Melbourne Victory and Socceroo enforcer Mark Milligan is bracing himself for a hectic season as he bids to seal his spot on the plane to Brazil 2014.
Melbourne Victory and Socceroo enforcer Mark Milligan is bracing himself for a hectic season as he bids to seal his spot on the plane to Brazil 2014.
Fresh from celebrating the Socceroos third straight World Cup qualification, of which Milligan played a crucial role, the 27-year-old said every tournament and match including the upcoming East Asian Cup would play a pivotal role.
“Every game and every tournament for the national team between now and next June is a chance for individuals to show themself to the boss and a chance for the team to gel a bit more,” Milligan said.
“They’ve pushed the (A-League) season back a little bit to finish closer to the World Cup to give A-League players a chance of being in that side. It works well at the moment.”
Milligan provided the perfect defensive foil for Mark Bresciano, holding his place ahead of Crystal Palace’s Premier League bound midfielder Mile Jedinak for Australia’s final three qualifiers against Japan, Jordan and Iraq.
The faith shown by Socceroos boss Holger Osieck clearly playing a part in Milligan’s rise to prominence in the national set up.
“It was really exciting to get game time and be involved on the pitch for qualifying for the third World Cup in a row for us,” he said.
“I’ve been around for a while and I’ve had to wait a while to get some consecutive starts and a little bit of consistency with the national team.
With talk of Milligan’s future at Victory being in some doubt, the midfielder gave the clearest assurances yet that he has no intention to leave.
“Yeah absolutely (set to stay at Victory), I haven’t heard anything different (from manager). That’s the way it is,” he said.
Team-mate Archie Thompson admitted there had been little time to pause for breath during the celebrations.
“We enjoyed that moment, for me the celebrations in the change rooms straight after the game and on the bus were the best moments, but we have to knuckle down because I want some more special moments,” Thompson said.
At 34, Thompson is aware of the precarious nature of his position in the team but the irrepressible striker knows only hard work will secure his spot on the plane to Brazil.
“I was just delighted for the boys, it’d be the icing on the cake for me (to play in Brazil),” he said.
“I’m going to work hard, we’ve got 12 months but as I said there’s only 23 seats to go to Brazil and there’s a lot of good players out there.
“Basically all Australian players have got to put their head down it’s a World Cup year. It’s back to business.”
