IT'S THE day after Australia’s World Cup qualifier against China, in which a second-string Socceroos went down 1-0 in a dead rubber.
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Into the FourFourTwo offices saunters Nick Carle, one of the notable absentees from the previous night’s game.
“Excuse my garlic breath but I had heaps of hummus and garlic sauce. My wife’s uncle made a Lebanese barbeque and I watched the game there with the family.”
The 26-year-old midfield magician was not injured and he was obviously in the country. Despite the fact that he hadn’t represented Australia in 2008 or played under new coach Pim Verbeek, Carle chose to take a break with family instead of turning out for the Socceroos.
“I spoke to Pim after the Qatar game and explained my reasoning [for not playing against China]”, says Carle.
“He gave the overseas boys and me the option. We had already qualified and I’d had no break at all – I went straight from the Championship play-offs into Socceroos camp and that was going to be the only weekend I could spend with family and friends. One weekend a year is not much.
“I managed to get to my little twin cousins’ game, then I got to watch another cousin’s game, which I haven’t been able to do for a year, and those things are really important for me,” he beams.
No doubt there will be howls of protest from anyone who would chop off their right arm to play for Australia just once, but Carle points to the recent experience of another up and coming Socceroo.
“Scott McDonald missed out on the Asian Cup and did [a full club] pre-season, and what a season he had with Celtic,” he says.
“It’s not a matter of club over country. I love playing for Australia, but in the long run, if I’m not playing for my club, I’m not going to be playing for my country.
“I know a lot of people have said maybe I should have played to prove myself but there’ll be plenty of time for that. It wasn’t under the new coach, but I did have a start in the Nigeria match and I thought I did quite well. I know Pim has seen that game and I know he’s come and seen me play.”
Yet Carle is also aware that he may not quite be ready. Instead, he is looking beyond the short-term at his international ambitions.
“Excuse my garlic breath but I had heaps of hummus and garlic sauce. My wife’s uncle made a Lebanese barbeque and I watched the game there with the family.”
The 26-year-old midfield magician was not injured and he was obviously in the country. Despite the fact that he hadn’t represented Australia in 2008 or played under new coach Pim Verbeek, Carle chose to take a break with family instead of turning out for the Socceroos.
“I spoke to Pim after the Qatar game and explained my reasoning [for not playing against China]”, says Carle.
“He gave the overseas boys and me the option. We had already qualified and I’d had no break at all – I went straight from the Championship play-offs into Socceroos camp and that was going to be the only weekend I could spend with family and friends. One weekend a year is not much.
“I managed to get to my little twin cousins’ game, then I got to watch another cousin’s game, which I haven’t been able to do for a year, and those things are really important for me,” he beams.
No doubt there will be howls of protest from anyone who would chop off their right arm to play for Australia just once, but Carle points to the recent experience of another up and coming Socceroo.
“Scott McDonald missed out on the Asian Cup and did [a full club] pre-season, and what a season he had with Celtic,” he says.
“It’s not a matter of club over country. I love playing for Australia, but in the long run, if I’m not playing for my club, I’m not going to be playing for my country.
“I know a lot of people have said maybe I should have played to prove myself but there’ll be plenty of time for that. It wasn’t under the new coach, but I did have a start in the Nigeria match and I thought I did quite well. I know Pim has seen that game and I know he’s come and seen me play.”
Yet Carle is also aware that he may not quite be ready. Instead, he is looking beyond the short-term at his international ambitions.
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