Football: Tony Popovic demands best from Socceroos

The Australian

11-06-2025

Socceroos captain Mat Ryan says the 'passion' of Australia's coach Tony Popovic will continue to inspire the national team ahead of next year's FIFA World Cup.
The Socceroos only need to avoid a five-goal defeat in Wednesday morning's clash against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah to guarantee themselves qualification for a sixth successive World Cup.
Popovic's appointment last September came at a difficult time for the Socceroos, who had made a poor start to the third round of AFC World Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 loss to Bahrain and a 0-0 draw with Indonesia.
It led to the departure of long-time coach Graham Arnold, with Popovic given the task of getting the Socceroos' qualifying campaign back on track.
The new coach, who played for the Socceroos at the 2006 World Cup, made an immediate impression on experienced goalkeeper Ryan, who was set to make his 100th appearance for the national team on Wednesday.
Tony Popovic's 'passion' for the Socceroos has been recognised by his players. Picture:'I remember when they appointed him and watching his first press conference and interviews,' Ryan said.
'There was a few questions thrown at him about it being not the greatest time to be taking over as Socceroos head coach because of the circumstances we were in.
'We didn't start off the group in the best possible way and were perhaps behind the eight-ball.
'From memory of him answering the question, he said … 'Every moment to take over the national team, especially the Australian national team, is a great moment. I'm not buying into any of that. It's an honour. It's a privilege to be here, and I can't wait to get to work'.
'From that moment, I (thought) 'he's someone that's super passionate about not only football but Australian football', and it's just been on repeat since he's been in here.
'He demands the absolute maximum from each and every one of us, and that's exactly how it should be.'
Ryan said Arnold and Ange Postecoglou had shown similar passion when they coached the Socceroos, as opposed to the tenures of the other two full-time coaches who had guided him at national team level – German mentor Holger Osieck and Dutchman Bert van Marwijk.
'With every manager we've had here in the national team, it's fair to say the Australian managers more than the foreign managers (have) got that extra special relationship with the jersey,' he said.
'Ange (and) 'Arnie' were also obviously very passionate about the national team, and that was portrayed through their actions and their words and speeches.'
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Marco Monteverde
Sports reporter
Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world.
@marcothejourno
Marco Monteverde