The FIFA World Cup is so close that Jason Geria can smell it, but the Socceroos defender admits it’s “terrifying” being on the verge of selection in Australia’s squad for the June-July tournament.
Geria’s Socceroos career was revived following the appointment of Tony Popovic as national coach in September 2024.
Since then, the former Melbourne Victory star has been a regular member of Socceroos squads.
And while he hasn’t nailed down a permanent spot in Australia’s starting team, Geria is a strong candidate to be part of Australia’s World Cup contingent, with his ability to play as a central defender and wing-back likely to work in his favour.
“Wherever they’d put me, I’d play,” he said ahead of the Socceroos’ FIFA Series clash with Cameroon at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Friday night.
“You’re very close to achieving something that you’ve dreamt of for so long, and that, in itself, is a little bit terrifying as well.
“The fact that (World Cup) selection is a possibility is pretty incredible, but you just have stay grounded and really just take each day as it comes, because football changes really quickly for whatever reason.
“I think it’s very important to … just try to be the best version of yourself every day, and hopefully that can amount to being at the tournament in June.”
With potential World Cup selection in mind, 32-year-old Geria made the decision to remain with his club Albirex Niigata despite the team’s relegation from Japan’s top-flight at the end of last year.
“There was definitely a lot of thinking and some discussions with people around me, and people whose opinions I think highly of, I asked them some questions on what I should do going forward,” he said.
“I came to decision to stay over there, and I’m really glad I did because I’m in a really good environment.
“The club were really good and really amazing for me, and especially being injured at the time as well, it was a really good place to get my fitness back, build a really good foundation for my body and then get better physically.
“Also knowing that I’m in a place where I’ll be able to get 90 minutes consistently, that plays a major factor in definitely these six months leading up to the World Cup. You need to be playing football,
“It was disappointing being relegated, but I was in a really good environment anyway, so I’m really happy I stayed there.”
