The 16 national teams participating at the Australia 2015 AFC Asian Cup tournament should be soon selecting provissional squads before cutting down to the final 23 man squads. The provissional squads are usually a squad of 30 or so. Prior to the last AFC Asian Cup in Qatar 2011 the Socceroos coach at the time, Holger Osieck selected a 50 man provissional squad.

On one websit it said:
"Each country will have a final squad of 23 players which must be submitted before the deadline of 30 December 2014."

That's just over a month away so the provissional squads shouldn't be too far before being named.

It's interesting to see that Ali Abbas (Iraq) might be the only A-League based player from the other 15 visiting countries which qualified. Maybe after this Asian Cup the A-League might have a player or two from Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, China etc

Assuming the players are fit & healthy I think Ange Postecoglou's squad will be something like this:

M.Ryan
M.Langerak
A.Federici

I.Franjic
A.Wilkinson
M.Spiranovic
A.Behich
T.Sainsbury
N.Topor-Stanley
C.Herd

M.Jedinak
M.Milligan
M.Bresciano
M.McKay
M.Luongo
J.Holland
J.Brillante
T.Oar
T.Antonis

T.Cahill
M.Leckie
R.Kruse
J.Troisi

I wouldn't be surprised if Mitch Nichols gets a spot. I don't see what he sees in him.

My squad:

M.Ryan
A.Covic
M.Langerak

I.Franjic
M.Spiranovic
N.Topor-Stanley
A.Behich
A.Wilkinson
T.Sainsbury
L.Wilkshire
B.Smith

M.Jedinak
M.Milligan
M.Bresciano
M.Luongo
M.McKay
T.Oar
M.Leckie
T.Antonis


T.Cahill
T.Juric
R.Kruse
J.Troisi

If Ange Postecoglou is fair dinkum about doing everything to win the Asian Cup on home soil & not have one eye on the road to Qualification for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup he should go for Covic & Wilkshire & then worry about Russia after the Asian Cup.

Ryan, Langerak, Federici

Spiranovic, Sainsbury, Wilkinson, Wright, Franjic, Wilkshire, Behich, Davidson

Jedinak, Luongo, Bresciano, Milligan, Antonis, Holland, Oar, Leckie, Kruse, Troisi

Cahill, Juric

Provisional squads of up to 50 players have to be submitted by December 9th.

Galekovic, Federici, Franjic, Sainsbury, Davidson, Herd, Luongo, Antonis, Troisi, Oar, Burns, Juric

No to:

Kennedy (injured), Brillante, McKay, Holland, NTS, Djite, Ibini, Langerak, Vidosic, Bozanic, Halloran.

Ange will probably select many of these players though.

1.Ryan
2.Langerak
3.Galekovic

4.Good (regaining fitness)
5.Williams (regaining fitness)
6.Sainsbury
7.Spiranovic
8.Behich
9.Smith
10.Franjic
11.Herd

12.Jedinak
13.Halloran
14.Brattan
15.Antonis
16.Oar
17.Luongo
18.Bresciano
19.Brillante

20.Cahill
21.Juric
22.Kruse
23.Leckie

Well I would have selected Rogic, Williams and Good if fit, maybe even Taggart, but that's not going to happen.

My squad of 30:

Ryan, Langerak, Federici, Galekovic

Spiranovic, Sainsbury, Wilkinson, Wilkshire, Herd, Davidson, Behich, Franjic, Smith

Jedinak, Milligan, Oar, Luongo, Bresciano, Brillante, Antonis, Mooy, De Silva

Cahill, Juric, Troisi, Kruse, Leckie, Burns, Ikonomidis, Mabil


I wouldn't pick McKay in the final squad of 23 and De Silva, Ikonomidis, Mabil, not in the 23 either, but more in the squad of 30 for experience.

Ryan, Covic, Langerak

Sprianovic, Williams (if fit, otherwise Sainsbury), Wilkinson, Wilkshire, Herd, Behich, Davidson

Jedinak, Milligan, Luongo, Bresciano, Antonis, Bozanic

Kruse, Leckie, Troisi, Oar

Kennedy (if fit, otherwise Burns), Cahill, Juric

My 30 man Squad

1. Ryan
2. Galekovic
3. Langerak
4. Federici

5. Franjic
6. Wilkshire
7. Sainsbury
8. Spiranovic
9. Wilkinson
10. Malik
11. Behich
12. Davidson

13. Jedinak
14. Milligan
15. Luongo
16. Bresciano
17. Brillante
18. Antonis
19. Bozanic
20. Holland
21. De Silva

22. Leckie
23. Halloran
24. Kruse
25. Oar
26. Troisi

27. Cahill
28. Djite
29. Juric
30. Burns

Starting XI of:

Ryan
Franjic-Sainsbury-Spiranovic-Behich
Jedinak
Luongo-Bresciano
Leckie-Cahill-Kruse

I honestly don't think Mile and Milligan can play together, especially if we want to dominate possession.

