Alessandro Circati to become just the third West Australian to captain Socceroos in New Zealand friendly

Alessandro Circati will become one of the Socceroos’ youngest-ever captains after Tony Popovic entrusted the Perth product with the armband for their second friendly against New Zealand.

Cicarti will be just the third West Australian and first since Trenet Sainsbury to lead the side after the starting XI was revealed on Tuesday afternoon.

The 21-year-old will be making just his seventh appearance for the Socceroos, having only committed to Australia in 2023 after spending time in Italy’s youth development system.

“It’s a great honour, a great privilege to do that at a young age,” he said pre-game.

“I’m ever so grateful to the boys and especially to the coach.”

It comes as Popovic made six changes to the starting line-up that produced a dour 1-0 win in their clash in Canberra on Friday.

Watford winger Nestory Irankunda, 19, and Randers striker Mohamed Toure, 21, have been elevated to the starting line-up after they showed what they could do off the bench.

“They’ve got a really good, close bond off the field, which I didn’t know prior to camp, but I see the two of them always together and always in each other’s company. So that’s already a bond off the field,” he said.

“The time that they had together on the field, you could see that they were trying to link up together and trying to combine.

“So that’s maybe something we can see for the future, depending on how they progress, and you know, whether they’re there or not will be determined. But yeah, we’re always searching for that.”

Popovic stressed he was trying to build more understanding between players generally, pointing to the likes of Jordan Bos, Connor Metcalfe and Circati as examples of those still finding their feet in his system.

He then added of Irankunda and Toure: “But, yeah, I’d love that to be a combination for the future. And if it is that, and it’s a real positive one, that would be great.”

Popovic has made it clear players involved in World Cup qualification aren’t guaranteed a ticket to the tournament itself, with the Socceroos boss casting the net wide.

But gaining a feel of where fresh faces sit doesn’t necessarily mean they will have game time in Tuesday night’s match at Auckland’s Go Media Stadium.

“The point of this exercise was to bring young, talented, potential players for the future and see where they fit in. And we’ll be happy either way,” he said.

“We have learned a lot about them, regardless of who gets minutes in this game.”

There are clearly no guarantees of a cap for untested Portsmouth midfielder Adrian Segecic, who was left on the bench on Friday, or striker Noah Botic, who was left out altogether.

“Coming to camp is the recognition for what you’ve done in your club,” Popovic said of Segecic.

“But it’s still very early stages in his club career, and he’s been rewarded with a spot here with us, as many of the other players have.

“But that doesn’t also necessarily equate to getting a cap.

“We’re not going to go through the list and say, ‘OK, these players are remaining now that haven’t got a cap, and let’s just put them in’.

“So it doesn’t quite go that way. They have to be patient and and if the opportunity presents, I’m open to be giving all of them an opportunity, but we’ll make those decisions tomorrow.”