Melbourne City attacker Marco Tilio has been flown to Qatar as a potential injury replacement player for Martin Boyle, casting doubt as to whether the Socceroos winger will be fit for the upcoming FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Since touching down in the Gulf, Boyle has failed to join Socceroos training over the last two days as he continues to rehabilitate a knee injury, with Tilio joining the 26-man squad as a standby player.
Boyle, who has scored five goals in 19 games for Scottish side Hibernian this season, sustained the untimely blow in their 3-0 win over St Mirren on October 30 and has been under an injury cloud ever since.
Should the 29-year-old not recover in time, it opens up the door for Tilio, who has been a national team mainstay throughout the calendar year, to earn a late reprieve after being initially left out of Graham Arnold’s initial squad.
FIFA rules and regulations stipulate World Cup teams can replace an injured or ill player up until 24 hours before their opening match.
Australia kick-off their World Cup campaign against reigning world champions France on Wednesday (6.00am AEDT).
Tilio was the talk of the town throughout the opening weeks of the Isuzu UTE A-League campaign after he was left on the bench for City’s first two games of the season – despite being a national-team regular.
The 21-year-old regained his spot for the premiers’ final four games before the World Cup break, scoring two goals and adding two assists, but he fell just short of selection – losing out to the likes of Craig Goodwin and Garang Kuol.
Meanwhile, France have also suffered a major blow on the eve of the tournament, losing Christopher Nkunku to a knee injury he suffered in training.
The RB Leipzig striker is the latest French player to withdraw due to injury after Paris Saint-Germain centre back Presnel Kimpembe ruled himself out because of a hamstring injury.
Monaco defender Axel Disasi was named in his place on Monday, while Borussia Monchengladbach’s Marcus Thuram also earned a reprieve.
The French federation announced they’ll name a replacement for Nkunku once the medical file sent to FIFA has been validated.