It's game on in the battle of Socceroos keepers, says Schwarzer

The arrival of Bert van Marwijk has opened a window of opportunity for Mat Ryan’s Socceroos rivals on the road to the FIFA World Cup, according to Australia goalkeeping great Mark Schwarzer.

With Brad Jones and Danny Vukovic surviving the cut to join Ryan in the final 26-man squad for this month’s friendlies against Norway and Colombia, Schwarzer believes it could be ‘game-on’ between the trio.

“Under Ange Postecoglou it was obvious that Maty was the clear number one,” Schwarzer said, now a successful TV and radio pundit.

“Ange had a particular way he wanted to play and Maty suited that down to the ground.

“Now there’s a new manager it opens things up a bit. It really depends on how he wants to play.

“He’s his own man and a very experienced coach. It makes for a very interesting and healthy competition for places, and that’s what you want.

“He has options and somebody playing as well as Brad at a big club deserves the chance to come into camp and impress the manager.”

While Ryan has been flying with EPL newcomers Brighton, Jones - who turns 36 on Monday - has excelled since joining Feyenoord nearly two years ago with Vukovic also irrepressible for Genk.

“Brad’s had a lot of testing periods in his career, and his life, and the way he’s come through is a credit to him,” added Schwarzer, a long-time mentor to Jones at Middlesbrough before his subsequent moves to Liverpool, Derby, Bradford City, NEC Nijmegen and Feyenoord.

“He has played brilliantly in the last two years in particular (in the Eredivisie).”

There were assertions that Jones, last capped four years ago, had rejected recall overtures unless guaranteed game time.

His camp denied that was the case, and it’s now rendered irrelevant with van Marwijk rolling out the welcome mat.

“What happened in the past has happened and nobody will really know 100 per cent,” Schwarzer said.

“It’s one person saying one thing, and another person saying another thing.

“The bottom line is that Brad merits this opportunity. The manager knows him, has watched him play on a number of occasions and I think Feyenoord’s home ground is only 20 minutes away from where the manager lives.”

Having stretched his own storied career to the age of 43, Schwarzer feels that four-cap Jones is committed to making the latter stages of his career the most meaningful.

“I often say he’s seen the light before it’s going out and he still has an opportunity to give it a really big push in his career, and seize the chance before it’s too late,” he added.

“I know from personal experience that age is no limit and it’s all about the work, dedication and professionalism he’s been showing.

“I’m sure Maty and Brad will do all they can to impress the manager.

“Obviously Maty’s the current number one and the manager will know all about him.

“It all comes down to the way he wants to play in terms of making a final choice.

“You also look at how well Danny Vukovic has done since going to Belgium

“It’s been a massive step up for him, and he’s handed it exceptionally well and he also deserves to be there.”