LOS ANGELES, California -- LOS ANGELES, California - A puzzle. That's how Australia coach Tony Popovic described the task of figuring out the 26 players who will make up his squad for the FIFA World Cup; a process that will reach its conclusion on Saturday [Sunday AEST] when the Socceroos play Mexico in a friendly at the Rose Bowl, and he finalises his selections in the hours that follow.
It's an apt metaphor, even if the innumerable factors that go into playing at the world's biggest sporting event mean that the puzzle he's confronting more closely resembles one of those monstrous 3D puzzles you can find in hobby shops rather than the 2D ones buried in your grandparents' cupboards.
Because preparing for the World Cup isn't just about finding the nominal 'best' pieces and putting them in the same dressing room. Instead, as the coach has been actively doing since qualification for the tournament was secured a year ago, it's about finding those that can come together and create something bigger than themselves, some versatile enough to fit into various positions and fulfil multiple roles and others earmarked for specific conditions or circumstances that may or may not arise, but need to be accounted for regardless.
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For a coach like Popovic, who has never been afraid to zig while most have been expecting him to zag with his squads, his analysis of who best fills these roles is often in contrast with the general Australian football public. Invariably, this leads to debate, often rancorous, because pretty much every active follower of the Socceroos will have spent his tenure with at least one player in mind that they feel hasn't been played enough under his tutelage, or too much.
And inevitably, because everything is hyperpolarised these days, this creates a situation wherein his reputation will be disproportionately reliant on results at the coming World Cup. The coach, however, is happy to back his methods and the players he taps to deliver them, telling ESPN in Florida that one of the coaches he admires is José Mourinho because of the confidence and self-belief he possesses.
Across the past month, Popovic and his staff have been putting close to 40 World Cup hopefuls through their paces in the Florida city of Sarasota, simultaneously bringing their physical condition up to the level it needs to be to contribute at a World Cup, whilst simultaneously assessing their fit within a prospective squad.
For some, their arrival into camp felt somewhat perfunctory, their presence more about ensuring that their conditioning and training loads were where they needed to be at the end of long seasons. Think Jordy Bos, Alessandro Circati, or Mathew Ryan. As Popovic told ESPN, however, others have been able to use the past month on the Gulf Coast to force themselves into consideration for a spot that simply wouldn't have existed had it not been for this camp.
And this wouldn't be the first time these camps have provided the platform for players, and Popovic, to spring surprises. A year ago, ahead of crucial qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia that would ultimately see Australia seal a place in North America, Connor Metcalfe parlayed a strong performance in a pre-window Abu Dhabi-based training camp into the squad, despite spending every international break of Popovic's tenure to that point injured. Metcalfe then went on to start both games, netting a maiden international goal against the Green Falcons, and has been an ever-present member of the squad since. A precedent was established, one keenly revisited when staff were confronted with a near-month-long gap between many of the Socceroos' domestic season and when they could formally converge as a unit.
Now, their time in Florida at an end, just 29 players remain as they relocate from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast, meaning only three need to be pruned before the final squad is settled upon. With one of that trio almost certain to be a goalkeeper - Joe Gauci and Patrick Beach battling it out for the third-choice role behind Ryan and Paul Izzo - that means that just two further outfielders are set to drop off and that a cohort including the likes of Brandon Borrello, Cammy Devlin, Nishan Velupillay, Awer Mabil and Tete Yengi - players that not all that long ago would have been considered long odds for the World Cup, will be on the plane.
Which brings us to the Mexico fixture.
Speaking with ESPN this week, Popovic gave the impression of a coach who had largely settled on his 26, with perhaps just one or two last questions to be answered before all doubt was removed from his mind. And it stands to reason that he'd seek to answer those queries against Mexico, in front of what organisers have announced will be a packed-out, 75,000-strong crowd at the Rose Bowl.
What could he want to know? We can only guess and then analyse with hindsight. Perhaps he needs to see if Yengi is capable of coming on late and changing a game. Maybe he wants to see if Devlin can work alongside an Aiden O'Neill or Jackson Irvine in the midfield if the situation calls for it, or if Velupillay has brought his conditioning up to the level it needs to be.
And don't forget there are probably plenty of conundrums beyond squad selection, too. Is Nestory Irankunda seen as a starter heading into the World Cup or a super-sub kind, and is that as a winger or a nine? Has Lucas Herrington done enough in his meteoric rise to supplant a Cameron Burgess or Harry Souttar in the starting XI? Can O'Neill start after his ankle injury suffered with New York City FC, or does Paul Okon Jr have the chance to seize a starting place?
Indeed, while the looming deadline for finalising squads gives Saturday's fixture an obvious narrative, it's important to remember that the Socceroos don't open their World Cup campaign for more than a fortnight, and have another friendly, against Switzerland in San Diego, to play before they meet Türkiye. In other words, while some pieces may slot into place against Mexico, the bigger puzzle isn't finished.