Hibernian stars Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine are set to miss out on matching up against the likes of Lionel Messi after Australia pulled out of this year's Copa America.
Football Australia has officially pulled the Socceroos out of the summer’s tournament over a fixture pile up caused by a cluttered World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Aussies, one of two invited sides in the tournament alongside Qatar, were due to face hosts Argentina along with Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay last summer but the competition was put on hold.
It is now scheduled to go ahead this summer, but will not feature either of the sides from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after the governing body rescheduled previously postponed qualifiers for the World Cup at the same time.
Flying Hibs winger Boyle, who has four caps for the side after qualifying through his Sydney-born dad, has been in red hot form for the men in green and white with five goals in his last four Premiership outings firing the Hibees into a commanding position in the chase for Europe.
Irvine has also impressed after arriving on a short-term deal until the end of the campaign in January, despite spending ten months on the sidelines following his departure from Hull City last year.
Both are in contention to start when Jack Ross' side host Motherwell at Easter Road this weekend.
Australia head coach Graham Arnold said: “The Socceroos’ players and staff were greatly looking forward to the unique opportunity of playing in the Copa America and it is unfortunate that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be unable to attend in 2021.
"On behalf of the team I thank Conmebol for the invitation, which would have presented our team with a fantastic opportunity to test itself against some of the world’s best.”
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