Tom Rogic and Mustafa Amini look to bounce back into Socceroos spotlight...

Tom Rogic and Mustafa Amini look to bounce back into Socceroos spotlight in 2015-16

0
SHARE

Under the management of Graham Arnold at the Central Coast Mariners, two young attackers put themselves into the national football spotlight with encouraging performances that suggested they could be future stars for the national team.

First it was Mustafa Amini, the exciting playmaker with the afro who made moved to Borussia Dortmund to further his development. Tom Rogic came onto the A-League scene with a bang, and just over 12 months after his debut for the Mariners he had moved on to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League.

Both of these players had done something right in their time with the Mariners to attract the attention of big European clubs, however, the dream moves did not go to plan for either of these players. Amini was unable to secure a regular spot in the senior squad alongside Mitch Langerak, and instead made 57 appearances for the reserves side in the German Third Division, scoring three times.

Rogic, on the other hand, seemingly picked up the Harry Kewell bug since moving to Scottish heavyweights Celtic in January 2013, battling a constant groin injury which he recently described as a ‘nightmare’. His resume was a bit more compelling than Amini’s, having competed in Nike’s The Chance, which most of Fox Sports would remind you at any opportunity when calling his games.

Rogic dazzled the A-League during his time at Central Coast under Graham Arnold
Rogic dazzled the A-League during his time at Central Coast under Graham Arnold

In his twelve months with Celtic he has only played 15 times for the club, with a third of those being starts, plus an ill-fated loan spell with Melbourne Victory in the back end of the 2013-2014 season which saw him play a further eight games thanks to that troublesome groin. Rogic’s move was supposed to put him firmly in Ange Postecoglu’s mind for selection in the 2014 World Cup, but nothing seems to have gone right for him.

Now with the national team’s attention being put squarely on progressing to the next stage of 2018 World Cup qualification, both of these players have started off their preseason campaigns with a clear intention to play and string together enough encouraging performances to wear in the green and gold again.

Amini looks to be reveling in his new Danish surroundings at Randers
Amini looks to be reveling in his new Danish surroundings at Randers

Desperate for first team football, Amini has made a move to Danish side Randers, a league featuring several other Australian players. Thus far in preseason he has made a strong case to receive regular playing time for Randers with his side already involved in competitive fixtures. They have gone through two rounds of Europa League qualifying and the first round of the Danish Superliga competition and Amini has played in every game so far, scoring one goal. Yet, unfortunately the club’s European season is already over, having been eliminated in extra time by Swedish side Elfsborg, so now the full focus moves to finishing as high up the league table as possible this season and geting back into Europe, preferably without having to play during July.

In Scotland, Rogic is hoping to string together consecutive appearances for Celtic and prove why they signed him in the first place. There is no question that he has the talent to compete, but missing so much time at such a crucial stage of his development is less than ideal for someone who has such a high ceiling. He has appeared in one competitive fixture so far, coming on as a late substitute in a Champions League qualifier that was already confirmed as a Celtic victory.

[interaction id=”55bb01bc971608850743ef83″]

He has featured in preseason friendlies, holding his place with many regular first team names returning to action after international breaks, however, he appears to be in need of a loan move if he wants to play more often. Unfortunately for him, the team appears to view him as valuable depth, and may instead opt to keep him in case of injury or poor performance.

What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.

LEAVE A REPLY