Socceroos coach Tony Popovic will watch how his charges handle the heat of a high-intensity friendly against World Cup co-hosts Mexico before making the final brutal cuts to his squad.
The Socceroos will face a capacity crowd full of Mexico fans at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena on Saturday night (Sunday AEST) ahead of Popovic naming his 26-player squad.
The training squad is 30 players after Cristian Volpato's shock defection from Italy, though the attacker seems destined for a cameo at best in that game.
Rather than picking his final squad early like some other coaches, Popovic filtered an extended squad through a training camp, cutting some players and bringing others in later.
He has been personally meeting with players who don't make the squad.
