Portsmouth and Socceroos defender dealt telling blow as selection decision made
Hayden Matthews - Pompey’s £1.2m signing from Sydney FC last January - has been overlooked by Tony Popovic for the Socceroos’ latest international matches
Hayden Matthews has been dealt a blow.
The Pompey defender - who found himself dropped to the bench for the Blues’ goalless draw against Wrexham on Wednesday, despite John Mousinho going with three centre-backs - has been omitted from the Socceroos’ latest squad.
Aussie boss Tony Popovic has named a 26-man group that will take on Venezuela and Columbia during the upcoming November international break.
Both games will be played in the USA as the World Cup finalists continue their preparations for next summer’s finals.
However, Matthews hasn’t been invited to link up with his international colleagues as he’s one of 11 changesPopovic has made for double-header.
That comes as something of a surprise, with the 21-year-old named in the past two Socceroos squads this season - albeit without featuring.
The decision also follows the central defender featuring in three of Pompey’s past four games and quadrupling the length of time he’s spent on the pitch in the Championship this term. Prior to October’s international break, the former Sydney FC defender had accumulated just 40 minutes of league football for the Blues. Matthews’ past three outings alone saw him rack up 164 minutes of Championship game time.
The one-cap Aussie international found himself back among the substitutes in midweek, however, as he was one of seven changes Mousinho made to his starting XI following last weekend’s 4-0 humbling at the hands of Birmingham. Matthews also scored an own goal in the recent Fratton Park defeat at the hands of Stoke - a game that finished 1-0 to Mark Robins’ visitors.
Tony Popovic on his latest Socceroos squad
‘It's another opportunity to expand the depth and introduce players who have not yet been exposed to the Socceroos environment or senior international football,’ said Popovic.
‘We also welcome back some familiar faces, from Australia and abroad.
‘I've had the chance to closely observe the opening rounds of the A-League season, and we believe this is the ideal time to integrate domestic players into the squad.
‘We are delighted to be back in the United States to face strong South American opposition as we continue our preparations for the World Cup.’
Pompey contingent all absent from Socceroos squad
Matthews’ international snub will come as a disappointment, especially with next year’s World Cup finals coming quickly on the horizon.
Indeed, there’s only one more international break before the current season is out - with March the next time Popovic will name a Socceroos squad before he finetunes his selection ahead of the finals, which kicks off on June 11.
The defender isn’t alone in finding himself outside of Popovic’s current thinking. All four of Pompey’s Aussie contingent miss out, although Adrian Segecic, Thomas Waddingham and Jacob Farrell are, of course, all presently ruled out through injury.
Meanwhile, former Blues striker Kusini Yengi has also been overlooked as his struggles at Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen continue following his free-transfer move there in the summer.
Twice last season Yengi returned to Pompey from international duty injured, with the knee injury suffered in Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain last November ruling the striker out for 19 games.
It contributed to the forward featuring just 14 times for the Blues last season and Mousinho chosing not to take up a 12-month option on his Fratton Park contract.
Former Fratton Park loanee Alex Robertson has also been left out for this month’s Aussie squad, after returning from international exile last month.