Tony Popovic praised the Isuzu UTE A-League for producing players for the CommBank Socceroos as a new wave of stars look to perform on the international stage.
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Headlining the new-look side is 2024-25 Golden Boot winner Adrian Segecic, who has made a red-hot start to life at Portsmouth after swapping boyhood club Sydney FC for the EFL Championship at the start of the season.
Isuzu UTE A-League 2024-25 Johnny Warren Medallist Nicolas Milanovic is also in the squad for the first time, having impressed early on at Aberdeen following his transfer from Western Sydney Wanderers along with former Western United star Noah Botic, who moved to Austrian giants Austria Vienna at the start of 2025-26.
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While no current Isuzu UTE A-League players are in this September squad with the season yet to get underway Down Under, Popovic has not been afraid to rely on A-Leagues players having handed debuts to Melbourne Victory’s Nishan Velupillay, Macarthur Bulls duo Luke Brattan and Anthony Caceres and Hayden Matthews, who was representing Sydney FC at the time prior to joining Portsmouth in January.
“I think they put their hands up by their performances,” Popovic told reporters on the eve of the showdown. “That’s encouraging for us.
“I think when we came in in October, we brought in some players from the A-League and gave them debuts that weren’t previously in the squads, and now we see a new wave of players progressing.
“And it’s a credit to the A-League as well, because a lot of these players have moved from the A-League, and hopefully there’ll be more to come.
“The boys are doing well. So it just increases the pool of players. That’s one part, increased pool of quality is what we really want, and it’s the headaches that we want to have come June. What is the best squad that we can take that can actually do Australia proud and actually play well and compete really well and try and do something special?
“It’s encouraging signs so far, and we’re hoping that in these two games, we can actually take another step forward in in terms of how we’re playing, how we’re attacking, how we’re defending, our energy, our desire to win, while seeing some new players getting an opportunity.”
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Popovic, whose FIFA World Cup-bound Socceroos face New Zealand in Auckland on Tuesday, added: “It is producing players, and it’s proven that it’s producing.
“A-League players are playing for the Socceroos, and A-League players are moving abroad due to their good play in the A-League, plus maybe getting an opportunity with Socceroos.
“I think that’ll continue.”
