International Career
After his season had concluded with Perth Glory, Ward was selected by Australia in an extended squad for its opening Asian Cup qualifier with Bahrain. Ward was named on the bench, but did not play on the field.
In December 2006 the then Socceroos manager Graham Arnold believed that Ward (lacking game time under the management of Queens Park Rangers at the time) should be playing continental European competitions (e.g. Belgium, Netherlands), where there was (in Arnold's opinion) better ball delivery and midfield play than in the English Championship. Those comments could be interpreted as a preliminary reason not to select Ward in forthcoming Socceroos friendlies at the time. Ward's absence from more recent squads could be attributed to his lack playing minutes at Melbourne Victory (due to injuries and club coach Ernie Merrick's preference for more experienced players in his positions) and the success of other similar young players in transitioning their career to European clubs (including Nick Carle, Dario Vidosic, Nikita Rukavytsya and Brett Holman).
His exclusion from the Olyroos squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was a major disappointment especially after being a regular squad member under coach Rob Baan in Australia's qualification path.
Read more about this topic: Nick Ward (Australian Footballer)
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