Injuries have forced Josh Kennedy and Tom Rogic out of the Socceroos 23-man World Cup squad announced Tuesday night.
Kennedy and Rogic were two of three Socceroos to get the chop with a fourth and final casualty expected later in the evening as the final roster is decided.
Playmaker Rogic endured the heartbreaking news at a Socceroos medical meeting after Monday’s 2-0 win over Brazilian side Parana Clube. The 21-year-old went down with a sprained groin in the early going before being subbed out at the half. The lingering injury had been hampering the Melbourne Victory player since early April.
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Kennedy was hoping to play in a third straight World Cup, however a reoccurring back injury will see the lanky striker with the long locks miss out after having scored the deciding goal to carry Australia to the Brazil finals against Iraq a year ago. The Japanese-based forward missed five weeks this season due to back spasms only to have the injury reoccur during Socceroos ahead of the Monday friendly.
Both players were still in the picture leading up to the decision despite the rough news coming out of Monday’s warmup game.
“(Rogic) hasn’t played in quite a while so you’ve got to remember most of these guys haven’t played for quite a while and they’ve had a pretty heavy load over the last three weeks,” assistant coach Aurelio Vidmar said Monday night. “He just needs to find a little bit of rhythm. No one’s out of the picture, that’s a discussion we’ll have tonight with the coaching staff and Ange.
Goalkeeper Mark Birighitti was also cut, meaning Borussia Dortmund’s Mitch Langerak and Adelaide United’s Eugene Galekovic will fight over the backup spot behind Mat Ryan, however the Newcastle Jets keeper will remain in Brazil as an emergency due to the questionable fitness of Langerak.
The final cut is expected in the coming hours before the Socceroos kick off their World Cup campaign against Chile on Friday, June 13.
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