The stakes are already sky high ahead of this weekend’s Elimination Finals – but for players hoping to contend for a place in the Socceroos’ squad for June’s World Cup qualifiers, there’s an added incentive to succeed in the two knockout ties.
Western United and Adelaide United face off at Ironbark Fields on Friday night in the first of two Elimination Finals, before Western Sydney Wanderers host Melbourne Victory at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night to determine which two teams progress to face Auckland FC and Melbourne City in the two-legged Semi-Finals.
For the two victorious teams this weekend, progression to the Semi-Finals ensures at least two more weeks of football, and a potential third week should either side from outside the top two cause a Semi-Final upset and make it to the Grand Final.
That, says former Socceroos Tommy Oar, will provide a motivating factor for the Isuzu UTE A-League’s contingent of international hopefuls: keep your season alive, and enhance your chances of being considered for selection in Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic’s squad for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia in early June.
Speaking on this week’s episode of Total A-Leagues, Oar highlighted Western Sydney’s home clash with Melbourne Victory as the prime example.
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On one hand you have Wanderers’ attackers Brandon Borrello and Nicolas Milanovic hoping to impress Popovic through the Finals Series, while Victory boast the likes of midfielder Ryan Teague and forwards Nishan Velupillay and Daniel Arzani, whom were all selected in Popovic’s most recent international squad picked to take on China PR and Indonesia in March.
“If you look at it this way: the team that wins this, there are a lot of Socceroos in those attacking positions, and the team that wins this will obviously get two more games going into the next Socceroos window,” Oar said.
On the other side of the Finals Series bracket, Western United spearhead Noah Botic looms as the clear candidate for Socceroos consideration, having thrust himself into the selection conversation throughout the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season off the back of an impressive mid-season run of form.
‘Huge loss’ opens the door for teenage striker to seize his ‘huge opportunity’
Adelaide United will travel to Tarneit without their top scorer this weekend, as the league’s Golden Boot winner Archie Goodwin prepares to sit out the Finals Series with a hamstring injury suffered in late April.
Goodwin, who earned an equal share of the Isuzu UTE A-League Golden Boot in 2024-25 with 13 goals, level with Sydney FC’s Adrian Segecic, leaves a significant void at the tip of Adelaide’s attack – but fortunately for head coach Carl Veart, there’s a ready-made replacement in 19-year-old Luka Jovanovic waiting in the wings.
Jovanovic, who won the Under-23 Asian Cup with the Young Socceroos mid-season, has scored only four goals this season in 20 appearances (seven starts) and just over 700 match minutes, after losing the battle with Goodwin to become Adelaide’s preferred No.9.
But two of those goals have proved pivotal to Adelaide’s season; in back-to-back games in January, Jovanovic bagged late match-winners off the bench against Macarthur Bulls and Wellington Phoenix to turn draws into victories for the Reds who, at the end of the season, beat Sydney FC to sixth place by just one point.
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Should Jovanovic seize the chance that has been presented to him, he could prove pivotal to Adelaide orchestrating a shock win over Western United.
Oar believes the “huge opportunity” could unlock the full potential of a player who has shown his ability in moments this season.
“(Goodwin) is a huge loss – tere’s no beating around the bush,” Oar said.
“The amount of goals Goodwin scored this year, at times in the games where Adelaide was maybe not playing their best football, he’d get a goal out of the blue and all of a sudden they were back into it. I think that’s happened on quite a few occasions.
“But, at the same time, Jovanovic – we saw with the Young Socceroos what he’s capable of doing. and he has actually scored some really important goals for Adelaide this year; he’s got four so far and this is a huge opportunity for him.
Similar to their Elimination Final opponents Adelaide, Western United have been without an important forward of their own of late, with 10-goal striker Hiroshi Ibusuki sidelined through injury since April 17.
Ibusuki has been named in Western’s extended squad for Friday’s clash with his former side Adelaide, but whether head coach John Aloisi brings the Japanese veteran back into his starting XI could hinge on Aloisi’s confidence in Michael Ruhs, who has impressed in his last two appearances since replacing Ibusuki alongside Botic in Western’s frontline.
Ruhs scored one of Western’s four goals in a 4-2 win over Auckland FC to end the regular season.
“Ibusuki has been injured and missed the last couple of games and there were question marks (over) how they’d fill that gap, but I think Michael Ruhs has done a fantastic job coming into this team,” Oar said.
“He gives them something completely different, he annoys the defenders. He’s a pest, you could almost say, up front, the way he hounds the defenders, and he’s relentless with his forward running.
“I think now, all of a sudden, with Ruhs and Ibusuki, they’ve got a big decision to make if Ibusuki is fit going into this game.”
“You’ve seen from their performances in the last two weeks, there’s a lot more stability on the field,” Oar continued. “They’ve had two great performances against more fancied opposition, you could argue, on the day.
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