Cahill gets nod in van Marwijk's Australia squad, Latest Football News - The New Paper
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Cahill gets nod in van Marwijk's Australia squad

New Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk named his first squad, with 38-year-old Tim Cahill included after the Dutchman and his scouts monitored 100 players.

Van Marwijk was appointed in late January following the sudden departure of Ange Postecoglou and, with the World Cup 99 days away, he has spent the ensuing time keeping tabs on Australians playing at home and in Europe and Asia.

With friendlies against Norway in Oslo and Colombia in London on March 23 and March 27 respectively, he named a 29-strong preliminary squad which will be trimmed down next week.

Cahill, Australia's most prolific international scorer with 50 goals, left the domestic A-League in January to join Championship side Millwall to get more game time and keep alive his dream of playing in a fourth World Cup in Russia.

He has barely appeared for the London side but van Marwijk included him anyway, along with Aston Villa's Mile Jedinak, Brighton goalkeeper Mathew Ryan and Celtic's Tom Rogic.

Feyenoord goalkeeper Brad Jones, formerly with Liverpool and Middlesbrough, was brought back from the international wilderness at the age of 35.

He said: "Our matches against Norway and Colombia will provide a great chance for the players selected to press their claims for Russia." - AFP

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