Attacker Apostolos Giannou has departed Socceroos camp in Kuwait due to injury.
Giannou, who plays his club football with OFI Crete in Greece’s Super League, suffered a rib injury during the team’s preparation camp in Dubai.
It was anticipated that Giannou would return to full fitness in Kuwait in time to play a role in Australia’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™️ qualifiers. However, the 12-time Socceroo suffered a slight aggravation in training earlier this week and will not be fit in time to feature in Australia’s final two fixtures in Kuwait City.
The Socceroos play Nepal on Friday evening (local time) in their penultimate fixture in Round 2 of Asian qualifying for Qatar, before rounding this stage of matches with a game against Jordan next Tuesday night (local time).
A win on Friday evening would ensure that the Socceroos finish top of Group B of Asian qualifying with a game to spare, and set the squad up for the opportunity to earn a perfect eight wins from as many matches when the team goes head-to-head with Jordan early next week.
Nepal v Australia
Friday, 11 June 2021 (12 June AEST)
Venue: Jaber Al-Hamad International Stadium
Kick-off: 7.00pm local, 2.00am AEST (Saturday morning)
Watch on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports, and Football Live App.
Australia v Jordan
Tuesday, 15 June 2021 (16 June AEST)
Venue: TBC
Kick-off: TBC
Watch on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports, ABC TV, and My Football Live App.