Injured star Boyle to embrace new role as Socceroos ‘vibe manager’ in Qatar

Doha: A shattered Martin Boyle will remain with the Socceroos in Qatar, appointing himself as their chief “vibe manager” as teammates rally around the star after his last-minute World Cup withdrawal due to injury.

Scottish premiership star Boyle went down injured playing for Hibernian three weeks ago and had failed to train with the main group since arriving in Doha. Socceroos coach Graham Arnold and his coaching staff were eager to give him every chance to prove his fitness.

Martin Boyle has been replaced by Marco Tilio in the Socceroos’ 26-man World Cup squad.Credit: Getty

Now they have officially drawn a line through his name, two days out from their opening Group D fixture against defending world champions France. Melbourne City’s Marco Tilio has been brought into the 26-man squad as his replacement.

It is a bitter blow for Boyle, who also couldn’t play in the 2019 Asian Cup for his adopted country because of an injury he picked up in a warm-up match, and now may have missed his only chance to represent Australia on the game’s biggest stage.

But the 29-year-old – a boisterous larrikin who was arguably best-on-ground in the team’s celebrations after sealing qualification for the tournament against Peru in June – will hang around in Doha and, in tough circumstances, is trying to look on the bright side of things.

“Not really sure I can put this into words how gutted I am to withdraw from the World Cup squad. Gave it my all to be fit and it just wasn’t to be this time unfortunately!” Boyle wrote on Instagram.

“Extremely proud to have been selected and to have played my part in qualifying for the tournament. Grateful to be kept in camp and show my full support to the lads on and off the field and to experience the whole World Cup! Will no doubt be back stronger than ever but for now my full focus is on being the vibe manager for the lads!”

His touring roommate, Mathew Leckie, said Boyle was still in high spirits.

“Obviously, he’s had his moments where he’s thought over the whole situation, and he’s devastated and disappointed,” he said.

“He’ll stay around the camp for the campaign, which is good, because he deserves it. And he’s a good guy to have around the group as well. We’re all sad for him because he did so much and contributed so much to getting us here. It’s just another another reason for us to do it for him.”

Tilio, 21, narrowly missed Arnold’s initial cut but has been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime through Boyle’s misfortune, and looms as another dangerous bench weapon alongside Garang Kuol for when Arnold looks for attacking impetus from his substitutes.

“It’s ironically similar to his Olympics campaign, where he came in late, and he scored a goal against Argentina,” said Leckie, Tilio’s club teammate.

“Marco’s a very talented player [who] can make things happen in moments. If he gets his chance, he’ll definitely take. For the young players, there’s no bigger stage. You see after every World Cup, the amount of signings that are made, and players that appear that no one really knew of ... if they have a special moment in this tournament, they can be those players.”

The prognosis is much better for Hrustic, who was also in a race against time to be fit after hurting his ankle on duty for Hellas Verona in Italy’s Serie A. The 26-year-old has spent much of his time in Qatar working alongside Boyle on an individual program and receiving treatment at the high-tech Aspetar sports medicine hospital next to their base at the Aspire Academy.

Arnold said Hrustic won’t start against France, potentially opening the door for Middlesbrough’s Riley McGree, but could come off the bench and would be available for Australia’s subsequent games against Tunisia and Denmark.

All other players, Arnold said, are fit and ready to go, including key defender Harry Souttar who is back from his ACL injury and lacking match fitness, but has presented in “excellent” shape.

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