Edited by milan_7: 2/12/2014 02:35:31 PM

Apologies in advance for the formatting:-

The 46-man preliminary Socceroos squad is:

Name
Club, Country
A International Caps (Goals)

Mustafa Amini
B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, Germany
-

Terry Antonis
Sydney FC, Australia
3 (0)

Aziz Behich
Bursaspor, Turkey
7 (2)

Oliver Bozanic
FC Luzern, Switzerland
5 (0)

Luke Brattan
Brisbane Roar, Australia
-

Mark Bresciano
Al Gharafa, Qatar
81 (13)

Joshua Brillante
ACF Fiorentina, Italy
5 (0)

Nathan Burns
Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
7 (0)

Tim Cahill
New York Red Bulls, USA
76 (36)

Jason Davidson
West Bromwich Albion F.C., England
13 (0)

Daniel De Silva
Perth Glory, Australia
-

Adam Federici (gk)
Reading FC, England
9 (0)

Ivan Franjic
FK Torpedo Moskva, Russia
12 (0)

Eugene Galekovic (gk)
Adelaide United, Australia
8 (0)

Ben Halloran
Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany
6 (0)

Chris Herd
Aston Villa, England
3 (0)

James Holland
FK Austria Vienna, Austria
15 (0)

Bernie Ibini-Isei
Sydney FC, Australia
2 (0)

Mile Jedinak
Crystal Palace FC, England
52 (6)

Brad Jones (gk)
Liverpool FC, England
4 (0)

Tomi Juric
Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
5 (1)

Josh Kennedy
Nagoya Grampus, Japan
36 (20)

Robbie Kruse
TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany
32 (3)

Mitchell Langerak (gk)
B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, Germany
5 (0)

Mathew Leckie
FC Ingolstadt 04, Germany
16 (1)

Massimo Luongo
Swindon Town FC, England
5 (0)

Ryan McGowan
Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, China
12 (0)

Matt McKay
Brisbane Roar, Australia
50 (1)

Mark Milligan
Melbourne Victory FC, Australia
33 (2)

Aaron Mooy
Melbourne City, Australia
4 (3)

Mitch Nichols
Perth Glory, Australia
5 (0)

Tommy Oar
FC Utrecht, Netherlands
20 (1)

Josh Risdon
Perth Glory, Australia
-

Nikita Rukavytsya
Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
13 (1)

Mat Ryan (gk)
Club Brugge KV, Belgium
13 (0)

Trent Sainsbury
P.E.C. Zwolle, Netherlands
4 (0)

Brad Smith
Liverpool FC, England
4 (0)

Matthew Spiranovic
Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
21 (0)

Adam Taggart
Fulham FC, England
7 (3)

Nikolai Topor-Stanley
Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
4 (0)

James Troisi
S.V. Zulte Waregem, Belgium
16 (1)

Carl Valeri
Melbourne Victory FC, Australia
52 (1)

Dario Vidosic
FC Sion, Switzerland
23 (2)

Alex Wilkinson
Jeonbuk Hyundai FC, Korea Republic
11 (0)

Rhys Williams
Middlesbrough, England
14 (0)

Bailey Wright
Preston North End FC, England
1 (1)


Read more at http://www.socceroos.com.au/article/socceroos-provisional-46-man-squad-for-asian-cup-named/t08s7beoebmo1nufswftfxajk#tBzBM7kJLhPVe0wi.99

My 30 player squad would be.

Gk Ryan, langerak, federici.
Rb franjic, herd.
Lb behich, Davidson.
Rcb Williams, wilkinson, topor Stanley.
Lcb spiranovic, sainsbury, good.
Rdm jedinak, Brattan.
Ldm Milligan, mckay.
Cm Bresciano, luongo, burns, brilliante, Antonis, amini.
Ram kruse, leckie.
Lam troisi, smith. (Smith moving into different roll)
S Cahill, juric, Ibini.

Starting 11.
Ryan.
Franjic, Williams, spiranovic, behich.
Jedinak, Milligan.
Bresciano
Kruse, troisi.
Cahill.

Why 30 player squads?

Isn't it 23 players final?

23 - This should be the team

GK Ryan, Langerak
CB Sainsbury, Wilkinson, Spiranovic, Good
RB Herd, Rhys Williams
LB Behich, Davidson,
DM Milligan, Jedinak,
RM Kruse, Leckie, Mabil
CM Luongo, Mooy, De Silva,
LM Oar, Smith, Troisi
ST Juric, Cahill,

#Strikers we don't have enough of anyway so Juric and Tim will be enough. No point throwing another Juric out there to do the same thing (Ibini, Yeboah, Djite... and the list goes on)

#Ange should have included Mabil if he was going to cap De Silva

#McKay and Bresciano can stay at home and start thinking of becoming a part of the furniture - Ange wasting more games.


