Asian Cup 2019: Socceroos star Tom Rogic played Jordan with a broken hand

Tom Rogic endured an uninfluential 90-minute shift as Australia’s Asian Cup defence got off to a nightmare start. But it’s since emerged the Celtic playmaker had a valid and painful reason for his poor performance.

Tom Rogic had a game to forget against Jordan.

• Socceroos stunned in epic Asian Cup upset
• ‘We lost in 2015 group stage and still won’
• Irvine looming as option to unlock Palestine defence

Tom Rogic played out the Socceroos’ opening 1-0 Asian Cup loss to Jordan with a broken hand, but is still expected to be ready to face Palestine on Friday.

Rogic endured an uninfluential 90-minute shift as Australia’s Cup defence got off to a nightmare start, skying a gilt-edged chance and sending a couple of others wide of the mark.

But it’s since emerged the Celtic playmaker had broken a bone in his hand about 25 minutes in, as he chased a breakaway Jordan player all the way down the pitch.

Tom Rogic had a game to forget against Jordan.

Soon later he had his hand strapped by staff on the bench, but finished the match.

The 26-year-old, who came into the tournament carrying a knee injury, underwent an assessment in Al Ain in the hours afterwards on Sunday night, and left ahead of the team for Dubai on Monday to have it looked at by a specialist.

A Socceroos spokesperson said they were awaiting the outcome of that consultation before determining whether Rogic would be fit to play Australia’s second group game against Palestine in Dubai.

“He obviously carried on playing, they wrapped it up,” assistant coach Rene Muelensteen said.

“First of all, every player’s health is paramount to everything. I’m not a doctor so I’ll leave that to the specialist.

“I think there is a few scenarios they’re looking at at the moment. So we’ll have to get the full scale of what we’ve got to do with that one as soon as we know where he is, when he’s got the ultimate results, of whether he can keep playing or not.”

Rogic’s teammates came to his defence after the match, for which he was criticised for drifting in and out of the game and spraying some wayward passes.

“He’s a very talented player and he’s technically one of our most gifted footballers,” fellow midfielder Jackson Irvine said.

The Socceroos have plenty of work to do before facing Palestine on Friday.

“This is a 23-man squad and there’s 14 involved on the day, and everyone needs to improve and look at their own individual performances, as I’m sure he will.

“We’ll all look at our individual moments and see what we could have done better. We all need to contribute more in certain areas of the pitch, that’s for sure.

“You start with yourself, look in the mirror and see if you’ve done enough and where you can help out more.”

Originally published as Asian Cup 2019: Socceroos star Tom Rogic played Jordan with a broken hand