Craig Moore believes his return to the Qantas Socceroos squad will provide the Brisbane Roar skipper a spark that could filter all the way through to his club team-mates.
Brisbane’s marquee man was on Thursday morning named in the Australian squad to take on the Netherlands in a friendly next week ahead of a crucial Asian Cup qualifier against Oman.
After a seven-month absence from the squad, Moore said linking up with the national team again would give the 33-year-old a lift which he could bring back to his club.
“It’s fantastic being involved with the national team,” the 43-time Qantas Socceroo said.
“We have a strong group of players that really enjoy coming back and working hard for one another and continually looking to improve ourselves as a team.”
“So it’s great and then you can bring that back to your club. You have a spring in your step and those experiences hopefully then rub onto the players here at your club as well.”
Moore has again been a dominant force in the Hyundai A-League this season, leading the Roar to within a point of top spot after the opening eight rounds.
He said focusing on his job at the club was key to keeping alive his dream of joining the Qantas Socceroos at next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
“To be honest I don’t even think about it,” he said. “I just concentrate on what I’m doing week in, week out here at the Roar and I’m confident if I do that and steer clear of injury then I’m still good enough.”
Underlining his professionalism, Moore remains focused on the Roar’s match away to Melbourne Victory on Saturday night.
Melbourne’s highly-rated attack will give the former Rangers captain a good workout a week ahead of the match against the Netherlands in Sydney.
“But I’m confident that if you limit the supply to Archie Thompson, you keep (Carlos) Hernandez quiet and you limit Kevin Muscat’s distribution I believe you do stop Melbourne,” he said.
“That’s easy for me to sit here and say that, you need to put that into practice and do it on the particular day.”
