Socceroos accused of 'nepotism' with World Cup squad selection despite manager not choosing son-in-law

The Socceroos coaching team have been accused of ‘nepotism’ following the omission of star goalkeeper Mitch Langerak from the World Cup squad.

The claims come despite Australia manager Graham Arnold left his own son-in-law Trent Sainsbury out of the squad.

There was quite a shock among football fans when Langerak wasn’t among the three goalkeepers picked in the Australian side.

He had been his club side Nagoya Grampus’ player of the year and had kept 13 clean sheets, the second most in the J1 League in 2022.

He had announced his retirement from international football in May 2021, but had reportedly been goaded out of retirement by Graham Arnold and the coaching team.

However, questions were raised when he wasn’t picked to go to Qatar.

And apparently he wasn’t too happy with it.

Twitter account AussieScout wrote: “Socceroos goalkeeping coach John Crawley picked the Socceroos goalkeepers and called the goalkeepers to tell them if they had been selected.

“Crawley's call with Mitch Langerak was heated, with Langerak believed to have accused him of nepotism and dishonesty for not picking him.”

All three picked goalkeepers - Andrew Redmayne, Mat Ryan, and Danny Vukovic - had all trained under John Crawley at some point in their career.

Some ex-Socceroos were bewildered with the decision.

Tommy Oar tweeted: “It’s an absolute wind up.

“Takes jobs for the boys to a whole new level. He’s been one of our best performing players consistently for the last five years and is one of the best blokes you’ll meet, respected by everyone.”

Whilst former defender Rob Cornthwaite said: “If Mitch has said he wants to go then this is staggering.

“Mat Ryan No. 1 and then two No. 3 keepers?

“Maybe Arnie is trying to give Ryan confidence by saying you’re under no pressure for your place? So don’t stress?

“Just doesn’t add up for me.”

Aussie football fans were equally unimpressed.

In a press conference, Graham Arnold maintained that he trusted Crawley’s decision.

He said: “We've got a great goalkeeper coach in John Crawley who has a process and studies these goalkeepers and understands these goalkeepers enormously.

“I’ve got to trust that process with John Crawley and we make those decisions.

“I trusted John Crawley when we played against Peru with that substitution and I’ve got to trust again those type of decisions.”

SPORTbible reached out to John Crawley for comment.

The claims of nepotism come after Graham Arnold left his own son-in-law Trent Sainsbury out of the final 26-man squad.

Sainsbury has been married to Arnold's daughter, Elissa since 2017 and the couple have two children together.

It was a hot topic in Arnold's press conference immediately after confirming his squad selection.

"Obviously it was a very, very difficult decision," the 59-year-old admitted. "I've spoken to Trent about where he's at right now. He's not played for a number of weeks, obviously he's here in Qatar.

"Overall I've gone for players like Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles who've done exceptionally well and continue to do well.

"Trent was very understanding of the situation but it's a decision that, again, is hard to make.

"We went for four-and-a-half centre backs, I say half because Thomas Deng can play centre back and right-back. We need to be adaptable."