Australia names new-look squad for friendly against England
SYDNEY (AP) - A-League players Jamie Maclaren, Craig Goodwin and Stefan Mauk are part of a new-look, 23-man Australia squad to play England in a friendly on May 27 at the Stadium of Light at Sunderland.
Unable to select Asia-based players because the match falls outside a FIFA international window when players must be exempted from club duties if selected by their country, coach Ange Postecoglou made nine changes Wednesday to the squad which beat Tajikistan and Jordan in March's World Cup qualifiers.
Maclaren, Mauk, Milos Degenek and Brad Inman received their first international call-ups. Goodwin left Adelaide this week to sign with newly-promoted Dutch first-tier side Sparta Rotterdam.
Degenek plays for 1860 Munich while Inman, originally from Adelaide, has scored 10 goals in 39 appearances for English League Two side Crewe Alexandra this season.
England plays its first Euro 2016 Group B match on June 11 against Russia at Marseille. Australia has home friendlies scheduled against Greece on June 4 and June 7.
"We have had to cast the net far and wide again and at the same time I think we have come up with a squad that will be really competitive on the day," Postecoglou said. "More importantly for me, it gives me a chance to see some further growth in some players playing against the best possible opposition."
He expects England to be a difficult test for the Socceroos.
"As an Australian, it is always a special event when we face England in any sport, probably more so with football," he said. "England is obviously a quality team and will be good challenge for us, especially away from home. Having come off the back of the first stage of qualifying against Asian opposition, it will be good to face up to something different and see how we are tracking with our progression."
Australia plays its opening third-round match in World Cup qualifying at home against Iraq on Sept. 1.
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Australia squad: Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Adam Federici, Craig Goodwin, Chris Ikonomidis, Jackson Irvine, Brad Inman, Mile Jedinak, Tomi Juric, Robbie Kruse, Mitchell Langerak, Massimo Luongo, Jamie Maclaren, Stefan Mauk, Matthew McKay, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Josh Risdon, Tom Rogic, Mathew Ryan, Brad Smith, Bailey Wright, Alex Wilkinson.