Melbourne City stars Ivan Franjic, Aaron Mooy and Alex Wilkinson all unveiled the new Socceroos sponsorship shirt’s at Bundoora today, coming after the announcement that Caltex Australia will be sponsoring the national team for four years.
The threesome all hope to be selected for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Tajikistan and Jordan.
Mooy and Franjic are almost a certainty to be playing for the Socceroos, however, Wilkinson may be battling for a spot as a centre-back.
Though should Franjic be selected, there may be an advantage for Australia with Wilkinson and Franjic both playing in the backline.
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All three have trained in Socceroos camps in the past two years, Wilkinson touched on the advantage of having teammates in both club and country colours and conceded how comforting it was for them to be around.
“It’s great to have quality players in your team, we’ve got Aaron and Ivan who feature regularly for the Socceroos and a couple of other guys who could probably push as well,” Wilkinson said.
“I guess it makes it easier in a way and it also made it easier for me for the transition to come back from overseas.
“Knowing a couple of guys in the squad quite well and made my time fitting a lot easier as well.
“With Ivan it helps because we play together in defence, having played together a bit in the national team as well helps fit in the formation we play down here.”
Franjic was relishing the prospect of putting on the Green and Gold once again, having endured a frustrating batch of injuries which kept him out for the first-half of the season.
The Socceroos currently sit on top of the Group B table on 15 points in the second round of AFC Second Round of World Cup Qualification. Jordan, who they play in Sydney, is second on 13 points.
The 28-year-old was also optimistic he may be called up for the crucial games.
“It’s up to the coach, all I can do is keep playing, it’s disappointing time I had in the past with a few injuries which I missed the last camp, now I’m back playing and it’s up to Ange to pick,” Franjic said.
“Every time you step on the pitch and you’re qualifying for a world cup, it’s important to get the win to keep on getting ahead of the other teams in the group. If you slip up, the teams are there to jump on you very quickly.”
Last week, it was announced Australia will be partaking in two friendlies against Greece, one in Sydney and subsequently Melbourne to follow.
Franjic who was born in Melbourne was relishing the opportunity to play for Australia in his hometown, previously the only game he had played in Melbourne for Australia was in the Asian Cup against Kuwait.
“I think in the past, with Ange he’s not afraid of giving his youngsters a go, he’s really made the squad grow their depth a lot now, so it’s coming down to crunch time and I’m sure he’s already got a plan for what lies ahead,” he said.
“Every time you play in front of your family and friends it’s something special, it’s still a long way to go.
“I need to keep playing well week in a week out at club and hopefully get chosen for those friendlies.”
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