Graham Arnold has named a largely as-expected Socceroos squad for the forthcoming Asian Cup in UAE in January, with the inclusion of injured Premier League star, Aaron Mooy the major talking point.
Mooy had previously ruled out any involvement in Australia’s Asian Cup defence after his club Huddersfield reported the midfielder had suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a 1-0 loss to Arsenal earlier this month.
“I’m also sad that this injury will rule me out of the Asian Cup,” Mooy had previously told the club’s official website. “I’d like to wish the Socceroos all the best as they head to the UAE. I’ll be supporting them from afar.”
FFA delayed the announcement of the squad by 24 hours and it’s understood they commissioned an independent medical assessment on Mooy by a third-party expert, with further medical assessments to be made on Friday.
The key omission is striker Tomi Juric, who has fallen out of favour due to limited game time with his club FC Luzern in the Swiss Super League, with A-League based flyer Chris Ikonomidis being rewarded for his blistering start to the season with table-topping Perth Glory.
“Chris [Ikonomidis] has made a great start to his time at Perth Glory under Tony Popovic and it has been his form in the Hyundai A-League that has sealed his place in the squad,” Arnold said. “Chris will add pace and energy to our attack, which is the consistent feature of the players that we have picked in the Socceroos’ attack for this tournament.
“We will play energetic, high-intensity football in the UAE, and the rapid attackers we have selected including Chris, Mathew [Leckie], Robbie [Kruse], Awer [Mabil], Martin [Boyle], Andrew [Nabbout], and Jamie [Maclaren] will enable us to implement our style,” he concluded.
“Our squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup in the UAE blends youth with experience,” he said. “Individually and collectively the players are determined to excel at the tournament and following the three positive camps that we have had since September I know that Australia will enter the Asian Cup with the best camaraderie in the competition.”
Australia begin their Asian Cup tournament defence on 6 January against Jordan, with further group B clashes against Palestine (11 January) and Syria (15 January).
Asian Cup squad:
Mitch Langerak, Mat Ryan, Danny Vukovic (GKs); Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Alex Gersbach, Rhyan Grant, Matthew Jurman, Mark Milligan (c), Josh Risdon, Trent Sainsbury; Mustafa Amini, Jackson Irvine, Massimo Luongo, Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic; Martin Boyle, Chris Ikonomidis, Robbie Kruse, Mathew Leckie, Awer Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Nabbout.
