'I can see' - Socceroos boss gives explanation for Portsmouth striker's latest call-up - just 29 minutes into comeback

The Socceroos boss was questioned about the Pompey striker’s selection at a press conference in Sydney following the announcement of the 26-man squad for the forthcoming matches.

It comes after Yengi - who picked up a knee injury while on international duty last November - has managed only two Blues appearances over the past three months, with just 29 minutes of competitive football played in that time.

Twenty-eight minutes of that match action came in the Blues’ 1-0 defeat against Luton at Kenilworth Road on March 1, with the 26-year-old making his long-awaited comeback as a substitute.

Popovic travelled to the UK to take in that game - and it appears he saw enough in Yengi’s performance to hand him an instant recall to the international set-up.

When asked by Australia media about his inclusion, when the likes of Mitchell Duke (Machida Zelvia), Noah Botic (Western United) and Nestory Irankunda (Grasshoppers Zurich, on loan from Bayern Munich) have been left out, he said: ‘We don't have anyone that has the style of play or the profile that Kusini has.

‘I was in London to watch him a few weeks ago, so I saw the way he was moving. I can see that he's looked after his body really well.

‘He played 30 minutes, but he moved well for a first game since November. And he gives us something a little bit different to what the other attackers do.’

Thoughts shared on Yengi’s latest Australia commitments

Yengi joins Adam Taggart (Perth Glory) and Brandon Borrello (Western Sydney Wanderers) as the striker options in Popovic’s squad, two players who have been scoring regularly in this season’s A-League.

Yengi is yet to get off the mark for Pompey this term, though, with injuries limiting him to just 11 appearances in total over the course of the 2024-25 campaign to date.

With that in mind, there’s a section of Pompey supporters who believe the forward needs to concentrate on his Blues contribution over the remaining weeks of the season rather than heading off Down Under for a game against Indonesia in Sydney and then a trip to Hangzhou, where the Socceroos face Chaina.

Speaking to The News this week, boss John Mousinho admitted he would also have preferred the striker remaining at Fratton Park. However, the head coach stressed he would not stop the League One title winner linking up again with his international team-mates.

Mousinho said: ‘There's nothing you can do about those sorts of things, really - and we can’t exactly sit here and say he's safer here with us with some of the injuries we’ve had this year.

‘It was frustrating losing Kas when with Australia. He did it in a game, so it’s one of those where there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

‘We’d probably prefer to have Kas in the building for this international break, but, at the same time, I never want to stop anyone from fulfilling their international ambitions.

‘We wouldn’t stop it. If players are called up, they are called up. Our policy anyway at the football club is that we want players to go and play international football.

‘As I’m sure you can imagine, we have a very, very good relationship with the Australian FA. There have been a couple of times over the past few years - and I can’t remember the specifics - where we’ve had conversations with the head coach and sports science department about where we think the level of a player’s fitness is and whether they think they might be better off staying here.

‘In fairness, Australia have always worked with us on that - and we would never want to abuse that relationship. Kas is fine and available to go.’

Pompey’s first game after the international break is at home against Blackburn on Saturday, March 29. Also away during the international break will be Terry Devlin (Northern Ireland) and Mark O’Mahony (Republic of Ireland under-21s).

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