Socceroo suffers serious injury

The Socceroos’ hopes of rescuing their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign have suffered a major blow, with emerging star Alessandro Circati facing up to a year on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury.

Circati ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Friday during a training session with his Italian top-flight club Parma.

The 20-year-old defender would have been a certain selection in new Socceroos’ coach Tony Popovic’s squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan in Adelaide and Saitama respectively.

Circati played in both of Australia’s matches earlier this month against Bahrain and Indonesia, and despite the Socceroos picking up just one point from a possible six, was among the team’s best performers.

However, he will now be sidelined for at least the remainder of the third round of the AFC’s World Cup qualifiers, which run until June next year.

If Australia does not qualify for the 2026 World Cup automatically at the completion of round three, Circati might have a slim chance to play in the AFC’s fourth round of qualifiers – should the Socceroos still be alive – which are expected to take place in October next year.

Parma confirmed Circati’s injury in a brief statement on the club’s website.

“The Parma Calcio medical staff can confirm that Alessandro Circati suffered an injury during the team’s training session at the Mutti Training Centre in Collecchio (on Friday) morning,” the statement said.

“Tests revealed that the defender has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

“Everyone at Parma Calcio hopes to see Alessandro back helping his teammates on the pitch as soon as possible.”