Edited by highkick05: 10/12/2014 04:04:09 AM

http://www.the-afc.com/japan-asian-cup-2015/japan-go-with-experience-for-afc-asian-cup-2015

Japan coach Javier Aguirre has put his faith in experience after naming his 23-man squad for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia on Monday. The Asian Cup, which kicks off on January 9, will see the Samurai Blue look to retain the trophy they won in 2011, a victory which saw them become the most-successful side in the tournament with four titles to their name. But following a disappointing display at the 2014 FIFA World Cup earlier this year, where they picked up just one point from three games, the Japanese have looked to shake things up by making nine changes to that squad.

Aguirre, who was handed the managerial reins following the departure of Alberto Zaccheroni after global extravaganza in Brazil, will be hoping the same formula that worked for the Samurai Blue back in 2011 will do the trick once again after calling up 11 players from the squad which was crowned champions of Asia.

Leading the way are AC Milan forward Keisuke Honda, Borussia Dortmund playmaker Shinji Kagawa and Inter Milan full-back Yuto Nagatomo, while Standard Liege goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and Southampton defender Maya Yoshida are also expected to play key roles.

Some 11 members of the Japan squad currently ply their trade in Europe with seven coming from Germany’s Bundesliga, including Kagawa, captain Makoto Hasebe of Eintracht Frankfurt and Mainz hotshot Shinji Okazaki, who has netted ten times in 17 appearances so far this season. Although Aguirre’s starting XI is expected to be made up mostly of his foreign-based contingent, several currently playing in the J.League could also feature prominently, especially veteran midfielder Yasuhito Endo, who is Japan’s most-capped player with 148 appearances to his name.

There were however several notable absentees from the 23-man roster, including Hertha Berlin playmaker Hajime Hosogai, Basel forward Yoichiro Kakitani and Hannover’s utility man Hiroki Sakai. Another famous name to miss out is Tadanari Lee, who was their hero at the last Asian Cup after scoring an injury-time winner to hand them a 1-0 victory over Australia in the final.

Japan kick off their Group D campaign on January 12 against Palestine and then face Iraq four days later, before finishing off against Jordan on January 20.

Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Red Diamonds)

Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Masato Morishige, Kosuke Ota (both FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Tsukasa Shiotani (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Gotoku Sakai (Stuttgart), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo, Yasuyuki Konno (both Gamba Osaka), Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Hannover), Gaku Shibasaki (Kashima Antlers)

Forwards: Yohei Toyoda (Sagan Tosu), Shinji Okazaki (Mainz), Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Yu Kobayashi (Kawasaki Frontale), Takashi Inui (Eintracht Frankfurt), Yoshinori Muto (FC Tokyo)

UAE squad of 24 - 1 more to be cut

http://www.afcasiancup.com/news/en/ali-selects-asian-cup-squad/1r0udhqh9b15k1wdnegs8wwto6

19 December 2014 Matthew Bartolo

Madhi Ali has all but finalised his side for the AFC Asian Cup after selecting a 24-man-squad ahead of Asia’s biggest football tournament. Headlining the side is young gun Omar Abdulrahman who has been declared fit for the tournament after being injured in last month’s Gulf Cup of Nations semi-final.

“Omar Abdulrahman is fine, his doctor reports he has started jogging,” Ali said. “He needs five to seven days to get back to full fitness; Amer Abdulrahman as well has a minor knock and should recover.”

The side features six different players from the squad Ali took to the Gulf Cup with goalkeeper Majed Nasser and defender Hamdan Al Kamali among those earning a recall. Esmail Matter was one of the players replaced after the Al Wahda striker was reported to be out for at least three weeks with a neck injury. Ali’s men recently claimed third spot at the Gulf Cup, missing out on the chance to play in the final following a 3-2 loss against Saudi Arabia in the tournament’s semi-final stage.

UAE will arrive in Australia on December 24 and line up against Jordan and Kuwait in pre-tournament friendlies. Ali will need to cut his squad to 23 in late December. They will open their 2015 AFC Asian Cup campaign against Qatar on January 11 before facing Bahrain and Iran in a challenging group.

