Socceroos' last pre-World Cup game locked in, but who will be there?

As I mentioned earlier, the Socceroos final hitout before the World Cup was confirmed last night, with Australia to take on Switzerland in San Diego on June 6 (5am on June 7 AEST).

Coming a few days after playing against co-hosts Mexico in Los Angeles, the two warm-up games will provide Tony Popovic’s side with about as stern a test as they would hope to have leading into the World Cup, without running the risk of suffering demoralising defeats that might kill their momentum before the tournament even starts.

Mohamed Toure seems likely to lead the line for the Socceroos in at least one of those games, but his recent injury revealed a bit of a gap when it come to depth in the one thing every team would love to have - an out-and-out goal-scorer.

It got us thinking about which Australian man has scored the most goals for his club this season, no matter where in the world they’re playing, and so we sent our regular contributor Tony Harper down a rabbit hole to find out.

The top ten list Tony returned with is an eclectic mix of global journeymen, promising youngsters and established stars, plus one player who - I won’t lie - I had never heard of before.

While it certainly makes for an interesting read, arguably the most notable thing about the list is the fact there are several players on it who have only reached single figures so far this season. While that’s no knock on those individuals, it does give pause for thought for why there aren’t more Aussies scoring for fun, when so many others around the world are.

The other rabbit hole Tony went down this week was a look at which Australians are involved in relegation and promotion battles across Europe.

From the Bundesliga to the English Championship, its squeaky bum time for quite a few Socceroos stars.

Will such an intense end to the season be a good way to get ready for the World Cup? We’ll have to wait and see.

A couple of years ago, Nestory Irankunda and Nicolas Milanovic were two of the hottest young properties in the A-League.

It’s fair to say their paths have diverged a fair bit since then.

Irankunda’s high-profile move to Bayern Munich eventually saw him on-sold to Watford, and he’s lit up the English Championship at various stages this season, while still leaving Watford supporters frustrated by his perceived inconsistency.

The 20-year-old seems to have turned a corner in the last few months, and as our man on the ground in Hertfordshire, Tom Bodell, writes, Irankunda is on the cusp of turning Watford into a team cast in his image - before what many assume will be a transfer up to the promised land of the Premier League.

That promised land seems a fair way off for Milanovic, who has endured a difficult first season overseas after scoring 12 goals for the Wanderers in the previous A-League season.

His transfer to Scottish club Aberdeen was billed as a chance for Milanovic to prove he could continue scoring that amount of goals on the European stage, but circumstances have meant he hasn’t really had a chance to do that.

Milanovic’s coach at Aberdeen, Stephen Robinson, had some kind words to say about the Aussie striker, as well as explaining why he’s had such little game time in recent months.

It’ll probably be cold comfort to Milanovic, though, who seems next to no chance of making it into Australia’s World Cup squad after making his Socceroos debut shortly after joining Aberdeen.

StreamGate delivers high-quality live streams and seamless hybrid events for organisations across Australia. We handle everything from cameras, audio and screens to custom viewing pages and real-time audience interaction.

Our hybrid service means your event happens in two places at once, in the room and online, with both audiences experiencing it together.

Simple, reliable, and built for maximum reach.

FIND OUT MORE HERE >

At least Milanovic can take solace in the fact he made a good choice not to stick around at the Wanderers, who have had a horror time of it since he left.

With their finals hopes finished and their attempts to avoid the wooden spoon looking increasingly futile, attention is naturally turning to next season, when Ufuk Talay will officially take charge at Western Sydney.

A club cleanout seems inevitable, and not just because of their poor campaign this time around.

The arrival of Talay and Football Director Mal Impiombato means a change of culture within the squad is highly likely, and perhaps unavoidable, given there are 11 first-team members whose contracts expire at the end of the current season.

Chief among them is Ryan Fraser, the Scottish star who arrived mid-season and has managed to perform strongly despite the carnage going on around him.

Losing Fraser would be a real blow for the Wanderers, but he’s just one of a long list of experienced players who might not be wearing red and black in a few months’ time.

You can get the full picture via the article here.

The quarter-finals of the Europa League and Conference League have just wrapped up, and there’s good news across the board for the English clubs.

Aston Villa’s 4-0 thrashing of Bologna made it a 7-1 result on aggregate, and sets up a mouth-watering all-English clash against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final, after they beat Portuguese giants Porto 1-0 this morning for a 2-1 aggregate victory.

The other Europa League semi-final will see SC Braga, also from Portugal, take on German club Freiburg, after they beat Real Betis and Celta Vigo respectively in their quarter-final ties.

Meanwhile in the Conference League, Fiorentina’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace wasn’t enough to overturn the 3-0 result from the first leg, meaning Palace will progress to the semis, where they will play Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, while the other semi-final will see French club Strasbourg take on Spain’s Rayo Vallecano.

Check out the full list of results from this morning’s games here.

Loving our newsletter?

Help more people get the football news they need to know by forwarding this email to your football-loving (or just football-curious) friends and family.

Or better yet, send them here to sign up.

As usual there is a feast of football to keep you occupied this weekend, starting with what should be a great A-League clash between Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets tonight (7:30pm AEST on Paramount+).

Elsewhere in the A-League, there are three games tomorrow while the last game of the penultimate round of the regular season, Adelaide’s clash with Macarthur on Sunday afternoon (3:30pm AEST on Paramount+), could be worth keeping an eye on as the Bulls desperately try keep their finals hopes alive.

If you read the piece on Australians playing in relegation battles in Europe, then you’ll be right up for tomorrow morning’s game between St. Pauli and FC Koln (4:30am AEST on beIN Sports), with Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe hoping to lift their side to a crucial victory that could go a long way towards avoiding the drop out of the Bundesliga.

In fact there are relegation six-pointers happening across Europe this weekend, with Portsmouth vs Leicester on Saturday night (9:30pm AEST on beIN Sports) looming as a big one in the English Championship, while Tottenham will be hoping to turn their sinking ship around when Spurs host Brighton a few hours later (2:30am Sunday AEST on Stan Sport).

If you watch that game, then you might as well stay awake for the game at 6:30am AEST on Sunday morning between Colorado Rapids and Inter Miami, which will see 18-year-old Australian defender Lucas Herrington come face-to-face with a certain Lionel Messi.

As that one kicks off, the Copa del Rey final will be heading towards its conclusion in Spain, with the game most notable from an Australian perspective for the presence of former Sydney FC assistant coach John Maisano on the bench for Real Sociedad (you can read more on that one here).

Round out your weekend with a game that could well decide who lifts the English Premier League trophy this season, as Manchester City host Arsenal (Monday 1:30am AEST on Stan Sport).

Check out the full list of this weekend’s games in our Scores & Fixtures section.