SOCCER
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AS Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou weighs up whether or not to use Nathan Burns in his starting line-up against football powerhouse Germany, the former Bathurst ’75-Western talent has been given a big endorsement by his club mentor.
With Tim Cahill out of action for tomorrow morning’s (AEDT) clash against Germany in Kaiserslautern and Tommy Juric struggling with injury, it has opened the door for Burns to start the international friendly.
The Blayney native is one option for Postecoglou, who in the main used him off the bench during the Socceroos’ recent Asian Cup success. A talented striker, Burns will be competing with Tommy Oar, James Troisi and Mathew Leckie for a place in the starting 11.
One man who would certainly give Burns the nod is his A-League club coach Ernie Merrick, the Wellington Phoneix mentor certainly impressed with his star forward so far this season.
After Burns scored one goal and set up the other in Wellington’s 2-1 come from behind win over Brisbane Roar on Sunday, Merrick offered him high praise.
“Nathan is becoming an even better player than I thought,” Merrick said of the man who has scored 13 goals this season.
“One-on-one I think he could take just about anyone apart in this competition.”
In turn, Burns has offered Merrick plenty of credit for his return to form and the Socceroos squad. It is easy to see why, given Burns, who currently sits second on the A-League’s leading scorers’ list, scored just nine goals in two seasons when he played for fellow A-League club Adelaide United.
“He’s brought that goal scoring part into my game which was probably lacking,” Burns told FourFourTwo.
“He’s had a good record of attacking football, so it’s good to get the knowledge off him.
“Being an attacking player it was a good opportunity to come in. He has taught me a lot in the last 10 months. There’s a different style of my game that I’m playing, but I have to keep going.”
Certainly if Burns is to have an impact against Germany, be it as a member of the starting line-up or off the bench, he will need to be on his game.
Germany will have 16 of their World Cup-winning squad available for selection and the likes of Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber will be one man to thoroughly test Burns.
Germany’s recent history against Australia includes a 4-0 win over the Socceroos at the 2010 World Cup and a 2-1 home loss in 2011.
“They [Germany] were very keen for the game and their staff have been great about it. Maybe they don’t see us as a threat, I don’t know,” Postecoglou said.
