Perhaps one of the selection bolters in Holger Osieck’s 22-man squad to have assembled in Lebanon is Adam Sarota, whose domestic form has earned him a shot at a third Qantas Socceroo cap.
Perhaps one of the selection bolters in Holger Osieck-s 22-man squad to have assembled in Lebanon is Adam Sarota, whose domestic form has earned him a shot at a third Qantas Socceroo cap.
Having made his debut away to Wales a year ago before adding a second cap in last October-s friendly in Canberra against Malaysia, Sarota is in line to play his first part in Australia-s qualification campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“It feels great, I missed out on the last couple of camps so it-s good to be back in the picture, so I-m very happy to be here,” Sarota said.
“It-s very important to get our first win (against Jordan), you don-t want the teams to be too close together (in the qualification table), you want to try and break away now, the game is very important.”
Of the three Australians at FC Utrecht (alongside Tommy Oar and Michael Zullo), it has been Sarota that has made the most significant impact early on this season.
The former Brisbane Roar midfielder has started each of Utrecht-s four Eredivisie matches - most recently contributing 90 minutes to his side-s 1-1 draw away to NAC Breda.
The 23-year-old has already doubled his matches started tally from previous seasons and is on track to post his most significant campaign since first appearing in the Dutch top flight in August 2010.
“It-s fantastic, I came back at the start of the season and the trainer said that I have to put in a good pre-season and train well and I tried to do that,” Sarota said.
“I guess my pre-season was alright, it was a bit of a surprise for me to start the first game and I-ve been starting ever since, so I-m a bit happy at the moment.
“I feel good, it took my time to get used to the football, their style of play; being there for two years now has really helped my football get better.”
The Qantas Socceroos face Lebanon in an international friendly at Saida Municipal Stadium, Saida, at 8.30pm local time (3.30am AEST, Friday, 7 September).
Following that, the Qantas Socceroos resume their FIFA World Cup qualification campaign against Jordan in Amman, at 7pm on Tuesday, 11 September (2am AEST, Wednesday, 12 September).
The Qantas Socceroos return to Australia in 2013, for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Oman at Sydney-s Stadium Australia at 7.30pm, Tuesday, 26 March, followed by Iraq, at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 18 June.
Tickets for both matches at Stadium Australia are on sale now through Ticketek or via phone, 132 849.