3 minute read
A club versus country row over the availability of Melbourne City defender Curtis Good has erupted on the eve of crucial Socceroos World Cup qualifiers.
Melbourne City have defended their decision to deny Curtis Good a call-up to the Socceroos squad ahead of crunch World Cup qualifiers with Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Australia's hopes of automatic qualification hinge on their final two Group B games with a club versus country row now bubbling away in the background of one of the most disjointed national team build-ups in recent memory.
The Socceroos are third in their qualifying group, three points behind Japan, who they face at Sydney's Accor Stadium on Thursday. They must win both games to have any hope of qualifying automatically.
They are without the services of Aaron Mooy, Riley McGree, Adam Taggart, Jackson Irvine and Craig Goodwin, while coach Graham Arnold was caught breaching NSW isolation rules last week by walking his dog after testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time this year.
Melbourne City's Jamie Maclaren will only be available for the Japan game because he is due to get married next week.
Adding to their woes on Tuesday were the withdrawals of Central Coast Mariners defender Kye Rowles was (COVID-19) and Celtic's Tom Rogic (ankle).
Football Australia checked on the availability of three players; City's Good, Melbourne Victory's Matt Spiranovic and Sydney FC's Alex Wilkinson.
Spiranovic recently contracted COVID-19 with the 37-year-old Wilkinson coming into contention for his first national team game since 2015.
Wilkinson's call-up came after City declined to release 28-year-old Good for Arnold's squad at short notice.
The FA are frustrated at the response from the reigning A-League Men champions and City have countered with the fact that Arnold has not been in regular dialogue with Good in months.
City say they weren't contacted until Monday regarding the defender's availability by which time they had already agreed to send four players with the Socceroos.
"In accordance with FIFA requirements, and in support of the national team, Melbourne City FC have released four first choice players into the final Socceroos squad for the current international window ," the club said in a statement provided to AAP.
"Football Australia, anticipating the impact of COVID-19, issued a larger than usual extended squad. The original list included seven Melbourne City FC players. However, Curtis Good was not included in that extended squad.
"Melbourne City play both Brisbane Roar and Macarthur FC during the window without four Socceroos players.
"This will be the second international window of the 21/22 season that the club played fixtures whilst releasing four players for national duty."
The wider debate will now centre on why Australia's leading men's competition is playing games during the national team's two biggest fixtures since their qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Miss out on automatic qualification for Qatar and the Socceroos face the unenviable task of getting past the third-placed nation in Asia's other group before a play-off against South America's fifth best team.
The veteran Wilkinson will only feature in the squad for the Japan game at Sydney's Accor Stadium with Kuwait-based Ryan McGowan to replace him for next week's clash against the group-topping Saudis in Jeddah.
The furore which has erupted has overshadowed the fact that Rogic, who has been in scintillating form for Celtic under Ange Postecoglou, won't be available and will remain in Glasgow prior to the Old Firm derby on April 3.
Arnold, meanwhile, apologised to the Socceroos squad on Tuesday for his breach and was slapped with a $25,000 fine by the FA.
He could still be on the touchline for the key clash with Japan provided he returns a negative result at the completion of his self-isolation period.
