Rado Vidosic has likened Ben Halloran to a young Archie Thompson as the Brisbane Roar tearaway prepares for his first ever national team camp.
Rado Vidosic has likened newly-minted Qantas Socceroo Ben Halloran to a young Archie Thompson as the Brisbane Roar tearaway prepares for his first ever national team camp.
But the coach warned Halloran, 20, still has to add regular scoring to his repertoire in order to truly live up to the promise of his exhilarating natural talent.
The ex-Gold Coast United winger must first pass through Sunday's game with old foes Central Coast - and then survive the cut as the provisional Australian squad for next month's East Asian Cup 2013 qualifying tournament is whittled down to just 20 names - before he can claim real green and gold honours.
Vidosic, however, can see the day when Halloran refines his rawness and makes his resemblance in style with prolific Melbourne Victory hitman Thompson clear to all.
"We know what Ben can do and what he can offer. He's still young and learning the game but what he's got, not many other players have got," he told reporters on Friday.
"He reminds me of a young Archie Thompson maybe 10 years ago.
"He hasn't started scoring goals as regularly as Archie did when he was younger but definitely, playing in an attacking part of the field, his speed, his directness, taking on players has been a really good feature of his game.
"Hopefully now he can start scoring more goals and get himself even more closer to the national team.
"Maybe that's Holger's plan to see what these younger boys can do, who can they replace, what similarities they've got with the older players and start bringing them into the team."
Halloran has welcomed his debut Socceroos selection, one he described as an unexpected bolt from the blue - but he knows exactly where his bread is buttered.
That's why he's going to try his best to push all that to the back of his mind when Brisbane head down to Bluetongue Stadium, where they have remarkably never lost before.
"I get paid to pay for the Roar. First and foremost my focus is Roar. Any national team selections I'll take as a bonus," he said.
"It always lingers but if anything I can use that for motivation on Sunday.
"We had a good result last week, but we can't be complacent against Central Coast. We really need to focus on that, and on Monday I'll turn my attention to the Aussie team."
Halloran is enjoying the feeling of stability at the two-time A-League champions - a stark contrast to the off-field soap opera that hovered uncomfortably above Gold Coast United's tumultuous three-year stint in the top tier.
"It's a big change. Every week at Gold Coast was just negative media surrounding it and every day you turn up, you don't know what's going to be next," he said.
"At least at Brisbane it's a professional club and I have to pay a lot of credit to Brisbane for getting selected in this team.
"We had a relatively poor season but I have to credit Gold Coast (as well) for playing me every week.
"If I didn't get the chance there and Miron Bleiberg didn't play me I wouldn't have signed with the Roar, where there are a lot of quality players around me."