Brillante relishing Socceroos experience

The rise of Josh Brillante continues, with the 20-year-old taking part in his first ever senior Socceroos camp this week.

The rapid rise of Newcastle Jets Josh Brillante has continued, with the 20-year-old taking part in his first ever senior Socceroos camp in Sydney this week.

After being one of Australia-s standout players at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey last month, Brillante was forced to cut short his off-season holiday following his surprise call-up into Holger Osieck-s 20-man squad for an Australian-based Socceroos camp.

Brillante is one of six Jets players, alongside Ruben Zadkovich, Mark Birighitti, Craig Goodwin, Adam Taggart and Andrew Hoole, who are preparing for the upcoming EAFF East Asian Cup 2013, which will be played in the Korea Republic from 20-28 July.

“The body is starting to get a little bit tired, but to be called up to a Socceroos camp is an honour and I-m glad to be here,” Brillante said

“I had to cut my holiday a little bit short, but to come in for a Socceroos camp is more than worth it.”

Brillante said the disappointment of failing to qualify for the knockout phase of the FIFA U-20 World Cup had hit the Young Socceroos squad hard, but being called into Socceroos camp was a nice consolation.

“We were all pretty disappointed not to make it out of the group, but I thought we played some good football and were a bit unlucky not to go further in the tournament,” Brillante said.

“On a personal note, I thought I didn-t do too badly, but there-s always room for improvement, so I-m just looking to keep working on my game and get better.”

Brillante caught the eye of many observers with his solid performances for the Young Socceroos, however it was his 30-metre wonder goal against El Salvador that was the talk of the tournament.

The Young Socceroo said he is hoping to become a long-range scoring threat on a more consistent basis for the Jets this season.

“When I was younger I used to try shooting from that range a fair bit and scored a few goals,” he said.

“It-s definitely something I-m trying to bring back into my game and hopefully I can score a few for the Jets this season.”

Brillante said he hoped to get as much as possible out of his week training with Osieck-s senior Socceroos squad.

“Learning from some of the older boys, with the experience they-ve gained playing against big teams around the world, and working with the best coaching staff in Australia is really going to help me develop,” Brillante said.

“There are plenty of little things I can take out of a camp like this to help me improve my game overall.”

Courtesy of Newcastle Jets