Socceroos hopeful Thomas Waddingham produced a Portsmouth debut he’ll never forget after the striker scored for the Championship club.
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Waddingham, who only completed his transfer to Portsmouth from the Brisbane Roar last week, came off the bench in the 57th minute and slammed one home from close range in the third minute of added time as Pompey slumped to a 5-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.
“I’m really pleased for him,” Portsmouth coach John Mousinho said after the game.
“For him to come on and make an impact so quickly, I think he’ll be absolutely thrilled.
“To get a taste of the level as well is probably a really, really important thing.
“He probably could’ve had a couple and, yeah, he took his goal well.”
The goal continues the 19-year-old’s incredible rise after he found the back of the net 15 times in 40 appearances for the Roar across the A-League and Australia Cup before Portsmouth came calling. Waddingham, a product of the Roar’s NPL program, only made his debut for Brisbane in August of 2023.
While it’s still early days for Waddingham in England, the fact the forward was not only included in a matchday squad so soon after his arrival but also got on the field for just over half an hour, speaks volumes about the regard in which he is held at Fratton Park.
The speed with which the Cairns born product has been thrown into the first team, while still a teenager, is slightly unusual for Australian players making their way to the second-tier Championship.
If he’s able to continue to feature for Portsmouth it could provide a somewhat unlikely answer to one of the most pressing questions facing Socceroos coach Tony Popovic ahead of two crucial World Cup qualifiers in March against Indonesia and China.
Popovic lacks depth in the striking role with Kusini Yengi, who is also on the books of Portsmouth, not expected back from a knee injury until late February, 34-year-old Mitch Duke scoring just three-times in 20-games in green and gold since the start of 2023 and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos continuing to struggle with a calf injury after a rich run of form at Motherwell in Scotland. 31-year-old Adam Taggart is trying to make a late run with three goals in his last six games for Perth Glory.
Even if Yengi is integrated straight back in Portsmouth’s first team following the completion of his rehabilitation, he’ll still be a little short of match fitness ahead of the clash with Patrick Kluivert’s Indonesia in Sydney on March 20. It leaves the door ajar for a new name.
In an expansive interview with reporters last week Popovic laid bare what it would take for players like Waddingham to thrive after making the move to Europe.
“Physically the demands are extremely high and what you do one day in training; that’s expected every single day and if you can do that, well then you can make the jump,” Popovic said.
The Socceroos boss is currently keeping an eye on a talented crop of young strikers, including Archie Goodwin, Jed Drew and Noah Botic, who are turning in impressive performances in the A-League, but Waddingham could pull away from the trio in the pecking order with a big few weeks.
“Now the question is, in three or four years’ time, can we be watching one of them playing in the bigger leagues in Europe? That is the question,” Popovic said when asked about Goodwin, Drew and Botic.
“Can they take their game to another level? The level they are at now is not good enough to play in Europe. That’s just the reality.”
Waddingham has shown his level is good enough to play in Europe and if he can back it up then he would’ve formed a strong case for a call-up to the Socceroos.
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