Croatian defender Karacic the bolter in Socceroos World Cup squad
A 21-year-old who has never set foot in Australia will have the chance to start for the Socceroos at the 2018 World Cup after Croatian right back Fran Karacic was named in the preliminary squad for the tournament.
Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk said a lack of depth on the right side of defence prompted him to select the promising youngster, who was coaxed to play for Australia instead of his country of birth.
The fullback is the biggest surprise inclusion for the Socceroos in the 32-man squad but has been on the radar of the national team for a matter of months.
"The problem is we don’t have a lot of choices for the right back position," van Marwijk said. "What I saw until now is that we don’t have a lot of right back defenders. He [Karacic] is one of them."
The former Croatian youth international who captains Lokomotiva Zagreb is eligible to play for Australia through his father, who was born here before returning to Croatia.
Karacic joins Melbourne City teenager Daniel Arzani as the two bolters in the preliminary World Cup squad. Arzani, the highly rated 19-year-old, earned his first call-up to the national team on the back of his captivating performances in the A-League.
Veteran striker Tim Cahill will be given every opportunity to make the final cut despite not playing regular club football this season. Van Marwijk says the experience and leadership of Cahill is invaluable for the tournament in Russia.
"He can make a difference. He is a player who will not be nervous to play in front of 80,000 people," van Marwijk told reporters in Sydney.
Van Marwijk, who will oversee the Socceroos' cup campaign before handing the reins to Graham Arnold, retained the 26 players from recent friendlies, including established core Mile Jedinak, Aaron Mooy, Mat Ryan, Mathew Leckie, Robbie Kruse, Massimo Luongo and Tomi Juric.
Striker Jamie Maclaren's recent goal-scoring in Scotland with Hibernian earned him a recall with goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak, Alex Gersbach and Apostolos Giannou other additions
Van Marwijk will likely trim the squad to 26 players next week.
The squad will then attend a pre-Cup training camp in Turkey before the final 23-man squad for the World Cup is named on June 9, a week before their tournament-opener against France.
Socceroos provisional squad:
Goalkeepers: Brad Jones, Mitch Langerak, Mat Ryan, Danny Vukovic
Defenders: Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Alex Gersbach, Matthew Jurman , Fran Karacic, James Meredith, Josh Risdon, Trent Sainsbury, Aleksandar Susnjar, Bailey Wright
Midfielders: Josh Brillante, Jackson Irvine, Mile Jedinak, Robbie Kruse, Massimo Luongo, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic, James Troisi
Forwards: Daniel Arzani, Tim Cahill, Apostolos Giannou, Tomi Juric, Mathew Leckie, Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Nabbout, Dimitri Petratos, Nikita Rukavytsya.
With AAP