Graham Arnold gives Mathew Leckie extra time to prove fitness for Asian Cup
Mathew Leckie looks likely to stay in Australia’s Asian Cup squad because Graham Arnold is considering gambling on the hamstrung forward in the hope he can play some part in the knockout phase.
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MATHEW Leckie looks likely to stay in Australia’s Asian Cup squad because Graham Arnold is considering gambling on the hamstrung forward in the hope he can play some part in the knockout phase.
Leckie has been under an injury cloud since hurting himself playing for Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin 10 days ago. An initial assessment from Socceroos medical staff indicated the winger would be pushing it to participate in the tournament.
But after a shock injury against Oman ruled out Martin Boyle, Arnold has less room to move up front.
Leckie has been making progress in camp this week and the coach could decide to keep him on board if he is satisfied he can recover in time for the quarter-finals, or perhaps even the round of 16.
Arnold said he will give the 59-time international until the two days before the Socceroos open their account against Jordan in Al Ain on Sunday.
“He’s training, he’s doing as much as he can,” Arnold said. “He really has a strong will to be here. We can make the decision up until six hours before the Jordan game and we will use all that time, especially now with this injury.
“I’ll probably leave that until Thursday or Friday.”
To have such an experienced presence in the later do-or-die matches would be a boost for the reigning champions. If Australia top Group B that also contains Palestine and Syria, they could be on a collision course to face powerhouse Japan in the quarter-finals.
Craig Goodwin might feel hard done by, having missed out on the squad after earning a train-on call-up for November’s home friendlies but not getting a minute against either South Korea or Lebanon.
A last-gasp match-winning penalty against Newcastle Jets on Sunday gave Goodwin his fourth A-League goal on return from a tough stint in the Netherlands, having already turned heads in October with his FFA Cup final heroics.
“I want to prove Graham Arnold wrong, I want to try and show him that I want to be there,’’ Goodwin told News Corp this week. “It was disappointing I was (only) called into the fringe squad, but it’s a part of football.”
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Originally published as Graham Arnold gives Mathew Leckie extra time to prove fitness for Asian Cup
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