family. There's entertainment everywhere you look left, right and centre. "They create a vibe and atmosphere that makes it much more than a motorsport event." In a huge sporting weekend for Perth, the Socceroos face Japan in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Optus Stadium on Thursday night, while the Supercars will be in action from Friday. Davison and his Dick Johnson Racing teammate Brodie Kostecki took on Socceroos pair Martin Doyle and Mat Ryan in a remote control car battle at Perth's Elizabeth Quay on Monday. Supercars veteran Will Davison has thrown his support behind Western Australia constructing a street track near the Perth CBD, saying it will help bring the sport to the people. In January, WA Premier Roger Cook committed $217 million to create a new motorsport street circuit as well as a 20,000-seat music bowl and a function centre. The motorsport circuit would be constructed in the Burswood Precinct area, which houses the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium. But the plan quickly attracted fierce criticism, with opponents raising concerns over noise pollution and the loss of natural green space. Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Townsville are among the Supercars venues already boasting street circuits. Newcastle also had a street track, but a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, pushback from locals and the failure to secure a new Supercars deal resulted in the council restoring the area back to normal use. Davison, in Perth for this week's Supercars event at Wanneroo Raceway, feels a new street track would work wonders for the sport in Perth. "I've been around this sport for a long time, and I've been a part of a lot of the street races that have started from scratch over the last 10 or 15 years," Davison said. "Some have worked, some haven't. But I'm a huge supporter of local motor sports circuits. "You explain it in a way where you're bringing your sport to the people, particularly in the heart of the CBD. "We have our die-hard fans that love Supercars, love motorsport. "(But) there's a lot of people that are on the fence and (won't change their mind) until they come and experience it first hand, and feel that it's much more than a motor sport event." Davison said street circuits brought a different aspect to motor racing. "There's so much going on at street events that are good for the kids, good for the family. There's entertainment everywhere you look left, right and centre. "They create a vibe and atmosphere that makes it much more than a motorsport event." In a huge sporting weekend for Perth, the Socceroos face Japan in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Optus Stadium on Thursday night, while the Supercars will be in action from Friday. Davison and his Dick Johnson Racing teammate Brodie Kostecki took on Socceroos pair Martin Doyle and Mat Ryan in a remote control car battle at Perth's Elizabeth Quay on Monday. Supercars veteran Will Davison has thrown his support behind Western Australia constructing a street track near the Perth CBD, saying it will help bring the sport to the people. In January, WA Premier Roger Cook committed $217 million to create a new motorsport street circuit as well as a 20,000-seat music bowl and a function centre. The motorsport circuit would be constructed in the Burswood Precinct area, which houses the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium. But the plan quickly attracted fierce criticism, with opponents raising concerns over noise pollution and the loss of natural green space. Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Townsville are among the Supercars venues already boasting street circuits. Newcastle also had a street track, but a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, pushback from locals and the failure to secure a new Supercars deal resulted in the council restoring the area back to normal use. Davison, in Perth for this week's Supercars event at Wanneroo Raceway, feels a new street track would work wonders for the sport in Perth. "I've been around this sport for a long time, and I've been a part of a lot of the street races that have started from scratch over the last 10 or 15 years," Davison said. "Some have worked, some haven't. But I'm a huge supporter of local motor sports circuits. "You explain it in a way where you're bringing your sport to the people, particularly in the heart of the CBD. "We have our die-hard fans that love Supercars, love motorsport. "(But) there's a lot of people that are on the fence and (won't change their mind) until they come and experience it first hand, and feel that it's much more than a motor sport event." Davison said street circuits brought a different aspect to motor racing. "There's so much going on at street events that are good for the kids, good for the family. There's entertainment everywhere you look left, right and centre. "They create a vibe and atmosphere that makes it much more than a motorsport event." In a huge sporting weekend for Perth, the Socceroos face Japan in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Optus Stadium on Thursday night, while the Supercars will be in action from Friday. Davison and his Dick Johnson Racing teammate Brodie Kostecki took on Socceroos pair Martin Doyle and Mat Ryan in a remote control car battle at Perth's Elizabeth Quay on Monday.
