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Do us all a favour Holger, and drop Kewell

The international prospects of Harry Kewell are uncertain following his exclusion from the Socceroos squad set to play Wales in a friendly match in Cardiff on August 11.

However, coach Holger Osieck has reinstated Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer, both of whom were absent during the June friendlies against New Zealand and Serbia held in Australia.

In addition, Osieck has included Middlesbrough striker Scott McDonald in his 18-man lineup and called up defender Luke DeVere, who plays in Korea, for his debut selection.

The previous Brisbane Roar defender DeVere hasn’t appeared for the Socceroos since he was coached by Pim Verbeek.

To accommodate DeVere, Sasa Ognenovski was left out, as Osieck indicated he was just recovering from an injury sustained in the K-Korean league.

Striker Josh Kennedy was also not considered by Osieck because of a busy club schedule in Japan.

Retaining 14 players from the squad that took on New Zealand and Serbia, Osieck anticipates midfielder Brett Emerton will soon secure his spot as the second-most capped Socceroos player, following Schwarzer, as he approaches Alex Tobin’s record of 87 full international appearances.

Despite maintaining their training routines after leaving Turkish club Galatasaray, Kewell and Neill had differing fitness levels, with only Neill being fit for the match on August 10.

“There is a slight difference between the two of them, one is fit and one is not fit,” Osieck remarked after revealing his squad of 18.

“Lucas has put in a lot of effort. He is in excellent shape, but Harry is not quite there.”

Kewell, missing the friendlies against New Zealand and Serbia back in June, is now in a race against time to be fit for Australia’s opening FIFA World Cup qualifier against Thailand scheduled for September.

“We are all aware of the value Harry adds to the team,” Osieck stated. “I truly hope he gets into game shape before the qualifiers. He wasn’t involved in the two June matches because he was unfit. He had to undergo some treatment, which hindered his training, leaving him not in a position to play at this time.”

Australia has never faced Wales in full international matches before.

Currently, the Socceroos are ranked No.23 in the FIFA world rankings, while Wales sits at No.112.

The Socceroos are set to gather in Wales today after fulfilling their club obligations over the weekend.

Socceroos Squad To Play Wales

  1. Tim Cahill (Everton, England)
  2. Luke DeVere (Gyeongnam FC, South Korea)
  3. Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England)
  4. Adam Federici (Reading, England)
  5. Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar, Holland)
  6. Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace, England)
  7. Neil Kilkenny (Bristol City, England)
  8. Robbie Kruse (Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany)
  9. Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough, England)
  10. Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar)
  11. Lucas Neill (uncontracted)
  12. Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, England)
  13. Matthew Spiranovic (Urawa Red Diamonds, Japan)
  14. James Troisi (Kayserispor Kulubu, Turkey)
  15. Carl Valeri (Sassuolo Calcio, Italy)
  16. Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow, Russia)
  17. Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough, England)
  18. Michael Zullo (Utrecht, Netherlands)

Buford Balony comments: Winning seems challenging with one uncontracted player, and although I think I may be imagining things, there’s a player from the team with what I consider the GAYEST name in football, Crystal Palace. God help us.

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