Injured Mooy named in Socceroos' Asian Cup squad

Australia coach Graham Arnold has named injured midfielder Aaron Mooy in his 23-man squad for the Asian Cup, while striker Tomi Juric missed out.

Mooy injured his knee in Huddersfield's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal two weeks ago, but Graham Arnold is hoping his star midfielder will be fit in time for the later stages of the 2019 Asian Cup, which kicks off next month in Dubai.

22 of the 23 players that have been selected for Australia’s AFC Asian Cup charge have been part of either camps or matches under Arnold since September, with 23-year-old Perth Glory flyer Chris Ikonomidis the exception.

Arnold explained that Ikonomidis deserved his place at the tournament following his standout performances in season 14 of the Hyundai A-League.

“Chris [Ikonomidis] has made a great start to his time at Perth Glory under Tony Popovic and it has been his form in the Hyundai A-League that has sealed his place in the squad,” he said. “Chris will add pace and energy to our attack, which is the consistent feature of the players that we have picked in the Socceroos’ attack for this tournament."

“We will play energetic, high-intensity football in the UAE, and the rapid attackers we have selected including Chris, Mathew [Leckie], Robbie [Kruse], Awer [Mabil], Martin [Boyle], Andrew [Nabbout], and Jamie [Maclaren] will enable us to implement our style,” Arnold said.

Full 23-man squad:

Alex Gersbach

Matt Jurman

Jackson Irvine

Mustafa Amini

Aziz Behic

Martin Boyle

Rhyan Grant

Milos Degenek

Jackson Irvine

Robbie Kruse

Mitchell Langerak