Socceroos boss reveals why he snubbed new Portsmouth ace Adrian Segecic after flying Championship start
The Sydney FC signing has made an excellent impact in the Championship, but surprisingly is being overlooked by Australia. Here’s Socceroos boss Tony Popovic on the reasons why.
Tony Popovic has detailed the factors which led to him ignoring Adrian Segecic for his country’s latest round of international duty.
And the Socceroos boss has insisted the door is still open for the new Pompey star to make a mark for Australia in the wake of his surprise omission.
Popovic ‘open’ to selecting Pompey ace Segecic again
Segecic has been the Pompey standout so far this season, bagging three goals to date and excelling as he steps up to Championship level following his summer arrival from Sydney FC.
The 21-year-old has yet to feature for his country at senior level, despite finishing last term as the A-League’s top scorer. The attacker was called up to Popovic’s squad for their double header with New Zealand last month, but was left on the bench for the first game before failing to make the squad for the return.
Now he has been left out of Aussie group who take on Canada on Saturday in Montreal, before their meeting with USA in Colarado next Wednesday.
Popovic explained his thinking over the call, making it clear he knows Segecic’s capabilities with looking at other untried players his priority at present.
Speaking to Football Australia, Popovic said: ‘They (the likes of Segecic) were selected in the September window when we gave a lot of new players an opportunity, a lot of young players a chance to show where they currently are.
‘We have a good understanding of that and will continue to monitor them and see how they grow from now up until the end of the season.
‘With the camps, I’m open to selecting them again, of course.
‘The reason (for their omission) was it’s the chance for me to look at some other players. I’ve seen now what they can do and we’ll keep watching them. Hopefully they can keep getting more minutes and their performances can stay at a high level.
‘But it’s a chance to look at a few other players now and we’ll see for the future camps. We’ve got November and we’ve got March, but for all of these players it’s a great chance when they get called in.’
Segecic will get chance for Socceroos cap
Australia’s place at next summer’s World Cup is assured, after they qualified in June with that an obvious international target for Segecic. Popovic has his eyes on the likes of the Pompey man and assured him his chance for a full international cap will arrive.
He added: ‘We’ve gave the boys debuts in the last window.
‘Young Nick Milanovic, wonderful for him and his family, and hopefully the other boys who missed out in (Noah) Botic and Segecic get their chance one day to get their cap as well.
‘But it’s also a chance for other players. We’ve got boys I haven’t seen before in (Nicholas) ‘D’Agostino, Cam Devlin and young Alexander (Robertson) as well. We want to keep the door open for everyone and then, hopefully, make a tough selection for the World Cup. Then, for the ones who miss out, there’s a chance in the Asian Cup and beyond that.’