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Tag: Awer Mabil

  • Wild scenes after Aussie’s bonkers 14-game streak; shock injury reveal over exiled star: Roo Radar

    Wild scenes after Aussie’s bonkers 14-game streak; shock injury reveal over exiled star: Roo Radar

    It’s been an incredible weekend for Socceroos around the globe, with trophies raised, promotions secured, and goals galore.

    However, there has been one sad injury update on an out-of-favour superstar, while another veteran copped an injury as well.

    Here’s all the latest in our Roo Radar!

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    MASSIMO LUONGO

    The midfielder’s stratospheric rise in recent months at third-tier English side Ipswich Town has been one of the stories of the season.

    And on Sunday, the fairytale had a perfect ending. Luongo played 75 minutes of a 6-0 win for Ipswich over Exeter City, a result that sees the Blues return to the Championship after a four-year absence.

    Luongo scored a goal as he continued an unbelievable streak with the club. He has played 14 consecutive league games for Ipswich, and they’ve won 13 of those games with a draw in the other.

    The team banked an incredible 43 goals scored and just two conceded during that streak, with Luongo striking twice himself.

    In their three prior seasons in the third tier, the team finished 11th twice and ninth, making this year’s stunning rise to second place and automatic promotion even more impressive.

    Having failed to play even a minute for Middlesbrough after an ill-fated move there at the start of the season, Luongo’s revival at Ipswich has suddenly put him back in the frame for a first Socceroos cap since 2019.

    Making things even more special for Aussie fans, Luongo was joined by Connor Burgess, a 27-year-old Australian centre half who has played the full game in each of their incredible recent run of matches.

    Burgess has played 37 games in all competitions this season despite suffering a facial fracture back in September.

    TOM ROGIC

    Another out-of-favour former Socceroos mainstay, Tom Rogic, is having a much harder time of it.

    He played 32 of Celtic’s 38 league matches last season under Ange Postecoglou before a surprise departure that left him club-less until mid-September, when he signed at English second-division club West Bromwich Albion on a one-season deal.

    But after promising flashes of brilliance in the first few weeks at the club, the playmaker has barely made an appearance in recent months.

    He hasn’t started a match since January, was left out of the squad entirely for a seven-game stretch the following month, and has been given limited minutes off the bench since then.

    In his last seven substitute appearances, only two have seen him play more than 20 minutes.

    Now manager Carlos Corberan has revealed nerve pain in the player’s back has been a long-term problem robbing the Australian of more opportunities to make his mark.

    Tom Rogic was a bright spark in his early games for West Bromwich Albion.Source: Getty Images

    Corberan said: “It’s the fact that he’s had an injury. It has stopped him from being more of an alternative because there is no doubt that he was having more minutes before Christmas. It’s true that since then, the number of his minutes have reduced, but it’s more related to how physically he feels.

    “He still doesn’t feel 100 per cent. He can train with the group, but he still has some pain in the back, in the nerve which connects the back and the hamstring. It isn’t something we consider to be a problem, but the pain doesn’t allow him to be at 100 per cent condition.

    “At the end, if you’re not 100 per cent, you cannot train with the same intensity that you need to get, to play more minutes. That’s why I consider him a player who can still help us with minutes, still he is a player with a lot of quality and skill, but he’s a player who needs to manage because he’s not in a normal condition.”

    The club has the option to extend Rogic’s contract by another season – and with the side currently fighting for Premier League promotion, that could even see the 30-year-old back in England’s top flight!

    Given his current form and fitness issues, the club seems unlikely to pick up that contract option.

    The international future is clouded for the player who missed the World Cup last year and hasn’t represented the Socceroos since February 2022.

    AARON MOOY

    Aaron Mooy continues to enjoy a dream campaign under Postecoglou at Celtic, with a trophy treble now well within reach.

    Having already won the League Cup in February (Mooy started all four of Celtic’s games in that competition, including against Rangers in the final), the Hoops now sit a whopping 13 points clear of bitter rivals Rangers in the league with five games to play.

