New look Socceroos named for Ecuador friendly

Captain Lucas Neill and fellow veteran Mark Bresciano were Wednesday left out of the Australia squad to play Ecuador, as coach Ange Postecoglou seeks to build "a new golden generation". The friendly in London on 5 March is the last chance Postecoglou has to cast an eye over players before naming a provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, and he opted for plenty of fresh faces. "The squad to face Ecuador represents the first steps in what I believe is the building of the next golden generation for Australian football, acknowledging there is a need to balance experimentation and experience to achieve this," he said. "The Ecuador match gives this group of players an opportunity to stake a claim for the World Cup. "They have been rewarded for playing consistent and strong football and shows that age and limited international experience are not barriers to opportunity." The biggest omission was 35-year-old defender Neill, who is nearing 100 caps for his country having made his debut in 1996. Tim Cahill is expected to be skipper. Since leaving Turkish club Galatasaray in 2011, Neill has spent time with the likes of Al Jazira, Al Wasl and Sydney FC and Postecoglou had said he must be playing full-time football to be considered. Neill this week joined English Championship club Watford on a free transfer. The coach made no specific mention of Neill, but said "selection in the final squad for the World Cup is still very much an open door". The squad contains four uncapped players, five plying their trade in the domestic A-League and three brought back after missing the 1-0 win over Costa Rica last November. Curtis Good, Chris Herd, Massimo Luongo, and Ben Halloran, will all have the opportunity to make their Socceroo debut. Australia squad Goalkeepers: Brad Jones (Liverpool/England), Mitchell Langerak (Borussia Dortmund/Germany), Matt Ryan (Club Brugge/Belgium) Defenders: Jason Davidson (Heracles Almelo/Netherlands), Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar), Curtis Good (Dundee United/Scotland), Chris Herd (Aston Villa/England), Ryan McGowan (Shandong Luneng/China PR), Matthew McKay (Brisbane Roar), Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow/Russia) Midfielders: Oliver Bozanic (FC Luzern/Switzerland), James Holland (Austria Vienna/Austria), Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace/England), Massimo Luongo (Swindon/England), Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory), Tommy Oar (FC Utrecht/Netherlands), Tommy Rogic (Melbourne Victory/Australia), Dario Vidosic (FC Sion/Switzerland), Forwards: Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls/USA), Ben Halloran (Fortuna Dusseldorf/Germany), Matthew Leckie (FSV Frankfurt 1899/Germany), Adam Sarota (FC Utrecht/Netherlands) Source: FIFA.com