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JOHNNY Warren medallist Nathan Burns’ road to Russia begins in Bishkek next month.
Fresh off his best year domestically with the Wellington phoenix in the A-League, the Blayney product has been named in a 23-strong, full-strength Socceroos squad to face Kyrgyzstan in the opening 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Bishkek on June 16 this year.
Socceroos head coach Ange Postecoglou has gone for experience, with 19 members of the AFC Asian Cup-winning team named to make the trip to Kyrgyzstan, and declared this group as the “core of the squad that will take us through to the next World Cup”.
“This is the start of the next chapter in our journey,” Postecoglou said, Kyrgyzstan currently the 153rd ranked footballing nation in the world.
“And we are all excited about what lies ahead over the next two years.
“We’ve been open in our desire to make an impact at the 2018 World Cup but first we need to qualify and that task is immediately in front of us.”
Burns missed out on selection for the Socceroos in the last World Cup in Brazil, but as a member of Postecoglou’s 23-man outfit set to travel to the Middle East next month, the 27-year-old looms as a key figure in the Socceroos forward line ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“We’ve selected a relatively settled squad made up of the core of players that brought success at the Asian Cup but also the core of players that will take us through to the next World Cup,” Postecoglou continued.
“Before we travel to Bishkek for the match against Kyrgyzstan we have a week-long camp in Dubai and it is a good opportunity to work hard with the core group of players who have been exposed to international football and the style of football we want to play.
“We’ll work on building a strong base and then over the next two years we can expose more players to the squad as form and fitness warrants selection but those players will come into a settled unit when they get an opportunity.”
Strengthening the team, Tim Cahill, Matthew Spiranovic and Eugene Galekovic return to the squad after missing the recent matches against Germany and FYR Macedonia.
Set to make his 13th national appearance, Burns is just one of seven players picked from the A-League.
The Australia and Kyrgyzstan match will be broadcast Live on Fox Sports 4 and on a one-hour delay on SBS on June 16.
SOCCEROOS SQUAD: Aziz Behich, Oliver Bozanic, Nathan Burns, Tim Cahill, Jason Davidson, Tarek Elrich, Ivan Franjic, Eugene Galekovic, Chris Ikonomidis, Mile Jedinak, Tomi Juric, Mitchell Langerak (gk), Mathew Leckie, Massimo Luongo, Matt McKay, Mark Milligan, Tommy Oar, Mat Ryan (gk), Trent Sainsbury, Matthew Spiranovic, James Troisi, Alex Wilkinson, Bailey Wright.