Latest news with #SubwaySocceroos
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Emerging talent wants to fill Socceroo's big shoes
When a foot injury cruelly ended Jackson Irvine's season for club and country, it sent a shock wave through Australian football. It also pricked up the ears of every midfielder jostling for a Socceroos berth. NAC Breda midfielder Max Balard knows there is an opportunity open in midfield for crunch World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia. Called up to Tony Popovic's training camp in Abu Dhabi, he is determined to take it. Max Balard 👋 — Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) May 21, 2025 "Jacko has been immense for the national team for many years now and to see him go down was unfortunate, for sure, because you never want to see any players go down," Balard said. "You want our country to have our best players ready to play and he's been incredible. "I definitely understand that there's an opportunity, and I'm working hard every day to make sure that I put my best foot forward and show what I can do to the coaches. "I'm really, really excited for this opportunity. Who knows what can happen? Of course, football is a crazy sport, but I'm doing my best out here and just making sure that I'm working hard and fit to go." Balard, a different profile of defensive midfielder to Irvine, has taken on feedback from his first call-up last year, when he was in camp for two games, but didn't take the field. "It's really made me much more comfortable this second camp," he said. "I'm really looking forward to showing that I am a player that deserves to be here and I'm ready to play." Former Central Coast Mariners star Balard has become a fixture at NAC Breda, and is learning Dutch while playing in the Eredivisie. "The speed of the game in the Netherlands is a lot quicker than what I had experienced in Australia, and thankfully, I was at a club where they gave me my opportunity to play," he said. "It's just helped me improve my game even more both physically and technically." Max Balard 🪄#NACpraat #NACfey — NAC Breda 💛🖤 (@NACnl) February 19, 2025 Balard plays against Dutch internationals every week and is determined to keep taking his game up a gear in Europe. "Previously, there were only a few Australian players playing in Europe, and nowadays, you see, pretty much every transfer window there's another Australian player heading overseas," he said. "There's an abundance of midfielders that are ready to play in Europe. "It just goes to show how hungry the Australian football players are, and how much the sport has grown at grassroots level as well to improve technically at such a level. "I'm really looking forward to what the future holds, but I know as well I've got to stay sharp and keep improving myself, because there's plenty of other players that are knocking at the door as well. "So I'm focusing on myself, making sure I can reach the highest level."
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Socceroos prepared for Chinese onslaught
The Socceroos are bracing themselves for another early onslaught, this time from a desperate China, whose hopes of a guaranteed spot in next year's FIFA World Cup are on the line in Hangzhou on Tuesday night. If the hosts lose to the Socceroos, their chance of a top-two finish in Group C in the third round of AFC qualifiers will be gone and so will a certain World Cup berth. A Socceroos win will also harm China's chances of a third or fourth-place Group C finish, which would give them another chance to qualify. 'They're going to be coming out swinging,' Socceroos defender Cameron Burgess said on Monday. 'They're playing at home in front of a big crowd as well, so I've got no illusions it's going to be a difficult task for us, but we need to stamp our authority on the game and do what we can do to hurt them as well.' The Socceroos struggled to cope with an early blitz from Indonesia last Thursday in Sydney. Despite winning 5-1, the Australians would have been down 2-0 inside 10 minutes if not for a brilliant save from captain and goalkeeper Mat Ryan and the woodwork keeping out a penalty from Indonesia's Kevin Diks. 'Just settling into the game and the conditions in terms of the pitch and how they were playing … we probably just took a little bit longer than we should have,' Burgess said. 'We're expecting a fast start (from China), the same as the other night, so we have improvements to make on that, and hopefully we can start the game better than we did the other night. 'We're ready for what they're going to bring.' The Socceroos – who are second in Group C and a point ahead of third-placed Saudi Arabia – can take another step towards World Cup qualification with a win on Tuesday night. 'We don't want to go away from what we're trying to improve on, what we're trying to be better at (and the) improvements we're making as a team, but equally, every game is important. It doesn't matter who we're playing against or what stage it is – we are where we are,' Burgess said. 'This game was not even in my mind, not even thought about, until we'd finished the last game. 'The last game was the most important game I've ever played in. They're all so important, and we're treating it as such. 'There are times to be relaxed and calm and clear with what we're doing in the moment and on the pitch but at the same time recognising the importance of the game itself.' 🧵 3/3 — Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) March 24, 2025 Despite a lack of first-team football at his English Premier League club Ipswich Town, Burgess – who in the absence of injured star Harry Souttar has a greater responsibility in Australia's backline – felt prepared for Tuesday night's battle. 'It's not great not playing. I'd love to be playing every minute of every game, as would everyone; however, the one upside is how hard we train (at Ipswich),' he said. 'I've experienced that in the past, where maybe not playing for a number of games and then been thrown in for a big game and been fine because we trained to a high level, and you're prepared to be ready to play when you get the chance.' FIFA World Cup qualifier China v Australia Tuesday. 10pm (AEDT) Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, TV: Paramount+
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Young Socceroos power into U20 Asian Cup quarter-finals
The Young Socceroos have won their second-straight match in China to book a place in the quarter-finals of the Under-20 Asian Cup and move one win away from a place at the World Cup. Australia's top teenagers proved too good for Qatar at Shenzhen's Youth Football Training Base Centre Stadium on Saturday, coming from behind to win 3-1 with goals from Alex Badolato, Dean Bosnjak and Daniel Bennie. Qatar had gone ahead in the 18th minute through Mohamed Gouda, but Australia hit back swiftly with Josh Inserra providing the cutback for his Melbourne Victory teammate Alex Badolato to finish. An impressive performance boys 🔥💚💛 — Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) February 15, 2025 Dean Bosnjak, one of the five changes to Trevor Morgan's team's line-up following their opening 5-1 win over the Kyrgyz Republic, put them ahead after the break with a header from a Tiago Quintal's corner. Then after an attacking triple-substitution just after the hour mark saw Adam Bugarija, Musa Toure and 18-year-old Bennie introduced by Morgan, it was the English-based QPR winger Bennie who soon thrashed home a blistering 69th minute shot for his second goal of the tournament. Daniel Bennie is on 🔥 at #AFCU20! #QATvAUS — #AsianQualifiers (@afcasiancup) February 15, 2025 "Very happy to be on the scoresheet, the boys were up for this one," said Macarthur's impressive Bosnjak. "Qatar were a decent team and have some quality players. It was a very physical game, and we just proved to be better than them today." Talking of their resilience in fighting from a goal down, he added: "We work well, we stick together. If we make mistake, we back each other and know what we can do." With China winning the other group A match on Saturday 5-2 against the Kyrgyz Republic, both the hosts and Australia ensured they'll be in the quarter-finals. All that's to be decided is who tops the group when the two teams meet in the final group match on Tuesday. By qualifying for the last-eight, the Young Socceroos have matched the achievement of the side that made the quarters in the last U-20 Asian Cup tournament. That team got beaten in a quarter-final penalty shootout by Uzbekistan, who went on to win the event on home soil. If Morgan's side win their last-eight match, it will guarantee they'll be one of the four semi-finalists who'll go to the U-20 World Cup in Chile in September and October. Australia haven't played in that event since 2013.
