Graham Arnold delivered some selection surprises when he announced his 26-man Socceroos squad for the AFC Asian Cup, which begins for the Aussies on January 13.
Experienced campaigner Matthew Leckie and Melbourne City marksman Jamie Maclaren were left out due to fitness concerns, while wonderkid Garang Kuol also won't be on hand in Qatar.
Will Garang Kuol play in the Asian Cup?
Kuol made headlines around the world last year when he was chosen in Arnold's World Cup squad despite having never previously started a senior football match.
Yet his performances off the bench for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League were enough to alert the coach that he had a gem on his hands.
Kuol wasn't just making up the numbers in the squad either, as highlighted when he became the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to play in the knockout stages of the tournament when he made a cameo against Argentina.
The teenager's whirlwind year wasn't finished there, as he also inked a deal with Newcastle United which rocketed him into being one of the most high-profile Australian players on the planet.
However, despite this meteoric rise, Kuol hasn't done enough lately to warrant Arnold selecting him for the nation's upcoming Asian Cup campaign.
WATCH: Watch every match of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 only on Paramount+
Instead, the coach has pointed towards the Under-23 Asian Championships as being key to the development of a number of Australia's best prospects.
Tony Vidmar's Olyroos will have to finish in the top three of the tournament in April to guarantee automatic qualification to the Paris Olympics.
"We’ve had to be strategic with some of our selections, considering our Olympic qualification commences in April and have looked to balance the age profile and experience of players across various positions in the squad," Arnold explained upon the announcement of his Socceroos squad.
Socceroos AFC Asian Cup 2024 26-man squad
- Mat Ryan [GK] (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands)
- Joe Gauci [GK] (Adelaide United, Australia)
- Lawrence Thomas (Western Sydney Wanderers, Australia)
- Harry Souttar (Leicester City, England)
- Kye Rowles (Hearts, Scotland)
- Cameron Burgess (Ipswich Town, England)
- Nathaniel Atkinson (Hearts, Scotland)
- Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata, Japan)
- Jordy Bos (Westerlo, Belgium)
- Aziz Behich (Melbourne City, Australia)
- Lewis Miller (Hibernian, Scotland
- Gethin Jones (Bolton, England)
- Keanu Baccus (St Mirren, Scotland)
- Aiden O'Neill (Standard Liege, Belgium)
- Jackson Irvine (St Pauli, Germany)
- Connor Metcalfe (St Pauli, Germany)
- Riley McGree (Middlesbrough, England)
- Patrick Yazbek, (Viking FK, Norway)
- Craig Goodwin (Al Wehda, Saudi Arabia)
- Martin Boyle (Hibernian, Scotland)
- Sam Silvera (Middlesbrough, England)
- Marco Tilio (Celtic, Scotland)
- John Iredale (SV Wehen Wiesbaden, Germany)
- Kusini Yengi (Portsmouth, England)
- Bruno Fornaroli (Melbourne Victory, Australia)
- Mitchell Duke (FC Machida Zelvia, Japan)
