He played awful for Melbourne City against Burriram in ACL.  All he did was backwards and shot passes a whole game.  When he had opportunity to attack he stopped, turned around and passed it backwards. Very frustrating to watch.

No bump will truly conquer FTBL articles but here it goes.

Another very interesting practice window for the Olyroos. 

So any word on how Irankunda doesn't get selected for the Olyroos, if he isn't part of the Socceroos either?

Doesn't make any fucking sense. Arnie said that he's got ability, but he has to work on his consistency to make these squads. Absolute frign joke!! He should be playing against Bangladesh on Thursday FFS!!

It's baffling. Has he been called up to the U23 yet? My hunch is the coach is settled on his player group. Irankunda has time up his sleeve. Crazy idea but an ineligible underage player based on being too young in order to give the soon overaged ones a chance?

It’s to manage his load. Carl Veart has mentioned in interviews before that Adelaide have made agreements with FA to not call him up for every available window as his body can’t handle it and it’s best for his development if he stays and focuses on his club football right now. 

I’m sure for the Asian Cup for example it’s important enough that Irankunda would be considered. 

I remember Galloway and Antonia getting chosen for every u20 and u23 camp that came along and how much it affected their evelopment due to time away from club football.

Popovic injured. Natta called in.

Natta has been great this season. Happy with that. 

This was so frustrating with Antonis.

He couldn’t even have a club career cause he kept getting called up and injured on international duty.
Those injuries ruined his potential.

Still a great player to watch the way he can pick a pass.

U17 WC on. A shame we missed out. Uzbekistan with a 2:2 draw with Spain.

Are kickoff times announced 

Not yet to my knowledge. Game tomorrow against Qatar. 

Australia vs Qatar is on Saturday 5pm local and 7pm CET. That's Sunday morning 5am AEST. 

Wonder if there is a stream

Which level is this? U17?
Is it just s friendly?

It's the 2 Olyroo friendlies in Saudi Arabia against the host and Qatar. There's no 10 or Paramount logo on the home page banner but surely local Saudi TV will have something. Something on Youtube surely.

Praying for a stream 🙏 

Lineup: 
1. Beach (GK)
2. Talbot (C)
3. Mauragis
4. Yazbek
5. Brook
6. Toure
7. Nieuwenhoff
8. Trewin
9. Natta
10. Segecic
11. Borges-Rodrigues

Cool lineup! Obviously not our best of the the 23-man squad but the point is to test players in these friendlies and give everyone a shot to build depth. Would expect a completely different lineup next match against Saudi Arabia. 

https://www.youtube.com/live/tVBgcX8VKfw?si=oKeG5e1Wl7A9LGd0

Excellent job Football Australia with a stream for this. 

Team something like this I guess. Wait and see how they stand. 

                Beach
Talbot Trewin Natta Mauragis
        Yazbek Nieuwenhof
  Brook  Segecic Borges-Rodrigues 
                  Toure

Thank God Circati and Triantis are eligible for age. If we do make it to the Olympics we should shore up in defence. Maybe Degenek would fancy an Olympics? 

I wouldn't bring any over-age players to the Olympics, maybe a Lewis Miller at RB because he is nearly within that age-group, needs the experience and the current RB depth for the team is weak. Every other position is very strong. 

Centre back has always been weak with depth. We've got Circati and hopefully Triantis kicks on soon with games. Past Olyroo teams with Ryan, Mourdoukoutas and Donachie  have left us hopelessly short. I don't think it would happen much under Vidmar anyway but adding Degenek or Deng over Natta or Bility would be good.

I like Cook in goal. Bilokapic is slowly improving. I guess we're alright at that age level but maybe Thomas or Gauci would be some extra security for the tournament proper.

Surely Bilokapic will start, playing heaps of minutes at a very good level. Should be using age-group players for Paris so they get the experience, improvement and exposure and not lose it to older players for no reason. Our team is really strong. Circati, Triantis, Popovic and Courtney-Perkins/Bility is good for a 4 man centre-back rotation and if you're worried about depth then just bring Kye Rowles instead.

Also, it's very obvious that the reason for players such as Irankunda, Kuol, Robertson, Bilokapic etc not being selected currently is because they will most likely miss the U23 Asian Cup next year due to it not being a FIFA window and not being released from their clubs in the crux of their seasons. And these friendlies are JUST prep for that tournament. Whilst, Triantis, Toure and Tilio all aren't as necessary to their clubs. 

I think this squad we have right now will almost be identical to the squad we bring next year with a few changes. The "second tier" squad that we may bring to U23 Asian Cup next year is still better than the squad we brought to the 2022 U23 Asian Cup. Obviously in Paris if we make it, we could be stacked. I think full-strength we could put up a real fight as a contender. 

And if you're worried about CB depth then just bring Kye Rowles over Deng or Degenek. 

Beautiful press from Mo Toure and goal. Can't remember the last time we've had a striker that can take on a player 1on1 and score on his own. 

2-1 at half time. Honestly should be like 4-0 up. Mauragis has been very poor. Lucky we have Bos and Farrell but yikes.

A lot of overage selections are also based on the chance to be an Olympian. Perhaps Degenek fancies it. 

There is also the pitfall of selecting those who aren't crucial for their club as they're less match fit. Meanwhile players like Talbot just don't offer security and he has the armband. 

Qualifying will be incredibly tough as the 4th placed team has a playoff against an African side. It really depends on the draw path. Japan and South Korea are so hard. Uzbekistan have very good youth sides. Iran and Saudi Arabia are always tricky. I think you're right we won't be able to bring on our absolute best. While the bunch we can bring are good, I fear once again the nativity in Asia and we'll get stuffed. In saying that this Olyroos core has done a lot together and the Toulon tournament was an excellent boost. 

Mauragis does look off the pace. He's generally OK but a lot of pressure here knowing Farrell is likely to be in and then it's Bos who's bound to come in. I doubt Westerlo will be keen though. 

Degenek isn't playing many minutes and is barely in contention for the Socceroos so it doesn't make much sense. Rowles is a normal choice. 

Even though they aren't crucial Toure is still getting some minutes and possibly Tilio/Triantis. I'd take their high level training, talent and low minutes over some of the A-League high minute guys.

I do think you're right about level of difficulty. It's hard for sure. Though, I rewatched the Japan vs Aus 3rd place playoff last u23 AC and it was closer than the score line suggested, with the quality we would bring it should be very close this time. The coaching and team selections has always been a problem throughout all international teams and that could be our demise. Our attack and midfielder is set to be strong heading into the tournament, worry about our defence. Basically relying on Triantis to hold it down and solid games from Popovic and Farrell. 

I'd rather Madanha then Talbot and don't bring Mauragis. Talbot doesn't offer anything and both make way too many mistakes. We've never punished players who make mistakes but we definitely should drop them.

Thought Tilio, Triantis and Teague were good when they came on today. Three obvious starters who actually make us play legit football, useful against Asian nations. 

Westerlo will most likely be in a relegation battle at the point of the season. Bos is too vital as proven by their last run of solid results in games when he came back. So can't see any way he makes the squad. He would be soooooooo useful though