The Socceroos′ Round of 32 campaign was hit by a devastating injury blow in the final moments of the first half against Egypt, with star player Jordy Bos carried off the Dallas Stadium pitch with a suspected knee injury.
Bos went down in agony just before the half-time whistle, clutching his knee following a heavy challenge with Egypt’s Ramy Rabia.
Jordy Bos was down for several minutes. SBS
The injury forced an immediate substitution for the second half from head coach Tony Popovic, with Kai Trewin brought on to replace the influential playmaker.
It shaped as a massive setback for an Australian side reliant on Bos’ drive, Socceroos assistant coach Paul Okon slamming the officiating at half-time.
“Terrible tackle. From what we understand the referee played advantage, but he (didn’t) come back and book the player,” he said on SBS.
“Yeah, disappointing, but we’ve got to move on and be better in the second half.”
Okon was equally frustrated by the nature of Egypt’s early goal, which gave them a 1-0 lead at the break.
“We’re disappointed we gave away a cheap goal from set pieces. Normally, we pride ourselves on that,” he said.
“I think we were a little bit late getting out. Maybe kept him onside but I think for us, it’s about keeping the ball.
“Once we get to five, six, seven passes, we seem to find pockets of space and if we can do that better in the second half, I’ve got no doubt we’ll create more opportunities for us.”