The Socceroos have been hit by an injury blow before their friendly against Cameroon with Fran Karacic ruled out.
Coach Tony Popovic confirmed the news at his press conference, calling up DC United’s Kye Rowles.
“We lost one of the boys this morning, unfortunately Fran has a foot problem that hasn’t quite recovered from the weekend’s game,” he said.
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Karacic played for his Croatian club side NK Osijek against Slaven Belupo on March 22 (AEDT) and travelled to Australia to join the squad.
Fran Karacic. Getty
Thursday’s morning’s testing revealed he’s “not quite right to play” according to Popovic.
“Apart from him, everyone else is fine,” he said.
Popovic reminded the media it was the third time Karacic has been called in to a Socceroos camp and he’s been injured.
“It’s always disappointing for the player, the World Cup so close, it was an opportunity to show himself, obviously he wanted to be part of it and push through the pain but he was restricted and we’ve got to look after the player as well,” he said.
“So we’ve sent him home and hopefully he’ll recover quickly and give himself a chance to be in the (World Cup) squad.”
Tony Popovic speaks to media ahead of the Cameroon fixture. Getty
The right back’s absence gives Austrian-based Jacob Italiano a big chance to impress after his appearances against Canada and the USA, where he was also injured.
“He’s finally recovered and had a couple of solid games, scored a hat-trick, so he’s full of confidence,” he said.
“I’d love to find another Jacob Italiano. Whether it’s that position or another position, someone that can come through and surprise everyone and then continue on with some good form for his club leading into the World Cup.”
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While the absence of Karacic puts a spanner in the works for Popovic, on the flip side Manchester United star Bryan Mbeumo pulled out for Cameroon this week.
The coach said it was “disappointing” to not be able to pit his side up against one of the best.
Bryan Mbeumo. Visionhaus/Getty Images
“He’s obviously doing very well for his club at the moment and helping them improve their form,” he said.
“You always want to challenge yourself against the best and that’s why we’ve been very happy the FA has given us so many great games since we qualified to challenge us against the best in different environments.
“He’s an exciting player that I’m sure the fans would’ve been excited to see. I would’ve loved to have seen him on the park, to see his qualities and see what we can do against him and try and cause him problems the other way.
“He’s a great attacker but can we force him back and force him to do things he doesn’t want to do?
“That would’ve been a great challenge but that’s part of football and we’ve experienced it ourselves with so many injuries that come. It opens the door for another player for Cameroon as it does for us when we suffer injuries ourselves.”
When it comes to strikers for the Socceroos, Popovic will have the choice of debutants Ante Suto and Deni Juric and confirmed he has settled on a starter.
However, he wasn’t willing to divulge who that is.
“You’ll see tomorrow. I’ll let you enjoy that tomorrow when you see who’s out there,” he said.