Australia’s Aaron Mooy ruled out of Asian Cup with knee injury

Australia received a huge setback as their defender Aaron Mooy has been ruled out of the upcoming Asian Cup, in which they would start as the defending champions.

Mooy has been in good form for his Premier League side Huddersfield this season but an injury to his right knee against Arsenal earlier this month brought down the curtains for him in the Asian Cup.

It is disappointing to lose Aaron for the tournament,” Australia’s coach Graham Arnold said in a statement.

“However, it was important that we left no stone unturned in exploring every option to get Aaron on the pitch for Australia in the United Arab Emirates.”

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Mooy still requires a month to recover and with the Asian Cup starting on January 5, it is unlikely that the Socceroos management would risk him.
“In a best-case scenario, this would mean he would not be ready to play until after the quarter-final stage,” said Arnold.

“With so many games in such a short period we felt it would be best to bring in a player that is fully fit and ready to go from the outset.”

James Jeggo has been called up as a backup.
Revised squad: Mustafa Amini (AGF Aarhus/DEN), Aziz Behich (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Martin Boyle (Hibernian/SCO), Milos Degenek (Red Star Belgrade/SER), Alex Gersbach (Rosenborg/NOR), Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC/AUS), Chris Ikonomidis (Perth Glory/AUS), Jackson Irvine (Hull/ENG), Matthew Jurman (Al-Ittihad/KSA), James Jeggo (FK Austria Wien/AUT), Robbie Kruse (Bochum/GER), Mitch Langerak (Nagoya Grampus/JPN), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin/GER), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers/ENG), Awer Mabil (Midtjylland/DEN), Jamie Maclaren (Hibernian/SCO), Mark Milligan (Hibernian/SCO), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds/JPN), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney Wanderers/AUS), Tom Rogic (Celtic/SCO), Mathew Ryan (Brighton/ENG), Trent Sainsbury (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Danny Vukovic (Genk/BEL).