McDonald back in Socceroos squad

Scott McDonald's international career has been revived after he was named in the 20-man squad for friendlies against Switzerland and Poland. McDonald was left out of Pim Verbeek's World Cup party for South Africa after failing to score in 16 appearances for the national side.It appeared that at 27, the diminutive marksman would be left on the scrapheap, but in what is close to a full-strength squad for new coach Holger Osieck's first two matches in charge, McDonald is one of only four players included who didn't feature in the 23-man squad for South Africa.Wellington-bound defender Jade North, AEK Athens rising star Nathan Burns and Urawa Reds youngster Matthew Spiranovic are the others.Harry Kewell has been included despite suggestions in the media that his international career is over, while Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill and Tim Cahill are also included along with two A-League players, Jason Culina and Michael Beauchamp.Osieck said that while he hadn't seen McDonald play for Middlesbrough, he came highly-recommended by several coaches in Europe."I contacted a lot of people in Europe that I respect a lot, top-class coaches who rate him pretty highly. He has got the chance to be called. I will see how well he integrates into the team, how well he can be a valuable asset to our team," the coach said.Kewell's inclusion indicates that the Galatasaray forward, who has been involved in a bitter war of words with former Socceroo Robbie Slater, is set to take his place in the Asian Cup in January.Osieck hasn't concerned himself with the fallout of the Kewell-Slater bust-up and thinks Kewell's form at club level warrantsselection."I saw him play in the Europa League game and from my perspective it was a decent performance. He assisted the two Galatasaray goals and apart from that, his overall performance was okay. I don't see any reason not to invite him," he said."I didn't follow the pros and cons in the media too much, I heard about it. It's not my position to get involved with this and my first and foremost occupation is to get a good team together. I had a chat with Harry and was impressed by his attitude, his approach and his commitment to the team."The Socceroos take on Switzerland on September 3 and Poland on September 7, before a clash with Paraguay at the Sydney Football Stadium on October 9.The Australia squad is: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Adam Federici (Reading); Michael Beauchamp (Melbourne Heart), Jade North (Wellington Phoenix), David Carney, Lucas Neill (Galatasaray), Matthew Spiranovic (Urawa Red Diamonds); Carl Valeri (Sassuolo), Jason Culina (Gold Coast United), Tim Cahill (Everton),Richard Garcia (Hull), Mile Jedinak (Genclerbirligi), Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow), Dario Vidosic (Nurnberg), Brett Holman; Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus), Nathan Burns.

Source: Team_Talk