Duke eager to contribute against China and fight for his spot in Socceroos
A week ago, Mitch Duke was literally on the beach. But after being drafted into the Socceroos as an injury replacement player, he's ready to contribute and fight to force his way back into the squad.
HANGZHOU, China - Going from a three-day sojourn in the Philippines, to the unfamiliar feeling of watching the Socceroos’ from the couch, to then being called into camp as an injury replacement, it's been a weird old international window for Mitch Duke. But for all the unorthodoxy surrounding his arrival, the striker says he's ready and able to contribute towards Australia's efforts to defeat China in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday and, having missed the initial squad, he knows he needs to raise his level if he's going to ensure he's in camp from day one next time around.
Duke's absence from the 26-player squad initially named by Tony Popovic for March’s qualifiers was one of its major storylines, the striker having previously established himself as a trusted regular under former coach Graham Arnold and a member of the starting XI across Popovic's first three games in charge. This time around, though, there was no place for the the 34-year-old, with Adam Taggart, Kusini Yengi, and Brandon Borrello all preferred – the first competitive squad the veteran hadn't featured in since 2019.
The Socceroos subsequently defeated Indonesia 5-1 in their first game of the window. Taggart started as a striker and repaid Popovic's faith by providing a remarkable assist that set up Nishan Velupillay's crucial goal to make it 2-0, breaking the back of Indonesia's early surge. The result was what Duke absolutely wanted to see but, at the same time, it goes without saying it wasn’t exactly conducive to his breaking back into the side.
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“That was also a weird experience, to be honest; watching the game from the couch and then seeing Taggs starting the game and wearing 15, which kind of feels like my number a little bit,” he laughed to JDL Media. “But he did a great job.”
A groin injury, however, would force Taggart off at halftime. And while the Perth Glory skipper expressed hope in the game's immediate aftermath that he would be able to travel, a determination was quickly made the following day that he wouldn't be able to play. Yengi, for his part, the snake-bit striker just three games back from a three-month layoff with damage to his knee ligaments, then suffered an injury in the squad's final training session before departing for China, ruling him out of contention.
The circumstances weren’t the ones he’d wanted, but it opened the door for Duke, who had quite literally been on the beach just a week before, to receive a much sooner return to the fold than he'd anticipated.
"It was a wild surprise," he reflected. "I didn't have any expectations. I knew I got put on standby but you never think anything else is going to happen. I even committed to having a little break; we got given three days off by our club and I went off to the Philippines and enjoyed what I thought was going to be my first international break not being selected in four and a half years. I was ready to switch off.
"But then on Friday, I saw a message, 'The boss wants you to come in' and then five hours later I was on a plane to China. That's just part and parcel of being on standby.
"Funnily enough, maybe the three days off was a bit of a blessing in disguise because maybe I was feeling a little bit burnt out. I'd not had an international break for close to five years. I kind of got the best of both worlds because after day three I was feeling refreshed and mentally ready to get back into the football and give it a crack -- because my club football has also not been regular minutes this season so I'm looking to rectify that too."
Given that he's arrived as late reinforcement, it would be of little surprise if Duke didn't feature in Tuesday's clash with the Chinese or, at most, was thrown on to send a jolt of energy through the side as a late reinforcement. Popovic had plans coming into this window and the veteran wasn’t in them.
Yet it also probably wouldn't completely shock if he somehow found himself starting come kick off. For one, he’s a dependable veteran who will know what is expected if asked to do a job at short notice. But it would also be entirely in keeping with the way that he unexpectedly went from an afterthought to a critical component of the national team.
Whatever his role ends up being, the striker is adamant he'll be ready to respond. And while he's sanguine about the lack of minutes and goals that led to his omission -- the veteran has played just 45 minutes in Zelvia's first six games of the campaign -- he’s also come in physically ready to compete.
"I was disappointed [to not be called up] but I also expected it," said the striker. "Because I didn't probably feel deserving enough to get in, with not playing enough minutes with club football. But I know with my experience can come in and help the team halfway through a camp. I could understand bringing in a younger boy, some of the boys are doing well in the A-League, but maybe in these circumstances, it's better to bring in an experienced head who knows what to expect and knows handle these expectations. And I was very ready and I was buzzing to get the call.
“The good thing about Japan is when you're not playing competitive minutes in the games, we always have training matches the next day for the players that are either on the bench or not in the squad against universities or other J1 teams. So match minutes, I'm getting them -- just a week ago, I played 90 minutes in a training match – they're just not competitive.
“They’re big on the body checks and everything when you come into camps and I feel like I'm aging in reverse because I'm getting some good, good results. I know I'm one of the older boys now, but I feel like I can still keep up with the young pups.
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“So I'm ready, regardless of what my role is. If that's just setting a good standard and bringing that experience in for training, for the morale of the boys, and just to keep it competitive, if I'm on the bench, or if I'm starting. I feel like that’s my style of play anyway, I give it 110% energy and try and help the boys just get a result, regardless if that's me scoring goals.
“I know I'm not the most prolific striker, but I know I can help us win games, and that's all that matters at the end.”
Of course, one can’t expect to be saved by injury-replacement call-ups every window. And with the chance to go to a second World Cup coming next year, Duke knows that things can’t stay the way they are if he wants to retain his place in Green and Gold, especially with a rising cohort of attackers emerging onto the scene.
“[Zelvia's] been doing really well,” he said. “I've only, I've only had one start this year out of six games, and played 45 minutes. And I know that's just not enough to stay getting selected for the national team. And it's not just that, it's goals at the club level as well, to consistently put your hand up and because you want a player that's in scoring form to come in.
“But the J1 League level is very, very competitive and very strong, and I'm in one of the best teams. We’re second on the table this year, we finished third last year. And I'm still making the squads, and I'm in that training environment every day. Even when I'm not getting selected, I'm still around top-quality players. There are about six international Japanese players on my team, two Korean nationals. So I'm around good quality and I feel like my standards are still high, regardless, and ready to do a job.
“But I know with the World Cup year, next year, I definitely need to be doing a lot more to keep my hand up. And that's a thought every window that comes by with transfers, I'm looking at what can I do to better my situation potentially. But I'm also hungry to earn a spot again at [Zelvia]. This is the first year that I've not been as in favour, so it's an experience for me to get out of this situation.
“It's been exciting to see Noah Botic, Adrian Segecic, Nicholas Milanovic -- just so many young, exciting prospects in the A-League, which is great to see. And they just need to stay doing that consistently, and they will get their chance. Maybe in this circumstance, I just edged it out because I'm experienced and I've been around the setup for a bit longer. But if things stay the same for me, they could be next.”
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