Asian Cup 2015: Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak ruled out of Oman clash with ankle injury
SOCCEROOS captain Mile Jedinak will miss Australia’s second Asian Cup clash with Oman on Tuesday after failing to shrug off an ankle injury.
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SOCCEROOS captain Mile Jedinak will miss Australia’s second Asian Cup clash with Oman on Tuesday night after failing to shrug off the ankle injury suffered in the 4-1 win over Kuwait on Friday night.
Jedinak landed awkwardly after jumping to head clear a corner in the first half, and though he played on – and scored his side’s third goal from the penalty spot – he has had his ankle in a moon boot since.
With the third game against South Korea likely to prove pivotal to Australia’s final standing in the group, coach Ange Postecoglou this morning took the decision not to risk Jedinak against Oman.
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Though Jedinak’s influence on the side is immense, further damage to the ankle could put his participation in the rest of the tournament in question.
“We’ve decided to rule Mile out of the Oman game after he copped an ankle injury against Kuwait,” said Postecoglou. “He’s not quite right to play and at this stage of the tournament we are better to give it a few days’ extra rest and we will reassess where he’s at for the game against Korea.
“While it is not ideal for Mile to miss the game I’m confident we have the players and depth to be able to cover for not having him out there.
“We worked hard on increasing our depth over the last six months leading into the Asian Cup and that has us in a good position to be able to cover for the loss of a player of Mile’s calibre.”
Melbourne Victory captain Mark Milligan is the most likely replacement for Jedinak, though Sydney FC’s Terry Antonis is also an option.
Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak ruled out of Oman clash with ankle injury
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