City duo stake Socceroos claim for WC
Written by on July 14, 2023
Melbourne City duo Mathew Leckie and Jamie Maclaren have reminded Socceroos coach Graham Arnold of their class, further pressing their World Cup claims with quality performances in the A-League Men.
The two City forwards were both superb in Friday’s 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium.
Centre-forward Maclaren scored a double and Leckie was at his creative best on the left wing as 10-man City prevailed despite Taras Gomulka’s 47th minute red card.
The pair are expected to both be named in the 55-man provisional Socceroos squad on October 18 for next month’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
They made Australia’s squad for the recent series against New Zealand and are right in the mix to be included in the final 26-man outfit to make the trip to the Middle East next month.
The 31-year-old Leckie played all six games in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups where he was one of Australia’s better performers.
Maclaren, 29, made the trip to Russia for the 2018 tournament but did not play in any of Australia’s three group games.
City coach Patrick Kisnorbo said he didn’t pick the Socceroos team but was full of praise for the pair after the win over the Roar.
Both are class acts but it was their mindsets – and particularly when City went down to 10 men – that most impressed.
“Their attitude was fantastic,” Kisnorbo said.
“It was great that Jamie worked really hard, especially as a lone striker, and in the end he got his rewards.
“Mathew is a smart player.He did really well tonight but the thing I was most happy with were his defensive duties, especially with 10 men.
“He has got a great attitude, along with everyone else, and I was really happy with that.”
City have made a perfect start to their season with two wins, but Roar coach Warren Moon said his side had plenty to work on after making several defensive lapses and failing to capitalise on their opponents being a man down.
“We had openings and opportunities but our touch was poor or we were off with our decision making,” Moon said.
“There are no excuses.”
Despite the performance, Moon said he was not panicking after a draw and slotgacor a loss to start the season.
“You don’t need to panic. We are two games in and whilst tonight is disappointing we are not the first team Melbourne City will do that to,”he said.
“We’ve got to look at the positives. The A-League is a long season. When you start to win a couple and go on a run…things change.”
