Socceroos goalkeeper injured
Another Socceroos goalkeeper has suffered a hip injury, with Joe Gauci forced off in his club team Barnsley's 1-0 weekend win over Rotherham United.
Just as Gauci's chief rival for the Socceroos' custodian role, Mat Ryan, returned from his own hip problem to play for his French top-flight team Lens, Gauci was replaced in the 76th minute of Barnsley's English League One win at New York Stadium.
Gauci joined the English third-tier club last month on loan from English Premier League outfit Aston Villa.
The 24-year-old gloveman now faces a nervous wait to discover if the injury will rule him out of selection in Australia's squad for next month's FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia and China.
76'. Joe Gauci looks to have picked up an injury, meaning he's replaced by Jackson Smith who makes his Reds competitive debut 🔄🔴 0-1 🅱️ pic.twitter.com/ahYI388IFH
— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) February 22, 2025
However, it was better news for Socceroos skipper Ryan – despite Lens' 3-1 loss to Nantes – who played his first match in three weeks.
Ryan, who joined Lens last month from Italian club Roma, missed two matches after playing two games for his new club.
But another potential injury concern for the Socceroos is defender Hayden Matthews, who was limping in the closing stages of his English Championship club Portsmouth's 2-1 weekend win over Queens Park Rangers.
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho said: 'I don't know about Hayden because he took a heavy challenge.'
Meanwhile, another Socceroos defender, Kye Rowles, made his US Major League Soccer debut for DC United in a 2-2 draw with Toronto.
Another member of Australia's backline, Jason Geria, debuted for Japanese club Albirex Niigata, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 J1 League loss to Shimizu S-Pulse,
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