{"id":158506,"date":"2021-11-11T11:15:20","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T12:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=158506"},"modified":"2021-11-11T13:58:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T13:58:51","slug":"socceroos-star-cops-serious-injury-in-qualifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=158506","title":{"rendered":"Socceroos star cops 'serious' injury in qualifier"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Socceroos<\/a>' long-awaited homecoming has been marred by a serious knee injury to star defender Harry Souttar in a drawn World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Despite a flurry of chances for both teams, the goalkeepers at either end stood strong as Australia's first home match in 763 days ended 0-0 in Parramatta.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Brandon Smith busted meeting with second rival club<\/a><\/p>\n

The Scottish-born Souttar, who has scored six goals in Australian colours since switching allegiances in 2019, crumpled down in a heap inside Saudi Arabia's box late in the match after planting his leg awkwardly before being stretchered off.<\/p>\n

Souttar's injury could not come at a worse time, with the 23-year-old widely linked to an English Premier League move after a strong couple of seasons for Championship side Stoke City.<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

Following his side's frustrating draw, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold expressed his disappointment at the injury to Souttar.<\/p>\n

"It's very serious," he told reporters.<\/p>\n

"At this moment I'm really down and devastated for Harry. I believe he's the best centre-back in Asia and if it turns out to be a bad injury it's a blow for Harry and a big blow for us."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/joeylynchy\/status\/1458748391869935620<\/a><\/p>\n

While the scoreline suggested a lifeless contest, it was anything but, as players on both sides came face to face in a number of fiery clashes throughout the match.<\/p>\n

In the end, Australia had to be grateful for Mat Ryan who ripped off a trio of saves in the second half to keep the tourists from snatching a maiden win on Australian soil.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Warner's wife reveals what 'fired him right up'<\/a><\/p>\n

Australia was left frustrated by what seemed to be numerous occasions of time-wasting from the tourists, and Arnold said his side had to deal with such tactics in better fashion.<\/p>\n

\"Aziz<\/p>\n

"Overall we played well. We created the chances but they didn't go in tonight," he said.<\/p>\n

"A little bit of frustration set in with the time-wasting and the tactics from the Saudis, but we've got to learn to be better with that because I think that was when they got a couple of their chances."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamesDoddFOX\/status\/1458751443985338373<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexGrantOz\/status\/1458753560355610627<\/a><\/p>\n

The result means that Saudi Arabia retains its top spot in Group B of the World Cup qualifiers, with Australia currently in second place.<\/p>\n

Arnold's side will have a chance to get back on the winners' list when it takes on China next Wednesday morning at 2:00am AEDT in Sharjah.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Socceroos' long-awaited homecoming has been marred by a serious knee injury to star defender Harry Souttar in a drawn World Cup qualifier against Saudi […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=158506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158508,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158506\/revisions\/158508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=158506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=158506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=158506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}