    They could clinch the league – a second straight under Postecoglou – as early as this weekend.

    And yesterday, they beat Rangers in the Scottish FA Cup semi-finals to book their place in the decider for a third domestic trophy.

    Ange’s Celtic reach Scottish Cup Final | 00:58

    Mooy came off the bench in that 1-0 win, the Australian’s 41st appearance of the season. He has racked up seven goals and 10 assists in that time, making it one of the 32-year-old’s finest years in his storied career.

    Celtic face second-division Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the final of the Cup, which will be played at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Saturday, June 3 (local time).

    That’s one week after the league concludes, meaning Postecoglou and Mooy could already have lifted two domestic trophies by then.

    AWER MABIL

    Awer Mabil came off the bench at half time before delivering a game-changing performance for AC Sparta Prague in Czechia.

    The on-loan winger netted twice from the penalty spot in stoppage time – first the equaliser, then the go-ahead goal – to turn a draw into three points in a 3-1 win over Liberec.

    Asked after the match if he had any nerves when he sent both penalties into the same spot, 27-year-old Mabil said: “No, no, we’ve been working so hard that when these moments come, I just know where to put it.

    “And they went in today and the most important is the three points.

    “We’re just fighting for that championship.”

    His side face Slavia Praha in the cup final on Thursday morning (AEST) and currently sit two points above them in the league with five ‘championship round’ matches to go (against the other top-six teams).

    AROUND THE GROUNDS

    There’s been some fantastic performances from Australians elsewhere this weekend.

    In Germany, FC St Pauli captain Jackson Irvine racked up another 90-minute performance to guide his team back into the winner’s circle 2-1 over Arminia. Fellow Aussie Connor Metcalfe came off the bench in the 66th minute. St Pauli is fifth in the second-tier with just four matches to go. The top two teams are automatically promoted, while the third-placed team plays off against the third-bottom team from the top flight to decide which team gets to play in the Bundesliga the following season.

    St Pauli sit six points off the third-placed team.

    Striker Nick D’Agostino had a goal and an assist for Norwegian club Viking FK in a bonkers 7-3 win over HamKam. He wasn’t the only Aussie to start and play a key role – Olyroos gun Patrick Yazbek picked up an assist in his 76 minutes on the park, while Gianni Stensness played the full 90 minutes.

    Viking is third in the league after four rounds.

    In France, Denis Genreau’s Toulouse beat Nantes 5-1 in the final of the Coupe de France to seal their first-every trophy and qualification to the Europa League. Genreau was an unused substitute but has featured 16 times in the league – France’s top division – this year.

    In Korea’s second division, veteran forward Mitch Duke is back from injury and back making an impact, nabbing an assist in his 74 minutes for Machida Zelvia in a 2-1 win over Roasso Kumamoto.

    There was more good news for young gun Alexander Robertson in Manchester City’s U21 team. Robertson started and got 45 minutes for the City U21s – picking up an assist to boot – in a 4-3 win over Wolves U21 on the weekend. It comes after City won the Premier League 2 Division 1 title last week.

    But there was a worrying incident for one Socceroos defender, Milos Degenek, who was substituted just 13 minutes into Columbus Crew’s 2-1 defeat to Inter Miami in the MLS.

    The centre-back – just days after his 29th birthday – appeared to suffer a leg injury.

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  • ‘One of the saddest nights’: Arnie opens up on heartbreaking Socceroo’s personal tragedy

    ‘One of the saddest nights’: Arnie opens up on heartbreaking Socceroo’s personal tragedy

    Socceroos boss Graham Arnold has opened up on the heartbreaking and harrowing moment he informed star winger Awer Mabil his sister had passed away in a car crash, describing it as “one of the saddest nights” in his life.

    Arnold was barely six months into his second stint as the national team boss when it came time to defend Australia’s Asian Cup crown in January 2019.

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    After a shock loss to Jordan in the first group game, the Socceroos beat Palestine and Syria to seal a spot in the knockout stages of the tournament.

