Hearts and Hibs stars to learn World Cup fate imminently as they're left out of audition action
Australia are set to outline their 26-man squad for the World Cup in the coming days
Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin and Hibs forward Martin Boyle were left out of Australia’s World Cup taster against Mexico ahead of boss Tony Popovic’s squad announcement.
The duo were unused subs in Australia’s 1-0 defeat to the co-hosts at California’s iconic Rose Bowl Stadium in what was the last match for Socceroos players to stake their claim before the official World Cup squad announcement. Australia will subsequently face Switzerland in another friendly before kicking off their campaign against Turkey on June 14.
Despite Devlin and Boyle’s lack of involvement, boss Popovic claims that even the players who were omitted are still well within contention of being in the squad, as the Mexico friendly was as much of an exercise to experiment with the team as it was to give players a last chance to make their case. Former Hibs man Jackson Irvine started for Australia, while ex Jambo Kye Rowles was also an unused substitute.
Hearts and Hibs stars omitted from Australia World Cup warm-up
The match itself was a fairly uneventful affair as Mexico defender Johan Vasquez’ early header from a corner proved to be the difference. Australia missed several chances in the second half to equalise, which proved a worry for their coach. The Socceroos will also be facing another co-host in USA for their second match of the tournament, before their group stage finale with Paraguay.
Prior to the friendly, Popovic explained the reasons for his line-up. He told Paramount+: “There are various reasons for the line-up. There's a good mix between players that have been in camp for a while, that we'd like to see what they can do, who haven't played for a while, and some senior boys we haven't seen for a while.
“Yeah, of course (World Cup spots are still up for grabs). We have an idea of what we'd like to do. All the players deserve to be here - including the ones that aren't on the team sheet for today. We'll make some decisions tonight and tomorrow morning on the best squad that we believe can do Australia proud at the World Cup.”
Popovic on last audition
Former Dundee United defender Harry Souttar and veteran Aussie winger Matthew Leckie were awarded a start having both recently come back from injury. After the game, Popovic outlined the necessity of minutes for his returning stars. When asked if any of the players who featured had done anything to change his mind, he responded: “It's a little bit difficult straight after the game.
“But I wouldn't say that we had several players needing to do something extraordinary today to get picked. We wanted to see players get more minutes. Fitness-wise, Harry Souttar gets minutes. Matthew Leckie gets minutes. Jackson Irvine gets minutes. So we took a lot of things, not just football-wise. I'm happy they got through the game well and I think that will help those players leading into the Turkey game.”
Devlin and Boyle now face an anxious wait to see if their seats on the plane to North America have been booked. The Hearts man has struggled with injuries himself over the season, having only recently returned from an ankle tear. Meanwhile Boyle, who set up the winning goal in a win over Saudi Arabia to secure qualification, is hoping to be picked after suffering a knee injury four years ago which ruled him out of the tournament in Qatar.