AFC Asian Cup 2019:Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy has been ruled out of the AFC Asian Cup
Australia and
Huddersfield City midfielder Aaron Mooy has been ruled out of the AFC Asian Cup
due to a knee injury. James Jeggo will take his place in the Socceroos squad as
Australia prepare to defend their title in UAE.
Mooy was included in the
initial 23-man squad announced by the FFA, however, post assessment by chief
physio Phil Coles, the 28-year-old was officially ruled out of the tournament
“It is disappointing to
lose Aaron for the tournament however it was important that we left no stone
unturned in exploring every option to get Aaron on the pitch for Australia in
the UAE,” Australia coach Graham Arnold said.
“We will remain in close
contact with Aaron and Huddersfield Town during his rehabilitation and trust
that he will make a successful return to action. In making the assessment on
the injury we agreed Aaron would need at least another month to return to
fitness.
“In a best-case scenario,
this would mean he would not be ready to play until after the quarter-final
stage [24-25 January 2019]. With so many games in such a short period we felt
it would be best to bring in a player that is fully fit and ready to go from
the outset,” he added.
On Austria Wien’s James
Jeggo’sinclusionn, the Socceroos coach said, “James has been performing really
well in Austria and is a fantastic character, so we are very happy to have him
join the squad. Initially, James was very unlucky to miss out on the squad, but
sometimes these things happen in football and we are glad we can provide him
with this opportunity.
“James has thrived at
club level playing in a defensive midfield role and with three attacking
central midfielders already in the squad, we felt we needed someone with James’
attributes to provide some depth in that area.”