    A narrow win on penalties lifted Australia over Uzbekistan in the Round of 16 to book a date with the UAE in the quarterfinals.

    Despite peppering the opposition goal with shots and having the lion’s share of possession, the Socceroos’ title defence came to a shuddering halt in a 1-0 defeat thanks to Ali Mabkhout’s 68th-minute strike.

    As Arnold made his way to comfort his dejected troops, he eventually got to Mabil, who was laying on the field.

    “I went on, ‘Come on, Awer, you’ll be right, it’s only a game of football, mate. We’ll learn from this,’” Arnold said on the Fox Football Podcast.

    CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO ARNOLD ON THE FOX FOOTBALL PODCAST!

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    “He was looking up at the stars, looking up at the sky. He said, ‘Arnie, something’s happened. Something’s not quite right.’

    “I looked at him and said, ‘Come on, get up, you’ll be right.’ He said, ‘No, no, something’s not right.’

    Once the entire squad had returned back to the team hotel, it was then that Arnold got a phone call from Adelaide: the FA had just received word Mabil’s sister had tragically been killed in a car accident.

    Arnold then made his way to Mabil’s room at the hotel where he had to break the most heartbreaking of news, although he “didn’t know if he (Mabil) knew or not.”

    “I knew that when I knocked on the door, he’d be looking at me and I’d be looking at him like, OK, what’s his reaction going to be,” Arnold said.

    “If he’s in tears, then he knows. If he doesn’t, well then he doesn’t know.

    “I knocked on the door, he opened the door. I said, ‘Awer, how are you mate? Are you OK?’

    “He just looked at me and said, ‘I’m pissed off because we lost.’ I said, ‘OK, well, we can get over that.’

    “I just grabbed him, gave him a hug and told him his sister had just been killed in a car accident. He fell to the ground.

    Awer Mabil has been a shining light for the Socceroos. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    “Then it was a matter of staying with him in his room for 12 hours. He rang his mother who was on holiday in Kenya at the time. It was really, really tough.”

    Being the one to inform a player of such news wasn’t exactly something Arnold was ever taught to do, nor would most other coaches.

    But, for Arnold especially, it’s “part of coaching these days” simply because the “caring factor for the person is so important.”

    In the following years, Mabil has provided several memorable moments for the Socceroos but perhaps none more so than converting a penalty in the all-important shootout against Peru to help get the Aussies to the World Cup.

    At the time, Mabil stated the goal “was the only way to say thank you to Australia” from him and his family for taking them in as refugees.

    But Arnold was full of perhaps even more joy when the 27-year-old picked up a monumental award in January.

    “I was so proud the other week when Awer won Young Australian of the Year,” Arnold said.

    “Where the kid grew up as a refugee and everything down in South Australia, what he’s done and what he’s doing is leading by example to all the refugee kids that there is a life.”

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  • ‘Crafty’ McGree scores in ‘fabulous performance’; 20yo Aussie GK stuns with epic first: Roo Radar

    ‘Crafty’ McGree scores in ‘fabulous performance’; 20yo Aussie GK stuns with epic first: Roo Radar

    Riley McGree’s stunning run of form is showing no signs of slowing down after yet another impressive display for Middlesbrough as a fellow Socceroos midfielder bagged his first goal since September.

    Elsewhere, a 20-year-old goalkeeper achieved a crazy Championship first while one of the Aussie contingent in Scotland provided a matchwinning assist.

    Catch up on the best performances from our Aussies abroad in the latest edition of the Roo Radar!

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    Middlesbrough midfielder Riley McGree continues to earn the plaudits as his side continue marching towards the automatic promotion spots in the Championship with a 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers.

    The Aussie star won a penalty in the 77th minute when he burst into the box before cutting the ball back onto his left foot and was fouled in the process.

    Although Boro striker Chuba Akpom would see his initial effort from the spot saved, he converted the rebound.

    McGree then got the goal his performance deserved in second-half stoppage time.

    Boro’s Matt Crooks avoided QPR’s off-side trap and picked up the ball on the left edge of the box before firing a pass across goal to the unmarked McGree.

