Injured Socceroos fly home as teammates set sights on World Cup history
– Alameda: Injured Socceroos pair Mathew Leckie and Jacob Italiano left camp emotionally as their teammates turned their focus to securing another piece of history: becoming the first Australian team to win a men’s World Cup qualifying match.
Hours after Australia’s 0-0 draw with Paraguay, while the rest of the squad completed a light recovery session at their Bay Area training base, Leckie (hamstring) and Italiano (groin) were flying home to recuperate from their injuries after being ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.
Leckie made his record fourth World Cup appearance but only lasted an hour in his only match against the United States; It was a sad end for the 35-year-old, who had endured an injury-plagued season at club level to earn a place in manager Tony Popovic’s squad. This is an inspiring effort that has left its mark on the gaming group.
“I’m heartbroken for him,” said Aziz Behich, who played with Leckie at Melbourne City.
“He left no stone unturned. It’s an honor for him. It’s not easy, not only physically but also mentally at his age… We want him to stay here because we know what he can give us as a team. His experience even when he’s not playing and his presence around many players.”
“But it’s all part of football. He wished us all well and said he would follow us. He gave everything to be here and help us.”
Meanwhile, Italiano put in a solid performance in the Socceroos’ first two matches but suffered a groin injury during training, ending his first World Cup experience prematurely and exposing Australia’s lack of depth at right-back.
But necessity is the mother of creativity, and Popovic’s creative solution may have opened a way to bring out the best of Jordan Bos and find a role in the starting lineup for 35-year-old Behich, his direct rival on the left side of the defense.
Instead of replacing Italiano with Jason Geria or Kai Trewin, Popovic opted for Behich at left wing-back and moved Bos to the right; Here aggressive positioning and combination play from Cristian Volpato (and later Ajdin Hrustic) gave Australia a strong new look in the final third.
On any other night the move would have paid off, but Paraguay struggled to contain the constant threat posed by Bos cutting inside on his left foot.
“That’s something we worked on throughout the week in our tactical session and it worked really well and I think it worked well again last night. So we got the result we deserved,” Behich said.
Whether they line up that way next week in Dallas remains to be seen – but Behich has said he will do his best to give Popovic a “headache” in the selection, determined to play a key role rather than being Bos’ understudy.
This is the third time the Socceroos have emerged from their group, although the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams and the introduction of a round of 32 makes comparisons with previous campaigns difficult.
But the reality is Australia has only known heartbreak in the knockout stage of the World Cup and Behich said that was something the team was determined to change.
In 2006, Fabio Grosso’s controversial penalty for Lucas Neill gave Italy a 1-0 lead in the final minute, while in 2022 the Socceroos pushed Lionel Messi’s Argentina all the way but again lost 2-1 in the round of 16.
Behich, who has started all of the Socceroos’ matches in Qatar, almost scored a stunning goal in the second half after a complex attacking sequence that he admits he replays frequently in his head.
“The last one left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth,” Behich said.
“I still have that burning fire in my belly. We created this opportunity by working hard to be here. It wasn’t given to us. It’s all in our hands to get into this game.
“The belief is the same. For me, this culture was created even before Qatar. When you get 26 Australian boys together, that belief is through the roof.
“We know what we want to achieve and the first step was to get out of the group stages. We did that. Now, of course, it’s game by game. This is knockout football. It’s very different from before. But the kids know it and we are full of energy and excitement.”
