Robbie Kruse racing to be fit for Socceroos’ playoff with Honduras after pain of missing last World Cup

ROBBIE Kruse is doing everything in his power to be fit to play a role in propelling Australia to Russia 2018, and finally get to play at the World Cup.

Australia's Robbie Kruse gestures during the 2018 World Cup qualifying football match between Australia and Syria in Sydney. Picture: AAP

FOUR years ago Robbie Kruse experienced the elation of qualifying for a World Cup, and the agony of then being ruled out of it through injury.

Now the winger is doing everything in his power to be fit to play a role in propelling Australia to next year’s global showpiece, and finally get to play at the World Cup.

Sidelined by a knee injury for his club Vfl Bochum for the past fortnight, Kruse has been working intently first in Germany and then in Melbourne for the past three days in a bid to shrug off the knock and be available for the second leg with Honduras on Wednesday.

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His motivation is obvious, having been in the Australian side that defeated Iraq in 2013 to secure a place in the World Cup in Brazil, but then suffering an ACL injury early in 2014 that ruled him out of the tournament.

Robbie Kruse in action for the Socceroos against Syria in Malaysia last month. Picture: Getty Images

Robbie Kruse trained at AAMI Park on Sunday with Mathew Leckie and Mark Milligan.

Buoyed by his excellent former in the Bundesliga for Bochum, Kruse wants the chance to be part of more history for the national team.

“After missing the last World Cup, I know these are opportunities that don’t come around too often,” Kruse said. “It’s possibly my last chance to play at one, and I’m doing everything I can to be fit for Wednesday.

“It’s a massive game, I remember the emotion and the drama from last time (in 2013) when we beat Iraq to get there. There’s always a massive crowd, it’s a special feeling.

“It was difficult not to be able to play in the first leg, I’ve experienced that a fair bit in my career, but watching it on TV with Lecks (Mathew Leckie), we were really proud of the boys’ performance.

“Hopefully I can be fit to play a role in the second leg and add whatever spark I can to help the team.”

Robbie Kruse was taken down in a crude tackle against Jordan in Melbourne four years ago, and has endured a tough run with injury.

The one aspect of missing the first leg that Kruse enjoyed was avoiding playing on the atrocious pitch at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, that shredded with every tackle and made attempts to play football treacherous far too often.

“Normally on TV it doesn’t come across how bad a pitch is, but this one looked terrible from the start,” he said. “Our guys did tremendously well in the circumstances, having the bravery to play out from the back and stick to the core principles that have been drummed into us.

“I’m sure the coaching staff would have been delighted with the way the boys carried out the game plan. It was a really good performance — after watching it, we can take a lot of confidence into the second leg. We were playing in tough conditions and on a tough pitch, so when we’re at home, on a good surface, we can really take the game to Honduras.

“In some ways the boys might be disappointed not to be bringing a goal back but every player did their job well. If we show the same discipline and focus on Wednesday, we can really back ourselves.”