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‘Twas the match before the World Cup,
When all through the squad,
The Socceroos jostled,
To receive Popa’s nod.

The most anticipated time in football’s four-year cycle is upon us, and the greatest present of all will be unwrapped within months. But while fans may be scheming for a long lunch when the Socceroos play Paraguay, or musing whether to buy the home or away kit, Australia’s players have something more pressing to worry about.

More than 50 World Cup aspirants have been in Socceroos camps over the past year, so ahead of Tuesday’s send-off match against Curacao in Melbourne, the final squeeze is on.

The Socceroos’ first World Cup game will be against either Turkey or Kosovo in Vancouver on 13 June. With exactly two months to go before Fifa’s deadline for 26-player squads, coach Tony Popovic is urging the players to grab the opportunity.

“Anyone that’s here now feels they’re so close,” he said. “Every camp there are new players, every window new players playing, or there’s a new debut, so the players can see for themselves that anything’s possible, and that should give them a lot of confidence and belief that they could be one of those players that go.”

There are some, like absent veterans Harry Souttar and Jackson Irvine, and injured spearhead Mo Toure, with places earmarked as long as they can show their bodies are ready. There are others, like forwards Deni Juric and Ante Šuto, and defender Lucas Herrington, who are desperate to convert recent call-ups into plane tickets.

There are plenty more in the bubble: defender Kye Rowles was a vital contributor in the round of 16 run in Qatar but only a late call-up this month, and midfielder Max Balard, who appeared well placed for North America after five caps in the past year, was overlooked for this camp.

Popovic revealed on Monday he does not want to have more than about 30 players at his pre-World Cup camp in the US, which will include a final warmup against Mexico on 30 May. It leaves Tuesday’s match, together with the roughly month-and-a-half left in most players’ seasons, as a crucial audition.

Australia’s opponents on Tuesday, Curacao, are travelling to North America as the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup. “It’s also exciting to play a different opponent, a different style, a real footballing team, they want to play, so they’ll give us different challenges,” Popovic said. “I want to see how we can overcome that.”

The coach has pledged to give another chance to those who played in the defensively stout but disjointed 1-0 victory against Cameroon on Friday. “It’d be nice to see whether some of those boys can get a bit of continuity and get more than one game in one position because it’s a new position for a lot of them,” he said, adding that the players who joined camp late are also in line for minutes.

Midfielder Alex Robertson – who remained on the bench on Friday – played seven games for League One side Cardiff in the month before joining camp, and is one of several players who have endured recent heavy workloads.

“We have a lot of players that played two games in seven days before they came here,” Popovic said. “Can they give their maximum from the start? That’s probably the biggest concern for us today.”

At the team’s hotel in Melbourne on Monday, Popovic maintained his customary veneer of intensity and calm, traits he has carried since his time as an imposing defender for the national team.

The 52-year-old couldn’t help but smile, however, when asked about his excitement ahead of the tournament. “After this window, you get through Easter, you can enjoy that with the family, and then before you know it you’re getting on a plane, so it’s real.”

Popovic and the players have been occupied this camp with commercial photography shoots, advertising productions and the launch of a new strip. “It makes it feel really close, and I’m like the players, I’m excited, I can’t wait,” Popovic said.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment since I started, and there’s always something happening and something to prepare for. But there’s nothing like the World Cup.”