Kevin Muscat, Archie Thompson and Rodrigo Vargas have all been picked again though.

Archie has already said he doesn’t like his chances of getting picked. Will the fact that Alex Brosque, John Aloisi and Joel Griffiths are all playing in the A-League finals help them to score a spot ahead of Thompson?

Muscat and Vargas will be up against similar challenges, of course. All up, the 20 of the 29 men selected for Pim’s second training camp are playing in the finals. Making the squad is going to be a stiff challenge for the Melbourne boys.

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Only A-League players were picked for the training camp, though Verbeek insists there’s no guarantee that he’ll pick exclusively A-League players for the opening World Cup qualifier against Qatar on February 6.

On his perception of the A-League, Verbeek said:

“I enjoyed every game I’ve seen, the stadiums are fantastic, the crowds are unbelievable.”

“I saw great goals, but I saw also unbelievable mistakes.”

“It’s up to me to find out if the players make that same mistake too many times because then I cannot use them.” (The World Game)

While Archie’s inclusion in the line-up is predictable, Muscat and Vargas are surprising additions. Not that they’re undeserving – quite the contrary. Muscat is the rock-solid heart of the Victory; and Vargas has been one of the few constants in an ever-changing defensive line-up.

That Michael Theoklitos didn’t make it is disappointing. Clint Bolton and Ante Covic are the senior goalkeepers to have been picked for the camp. But Graham Arnold has selected Danny Vukovic, along with fourteen other Olyroos, to train alongside the senior Socceroos. Unsurprisingly, Leigh Broxham and Nick Ward have both been picked as well.

It will be interesting to see how many A-League players will feature in the Qatar match. If he wants any of the European-based Aussies, Verbeek knows he can get them. But since they’ll only be arriving about 48 hours before the game kicks off, a squad made up entirely of the European-based players seems risky – perhaps even more risky than a squad predominantly made up of local talent.