    The 24-year-old took a touch on his left foot before firing an effort into the back of the net and celebrating wildly.

    TeessideLive’s Middlesbrough reporter Craig Johns was effusive in his praise for the Socceroo, giving him a score of eight in his player ratings.

    “Another fabulous performance as he came to life in the second half with a typically crafty performance,” Johns wrote.

    McGree has been in scintillating form for Middlesbrough as of late. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    “As well as winning the penalty, he scored the third and was so unlucky not to have an early second-half opener which typified his ability to get into the right areas at the right times right now.”

    McGree wasn’t the only Socceroo to score a goal on the weekend, as St Pauli’s Jackson Irvine found the back of the net for the first time since September.

    Irvine popped up in the 73rd minute to glance a header home from a corner to score the equaliser for St Pauli in their 2. Bundesliga clash against FC Magdeburg, with Irvine’s side going on to win 2-1.

    McGree and Irvine may have been the only two Aussie goalscorers on the weekend, but there were also a duo who chalked up assists.

    St Mirren right back Ryan Strain whipped in a perfect corner that was thumped home by teammate Declan Gallagher in the 7th minute as they held on for a 1-0 win over Ross County.

    However, Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic might lay claim to having the better assist.

    In just his third start for the Terriers, the 20-year-old Aussie gloveman launched a ball high up the field to the left wing, where it fell to the feet of Jaheim Headley after Birmingham City’s Maxime Colin misjudged the flight of the ball.

    Aussie youngster Nicholas Bilokapic became the first goalkeeper assist a goal in the Championship this season. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    Headley brought it down and then fired in an inch-perfect strike past Blues goalkeeper John Ruddy to give Huddersfield Town a crucial 2-1 win in new boss Neil Warnock’s first game in charge.

    Bilokapic’s assist was also the first from a goalkeeper in the Championship this season and he also came up big with a key save to deny Birmingham’s Juninho Bacuna.

    Also in the Championship, Blackpool midfielder Kenny Dougall played a crucial role for the Tangerines in a 1-0 win over Stoke City.

    Blackpool Gazette writer Amos Wynn awarded Dougall a score of seven in his player ratings, writing that Dougall “did a pretty decent job providing an extra layer of cover for the back four” as Mick McCarthy’s side had just 30 per cent possession against the Potters.

    It wasn’t all good news for Aussies in England though, as Harry Souttar couldn’t prevent Leicester City’s 3-0 loss against Manchester United.

    The scoreline doesn’t quite reflect the danger the Foxes presented, with Red Devils goalkeeper David de Gea called into action on several occasions.

    But Brendan Rodgers’ side could do little to stop a red-hot Marcus Rashford from continuing his rich vein of form.

    Harry Souttar snatches the ball off Marcus Rashford. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    Leicester Mercury writer Jordan Blackwell noted the towering defender played well in the first half, but as Leicester opened up in the second period, life wasn’t as easy.

    “He won headers, made blocks and slid in for excellent challenges in the first half, nearly getting himself a goal with a thumping effort just over the bar too,” Blackwell wrote.

    “He was unfortunate to play Rashford onside for the first, and the second half was difficult for him, with City so open and United forwards attacking him with pace.”

    Elsewhere around the grounds, Hibernian’s Jimmy Jeggo was key in the Edinburgh side’s 2-1 win over Kilmarnock that kept them within five points of local rivals Hearts, who sit in third place.

    Awer Mabil got his first start since moving to Czech side Sparta Prague as they ran out 3-0 winners over Jablonec, although the winger was substituted at half-time.

    Over in Japan, Mitch Langerak kept his first clean sheet of the J1 League season in Nagoya Grampus’ 1-0 win over Yokohama FC.

    Massimo Luongo finally got his first league minutes of the 2022/23 campaign as he came off the bench for Ipswich Town in their 4-0 demolition of Forest Green Rovers.

    Luongo logged 31 minutes of action in what is just his second senior appearance this season having played in the Trotters’ 0-0 draw against Burnley in the FA Cup.

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