UAE Squad:

Goalkeepers: Majed Nasser, Ali Khaseif, Khalid Essa

Defenders: Mohammed Fawzi, Abdulaziz Haikal, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohamed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Mohanad Salem

Midfielders: Ismail Al Hammadi, Hassan Ibrahim, Majed Hassan, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Amer Abdulrahman, Haboosh Saleh, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman

Forwards: Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Khalil, Salem Saleh, Saeed Al Kathir

South Korea Squad:

Socceroos squad for AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia

Name Club, Country A International Caps (Goals)
Terry ANTONIS Sydney FC, Australia 3 (0)
Aziz BEHICH Bursaspor, Turkey 7 (2)
Mark BRESCIANO Al Gharafa, Qatar 81 (13)
Nathan BURNS Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand 7 (0)
Tim CAHILL New York Red Bulls, USA 76 (36)
Jason DAVIDSON West Bromwich Albion F.C., England 13 (0)
Ivan FRANJIC FK Torpedo Moskva, Russia 12 (0)
Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk) Adelaide United, Australia 8 (0)
Chris HERD Aston Villa, England 3 (0)
Mile JEDINAK Crystal Palace FC, England 52 (6)
Tomi JURIC Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia 5 (1)
Robbie KRUSE TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany 32 (3)
Mitchell LANGERAK (gk) B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, Germany 5 (0)
Mathew LECKIE FC Ingolstadt 04, Germany 16 (1)
Massimo LUONGO Swindon Town FC, England 5 (0)
Matt McKAY Brisbane Roar FC, Australia 50 (1)
Mark MILLIGAN Melbourne Victory FC, Australia 33 (2)
Tommy OAR FC Utrecht, Netherlands 20 (1)
Mat RYAN (gk) Club Brugge KV, Belgium 13 (0)
Trent SAINSBURY P.E.C. Zwolle, Netherlands 4 (0)
Matthew SPIRANOVIC Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia 21 (0)
James TROISI S.V. Zulte Waregem, Belgium 16 (1)
Alex WILKINSON Jeonbuk Hyundai FC, Korea Republic 11 (0)

Read more at http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/socceroos-23-man-asian-cup-squad-named/1jjvlyxmmyull15b07a6o5kgqu#BCe7TDhzddOtIoOo.99

which means the 23 who MISSED OUT and are on the standby list includes:-
Carl Valeri   Melbourne Victory FC, Australia
Josh Kennedy   Nagoya Grampus, Japan
Dario Vidosic   FC Sion, Switzerland
James Holland   FK Austria Vienna, Austria
Rhys Williams   Middlesbrough, England
Nikita Rukavytsya   Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
Ryan McGowan   Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, China
Adam Federici (gk)   Reading FC, England
Adam Taggart   Fulham FC, England
Ben Halloran   Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany
Joshua Brillante   ACF Fiorentina, Italy
Oliver Bozanic   FC Luzern, Switzerland
Mitch Nichols   Perth Glory, Australia
Aaron Mooy   Melbourne City, Australia
Brad Jones (gk)   Liverpool FC, England
Brad Smith   Liverpool FC, England
Nikolai Topor-Stanley   Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
Bernie Ibini-Isei   Sydney FC, Australia
Bailey Wright   Preston North End FC, England
Mustafa Amini   B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund, Germany
Luke Brattan   Brisbane Roar, Australia
Daniel De Silva   Perth Glory, Australia
Josh Risdon   Perth Glory, Australia


Edited by glh37: 23/12/2014 09:49:13 AM

IMO Ange Postecoglou picked a good balanced squad. I am happy with this team. I don't see what all the fuss about Matt McKay being selected is? At the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup I thought he along with Bresciano were very good when given game time. He was the only midfielder whom looked comfortable & composed on the ball against Spain, he never goes missing, always looks to get involved & never let's you down.
Delighted to see Tomi Juric & Chris Herd selected.

Uchida out of Japan squad. Apparently been dropped and no Sakai from Hannover either. Strange two decent Bundesliga right backs have been left out. Uchida has been in good form too.

thats a big call.

Socceroos 23 man squad jersey numbers for the Australia 2015 AFC Asian Cup:

1. Mathew Ryan
2. Ivan Franjic
3. Jason Davidson
4. Tim Cahill
5. Mark Milligan
6. Matthew Spiranovic
7. Mathew Leckie
8. Chris Herd
9. Tomi Juric
10. Robbie Kruse
11. Tommy Oar
12. Mitchell Langerak
13. Aziz Behich
14. James Troisi
15. Mile Jedinak
16. Nathan Burns
17. Matt McKay
18. Eugene Galekovic
19. Terry Antonis
20. Trent Sainsbury
21. Massimo Luongo
22. Alex Wilkinson
23. Mark Bresciano

18 out of the Socceroos 23 man squad at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup have had some game time at some stage in its opening two group matches. With the exeption of the number two & three goalkeepers Mitchell Langerak & Eugene Galekovic only Chris Herd, Terry Antonis & Alex Wilkinson are the only on field squad members not to get some game time.
I wonder if any national team have used all 23 or 22 which playing squad members in major football tournament? I think the Socceroos might go close.