Tony Popovic named new Socceroos coach

Football Australia has announced that the new Socceroos coach will be Tony Popovic.

Transcript

00:00We're very excited to convene with you all again today for what is a significant moment

00:06for Australian football. This is a significant moment for Australian football because we are

00:11confirming the appointment of Tony Popovich as the head coach of the Socceroos. Tony will take

00:19charge of the team immediately. He's already preparing, he's getting focused for the next

00:25Socceroos match which we played on the 10th of October in Adelaide against China. Tony's

00:32appointment is till the end of the Men's World Cup in North America in 2026. As we indicated last

00:39week we were going to move swiftly and appoint a permanent head coach and the rationale behind

00:46doing this is we wanted to ensure that the team, the players, the staff, the organisation and the

00:52country had certainty and clarity going into the next window. We also wanted to make the appointment

00:58early because we wanted to give Papa as much time to prepare for China as we possibly could in the

01:04circumstances. Firstly, great honour to be sitting here. I don't think you'd expect me to say

01:12anything different. Coaching the Socceroos is probably a dream come true as a coach.

01:20You never know if it will pop up or if the timing is right but I'm extremely honoured,

01:26proud. Obviously I want to thank the FA for having the trust in me, in my abilities to

01:34take on such a role. I understand the responsibility that's required and

01:42the expectation of everyone in this room, also the fans and the players which

01:52ultimately are the ones that will get us to where we want to be. I'm honoured to lead them. I look

01:58forward to the challenge. I'm excited by it. The Socceroos are in a good position.

02:05We've had some great success recently at the World Cup.

02:09This campaign hasn't started the best but I know there's enough time, there are enough games

02:16and we should really be aiming for that top spot.