According to the Merc we've got a midfielder on trial 26 year old Joel Griffiths, apparently we were interested in him in the summer and he's currently with Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax - fee is said to be £450, 000, was in the Aussie squad in August.
Griffiths riding new wave of success
By Michael Cockerill
August 3, 2005
Five years ago, Joel Griffiths was a precocious surfer-turned-striker destined for bigger things - these days he is a seasoned European-based professional determined to prove his talent hasn't gone to waste.
Griffiths, 25, will be called up for the national team for the first time when new Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink names his first training squad, possibly later today. It has been a long, often frustrating apprenticeship for a player who burst onto the scene as a striker for Sydney United, but is now more often used as a wide midfielder by his Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax.
Griffiths's early promise earned him a place in the Australian under-20 team for the 1999 world youth championships in Nigeria. But while six of his Young Socceroos teammates - among them Jason Culina, Mile Sterjovski, Vince Grella and Marco Bresciano - have gone on to play for the senior national team, Griffiths has had to bide his time.
Now, as he starts his third season in Switzerland, his chance has finally arrived.
"To be honest, I'd sort of given up on the idea," Griffiths said.
But Hiddink's arrival has opened the door, and Griffiths is determined to seize the moment. Not just on the international stage, but also at club level.
A planned move to English premiership hopefuls Leicester City was scuppered by Neuchatel's €500,000 ($800,000) asking price, but selection in the Socceroos squad means Griffiths should be more in demand.
"This is a very important opportunity for me," he said. "Obviously I'm happy to be in the squad, now it's up to me. I want to play for Australia and I want to find myself a new club. Neuchatel, it's a good club but it's not a big one. If I'd been at a bigger club, I'm sure I would have been recognised by now.
"I'm out of contract at the end of the season and I'll be ready to go. England is where I'd like to be. I've just got to go into [Socceroos] camp and give it my best shot. Hopefully it will lead to something."
Griffiths is one of two uncapped players believed to have been selected by Hiddink (along with goalkeeper Nathan Coe), but any suggestions of wholesale changes are wide of the mark.
The 30-man squad, which gathers for a four-day camp in Hoenderloo, north of Amsterdam, on August 15, will be largely similar to that left behind by Hiddink's predecessor, Frank Farina.
Hiddink's decision to scrap a planned friendly match against Colombia in favour of the get-together has reduced what was already a short preparation for the World Cup play-offs in November. Football Federation Australia is hoping to compensate by arranging an extra match three days after Australia play Jamaica in London in mid-October.
AUSTRALIA
