Arnold: Irankunda ready for Socceroo after responding to Olyroo setback.

Graham Arnold says that Nestory Irankunda's positive response to missing out on the Olyroos squad in April gave him the confidence to pick him for the Socceroos' coming World Cup qualifiers.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold says that Nestory Irankunda’s response to being left out of the Olyroos squad for the AFC U23 Championship gave him the confidence to call him up for coming World Cup qualifiers, with moves to facilitate the call-up starting earlier this month. 

Irankunda, 18, was named as part of an extended 25-player squad that will assemble in Bangkok over the coming days ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine, the final two games of the second phase of AFC qualification. 

Yet to concede a goal across four wins from their four games, Australia has already sealed its progression through to the next phase, which will begin next September. This has given Arnold scope to rest players such as skipper Mat Ryan, winger Samuel Silvera, and defender Nate Atkinson while bringing in fresh faces like Irankunda, Daniel Arzani, and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos. 

Adelaide United assistant coach Mark Milligan will also join the squad as an assistant to Arnold and his chief assistant René Meulensteen, which the former cited as being able to help Irankunda adjust to the demands of the national team setup. 

The Bayern Munich-bound flyer was left out of Tony Vidmar’s squad for April’s U23 Championships over maturity concerns, with the coach saying there was "bigger picture" thinking at play to explain the absence. 

An injury to Marco Tilio, however, led to the Olyroo setup making informal investigations into a possible about-face – shining a further spotlight on the original justification for his exclusion – but no official attempt to call the teen up was ultimately made. 

“Probably his reaction to that,” Arnold said on Wednesday, when asked why Irankunda was now ready for an international call-up. “ He wasn't selected with the Olyroos, but his reaction after that was very good. He's got the quality, he's got the ability and now it's time for him to show it. 

“I will say that it was about three or four weeks ago. I reached out to his agent, Adrian Griffin. I reached out… and spoke to Nestor. He was moving to Germany on the eighth or ninth of June, and for him to be selected, we had to get that change from Bayern Munich so he could stay with us for the FIFA window. 

“[We also spoke] about his match fitness because he hadn't played a game with Adelaide for four weeks. It was important that I went down to watch the All Stars game, to see how he physically was, as well as some other players. He showed that he was ready, and that's why he was selected.

“I would never force anyone to play for the nation unless they really want it. I've had the conversations with Nestory and he wants that emblem, he wants to badge on his heart. That's the most important thing. I wouldn't be just capping people. I've never done that because it's so important not only that the kid or the player wants it, it's also what the family want. And it's very important that mum and dad are behind those decisions, and obviously they are.

“So it's not just about capping them and getting locked down for life. It's about them representing the nation that they want to represent and doing that nation proud.”

This timeline – Arnold and the Socceroos camp beginning logistical work to facilitate a call-up weeks ago – would appear at odds with Irankunda’s statements following last week’s A-League All Stars match, where he didn’t rule out a potential switch to Burundi or Tanzania. 

Both ESPN and the Sydney Morning Herald reported that today’s call-up had been in the works before those statements and while this meant Arnold was caught out by them, there appears to have been no harm, no foul. 

“I was surprised,” Arnold admitted. “But the major point of that was the fact that he said his dream is to play with the Socceroos. And when I spoke to him last week, that was his dream, and his dream will be fulfilled.”

20-year-old, Serie A-bound defender Alessandro Circati has also earned a recall for the coming windows, with Arnold stating that the young defender will see the field in at least one of the Socceroos' two fixtures if not both. 

“Alessandro is playing in Serie A next year, which is incredible for the nation,” said Arnold. “We get rewarded with those types of things as a nation when the players are doing well at their clubs and playing at a higher level.

“Cam Burgess just getting promoted with Ipswich into the Premier League. Jackson Irvine Connor Metcalf getting promoted into the Bundesliga. For the national team in the future, it should be great for us.

"[Circati has] obviously got the quality. You will see him play in either one or two of these games. I think it's important that he gets to know us well. But he's fit in perfectly into the Socceroos when he's been in camp. He's done very well for us.”

Both Irankunda and Circati won’t be locked into representing Australia should they take the field in these games: FIFA eligibility rules state that players are still able to switch as long as they have played no more than three competitive matches at a senior level before they’re 21.

Getting the two players into Socceroo camp, however, represents a significant step on the road to locking the duo in, with Arnold revealing that another dual-international, Cristian Volpato, had turned down overtures from the national setup to focus on playing for Italy’s U21 side at the coming Maurice Revello Tournament. 

"I've been in touch with Cristian and his mother,” said Arnold. “The kid has chosen to play for Italy in this camp, in the under 21s, in the [Maurice Revello] tournament. 

“I'm always in contact and I'm encouraging them to play for Australia. But at the same time, the kid has to want to, and his mum and his dad have to want that as well.

“The last conversations I had with him, which was not that long ago, and I suggested this camp, in this window. It was more based around that he wanted to play for Italy in the under-21s. 

“Which still makes him eligible to play for us. It's not like if he plays junior national teams, that he can't play for the Socceroos. 

“But the kid at this moment has chosen that. With Sassuolo getting relegated to Serie B, the kid has a lot to think about at this moment.”