Craig Goodwin set for foot surgery ahead of Adelaide United's 2025-26 campaign
Returning Adelaide United star Craig Goodwin will have foot surgery next week to ensure he gives himself the best chance of being selected in Australia's squad for next year's FIFA World Cup.
Goodwin, 33, is back for a fourth stint with the Reds after spending two seasons in Saudi Arabia with Al-Wehda.
'(It) feels like I never left … I'm really looking forward to pre-season and linking up with the boys again,' the veteran winger said.
However, before that, Goodwin will have a neuroma removed from his foot, with the recovery set to sideline him until the end of next month.
'It's an inflamed nerve in my left foot that I've been managing for the last three or four years, and the cortisone's no longer working, so I need to remove the lump, and it's a six-week recovery,' he said.
The injury prevented him for being selected in Tony Popovic's Socceroos' squad for wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia in the past week that secured Australia World Cup qualification.
'It was somewhat disappointing to not be able to be involved … but now mentally I've got that focus on the 2026 World Cup and to try to get myself there,' Goodwin said.
'I know that international football doesn't come unless you're playing well at club level.
'He (Popovic) has made it very clear to any player that it's about playing regularly and playing your best football,
'He has shown by picking multiple A-League players that it doesn't matter whether you're playing here or abroad.
'I made the (Socceroos squad for the 2022) World Cup playing for Adelaide. I had a really good World Cup there (in Qatar) and a lot of my best football has come at Adelaide United, so I look forward to the challenge.'
Goodwin was 'looking forward' to working under new Reds coach Airton Andrioli, the club's former youth team boss who has taken over the top job for Carl Veart, who wasn't offered a new deal.
'I've known (Andrioli) for a number of years. He coached me back when I was 13, 14 years old. He's done a great job with the youth team, he knows a lot of the boys, so it's an exciting time in this new phase to be able to link up with those younger players, and try to help them bring the best out of their performance.
'A change of coach has happened, and it's a little bit of a fresh start, not necessarily a full reset, but a transition phase in trying to go to that next level, develop those young players and really try to improve that mentality to believe that we're winners, and that we can win something.
'I'm here to win something with the Reds.'
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