The World Cup is finally upon us and the Socceroos are hoping to emulate the successes of the iconic teams of tournaments gone by.
But before we get to the actual on-field action, there is a new trend that has been seen across all sport.
Players telling broadcasters how to say their name has become the norm and somewhat of a source of serious entertainment for social media.
And Australia’s team have given the correct pronunciations of their names with a couple that may trip most people up.
So if you are concerned you can watch the video so that when you are speaking to your mates you will get their names right.
Milos Degenek is sure to be one of the names that could trip people up
Youngster Nestory Irankunda is going to be central to Australia’s performances
Aziz Behich could play a role for the Socceroos
Ajdin Hrustic will be expected to provide a creative spark for Australia
So without further ado, let’s get into the correct way to say some of these names.
Kicking us off is goalkeeper Matthew Ryan (Maf-yew Ry-an), pretty straight forward to get us off to a start.
Other goalkeepers are Paul Izzo (Pull Iz-o) and Patrick Beach (Pat-rick Beach), nice and easy in nets.
Up next are a couple of defenders whose names may cause a few mistakes.
Milos Degenek (Mi-losh De-Ge-Nek), the ‘ge’ contains a hard ‘g’ sound and less like what you would hear in the word generate.
Joining them at the back is Aziz Behich (Az-iz Be-hitch)
Alessandro Circati (Al-less-andro Chir-cati), perhaps the Italian accent gave it away but there is a ‘ch’ sound at the start of his surname.
The Socceroos number 10 might also cause a few problems. Ajdin Hrustic (Ai-dan Hur-stitch) will be expected to provide a creative spark for his side.
One attacker that can have an impact is Nishan Velupillay (Ni-Shan Ve-Lu-Pi-Lay) along with Nestory Irankunda (Nest-Ory Iran-Kunda).
And our final breakdown will be the Socceroos number 24, Paul Okon-Engstler (Pull O-Kon Eng-St-Ler).
Mohamed Toure has sent a scare through the Socceroos camp, with the gun striker absent from training three days out from Australia’s World Cup opener against Turkey.
But the Socceroos say they expect Toure to return to training on Thursday (Friday AEST), though no specific reason was provided for his absence.
The striker, who has been widely expected to lead the line in Saturday’s game at BC Place in Vancouver, wasn’t involved in the 15-minute window of training media were permitted to watch on Wednesday.
