'We're not going to...' - Socceroos boss Tony Popovic explains why in-form Portsmouth favourite Adrian Segečić will make 11,500-mile trip back to UK without kicking ball for his country
Adrian Segečić has enjoyed a blistering start to life at Pompey following his summer move from Sydney FC - but it wasn’t enough to see him earn his first senior cap for Australia against New Zealand during the international break
Adrian Segečić has been told he’ll need to be patient after he failed to feature in the Socceroos’ Soccer Ashes series against New Zealand.
The uncapped Pompey forward earned his first call-up to Tony Popovic’s senior ranks this month following an impressive start to life at Fratton Park that has seen the former Sydney FC favourite score twice in four Championship games for the Blues.
The 21-year-old was an unused substitute in Australia’s first game against the All Whites - a fixture the World Cup-bound hosts won 1-0 in Canberra.
But Segečić didn’t even make the 23-man match-day squad for the return leg in Auckland on Tuesday, as he was instead forced to watch on from the stands as his Aussie team-mates ran out 3-1 winners and 4-1 victors on aggregate.
That will definitely have come as a bit of a blow for the attacker, who has made such a good first impression on the Fratton faithful following his move in the summer. Meanwhile, Blues team-mate Hayden Matthews hardly fared much better as he, too, got no match minutes, despite being named on the bench for both games.
It’s a long way to travel not to be called upon. Yet Popovic has defended his selection process.
Tony Popovic explains Socceroos selection calls amid Adrian Segečić decision
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s win against New Zealand, he said: ‘Coming to camp is the recognition for what you’ve done at your club.
‘But that doesn’t also necessarily equate to getting a cap. We’re not going to go through the list and say: “okay, these players are remaining now that haven’t got a cap – let’s just put him in”. It doesn’t quite go that way.
‘They have to be patient, and if the opportunity presents (itself), I’m open to giving all of them an opportunity.’
Speaking specifically about Segecic, Popovic added: ‘It’s still very early stages in his club career.
‘They’re all young boys that have come in for the first time and we’re really assessing to see where they are now. It’s not to predetermine where they’ll be in camps to come, or in six months time when hopefully all these boys have another 30-odd games under their belt, hopefully injury-free, experiencing the intensity of training and needing to back up in Europe under pressure.’
Adrian Segečić’s World Cup hopes
The Socceroos are next in action in October, when they take on Canada and USA away from home respectively as they step up their preparations for next year’s World Cup finals in North America.
Pompey have five games to be played before that next international break - including Sunday’s south-coast derby against Southampton.
There’s ample time for Segecic to stake another claim for another call-up. Not that his presence this month among Popovic and his coaching staff didn’t go unnoticed.
The Socceroos boss added: ‘There’s a reason why only a small group play for their country… it’s not easy, and you’ve got to start somewhere.
‘When you put them in there, you learn a little bit more about each individual, and we’re seeing some players becoming more comfortable as the camp goes on, and they’re starting – and some players that maybe started below others in the first two days, I feel that maybe they’ve progressed and gone past a few. We can only learn that by seeing them together.
‘We have limited time with these players, but the point of this exercise was to bring young, talented, potential players for the future and see where they fit in. We’ll be happy either way. We have learned a lot about them, regardless of who gets minutes.’
For your next Pompey read: FIFA decision on international breaks taken that Portmsouth fans will probably welcome