JAKARTA – Australia National Team coach Tony Popovic feels Adrian Segecic might be better off in Croatia after choosing to switch his nationality from Australia less than three months before the 2026 World Cup.
The attacking midfielder has impressed in the Championship with Portsmouth this season after winning the A-League Men’s Golden Boot last year, but has yet to make a full international debut with the Socceroos.
The 21-year-old represented Australia at under-17, under-20 and under-23 levels, leading Popovic to believe that the young star is on the right track for Socceroos selection after being first called up to the National Team camp at the age of 21.
“I think we have done our best for this player. The player has decided to play for Croatia.”
“We wish him the best,” Popovic said in a diplomatic statement after announcing a 26-man squad for upcoming friendly matches against Cameroon and Curacao.
However, if read implicitly, Popovic emphasized that he would never be burdened by his choices.
“If you’re called up to Australia through the junior levels, then you’re called up by the Socceroos, isn’t that enough (to show) that you’re wanted?”
“Should I promise a 20 or 21-year-old that he has to play? We have young players in this squad now who promise to play. Otherwise, I have to worry that he will leave?”
“Maybe it’s better for Adrian if he leaves because now I don’t limit him to go to the place he really wants,” Popovic said on Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Popovic, who has captained Australia 58 times and is regarded as one of the Kangaroos’ best players, said it was unlikely he would give up wearing the Socceroos’ jersey easily.
“Maybe times have changed and maybe I’m a little old-fashioned here. But I know when I was 20 or 21, when I was called up to the national team, if I didn’t play, all I thought about was that I loved the environment.”
“I want to play for Australia. I will continue to fight and hope that one day I will be chosen by the coach. I will not go and say that I will call and see who else wants me,” Popovic said.
Since taking over in 2024, Popovic has insisted he has never closed the door on the dream of young players to play for the Socceroos.
“You can see from this squad, you can see from the last squad we’ve picked – the young players have a great opportunity with the Socceroos. That’s clear.”
“However, I don’t know what else I have to do if a player comes and thinks that if you don’t play, you’ll be out.”
“Should I play that player even though maybe at that moment, technically, tactically, or maybe the player was physically superior at that moment, so he shouldn’t have played because someone told me he was going to come out?” said Popovic.
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