Postecoglou: I should have taken Brilliante to Brazil

Josh Brilliante (L) at Socceroos training. Source: AAP/Dan Himbrechts.

Socceroos coach admits his regret for not taking Josh Brilliante to the World Cup.

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has admitted that he may have erred in leaving out former Newcastle Jets defender-midfielder Josh Brilliante from Australia’s World Cup squad in Brazil.

Brilliante signed on for Italian Serie A side Fiorentina during the offseason, and Athens-born Postecoglou admitted dropping him from the 30-man squad was one of the toughest decisions of his life.

“Josh was extremely unlucky to miss the World Cup squad,” Postecoglou said exclusively on FFA TV. “Probably in retrospect I might have even erred in not taking him.”

Postecoglou said he was impressed with the form the 21-year-old is showing for his new club, and it is expected that Brilliante will be settled into a Socceroos squad which will take part in the AFC Asian Cup, when it features on home soil in January.

“It’s great. He’s hit the ground running [at Fiorentina] at a big club in a tier-one competition in Serie A,” Postecoglou said.

“He’s made a breakthrough which is fantastic. And we’ll certainly move that along by giving him some international exposure … importantly it’s great for us.”
Brilliante has been named in a 20-man squad set to play Belgium and Saudi Arabia in Europe next month.