Injury could spell the end of Leckie’s World Cup
SanFrancisco: It may be Mathew Leckie’s last appearance at a World Cup, with the Socceroos veteran’s campaign in Australia in jeopardy after suffering a small tear in his hamstring.
Leckie, 35, was the only member of the Australian squad not to attend training in Alameda on Monday (local time); It was their first full-field practice since their 2-0 defeat against the USA.
The Melbourne City star, who has been limited to eight A-League games this season due to repeated injuries, was taken off the game an hour after the Seattle defeat with a hamstring injury.
A team spokesman had no further update on Leckie’s condition. But a source familiar with the player’s condition but not authorized to comment publicly said scans revealed a lower-grade tear that typically takes one to three weeks to heal.
In a best-case scenario, the 82-capped winger will feature in the Socceroos’ likely last-32 clash, but defender Jason Geria is still hoping he can feature against Paraguay on Friday (12pm AEST).
“It’s never nice to see a player go down, [especially] a teammate,” Geria said.
“Everyone has worked so hard to be here in the first place. It’s such a long journey. And for Lecks, he’s had a lot of injury-filled battles over the years, so it’s been a big effort for him to mold himself to be a part of this.”
“And the one thing he’s done for the national team… he’s had a fantastic international career. We feel sorry for him, but hopefully even if it’s not for this game he still makes it to the round of 32.”
Australia’s finishing position could shape Leckie’s chances of returning to a fourth World Cup. If the Socceroos finish second in Group D, they will play Group G second-place team Egypt, Iran or Belgium on July 3 in Dallas.
However, if they fail to win or draw with Paraguay in the final match of the group stage and become one of the top eight third-place players, they will most likely travel to Boston to face Germany on June 29; this is a shorter turnaround.
Although that would be enough to secure a draw for both Australia and Paraguay in the encounter at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, the different routes on offer and the likelihood of the losing side beating Germany mean both teams are likely to chase the maximum result.
“Yes, we can both advance with a point. That’s clear. But I don’t think it’s in our hands… We want to win every match, regardless of who the opponent is or what the situation is,” Geria said.
“If it’s 1-0 or 0-0 with five minutes or 50 seconds left, that’s [not] We will be the ones taking our foot off the pedal. We want to win this match.”
