Adelaide United coach Carl Veart expects World Cup goalscorer Craig Goodwin to function within the Reds’ A-League restart on Friday evening towards Brisbane Roar.
Goodwin made 4 appearances for the Socceroos in Qatar, scoring in Australia’ first-up 4-1 loss to France.
He was additionally credited with two World Cup assists and took the shot that led to an personal objective in favour of the Socceroos of their 2-1 weekend loss to Argentina.
“I thought Craig was in our top four or five players at the tournament,’’ former Socceroos striker Veart said.
“I spoke to Craig while he was in Qatar. His body is doing well … (and) he’s feeling good and confident and coming back to us. He’ll take off where he left before the tournament.”
Veart was additionally assured that Adelaide’s affect in making a plethora of Socceroos on the World Cup would proceed to flourish.
Not solely did Adelaide produce its present captain Goodwin for the Socceroos, but it surely additionally supplied an ideal stage for World Cup squad members Riley McGree, Awer Mabil and Mathew Leckie, who all minimize their enamel on the Reds earlier than their careers blossomed in Europe.
“All the South Australian boys have worked extremely hard to get where they are and the sacrifices they made and getting to the highest level, it’s all worthwhile,’’ Veart said.
“We always get a boost from the World Cup, but this is the first time we’ve had the tournament played during the season of the A-League.
“It’s important now we get onto the Socceroos momentum, the public has got behind the Socceroos like they always do, and now it’s about building and making sure that people come out to and see Craig, see Mathew Leckie, or see Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) all playing.
“They’re all world-class players.”
Veart mentioned Adelaide had been coaching exhausting throughout the World Cup break after taking a five-day relaxation following its final A-League match – a 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Coopers Stadium on November 11.
After a 3-3 draw with Western United away in a pleasant final week, Veart revealed Englishman Zach Clough was nearly absolutely match however defender Harry van der Saag’s season might be over on account of a knee harm.
Van der Saag, 23, signed for Adelaide within the pre-season after making 35 appearances for Sydney FC.
“Harry van der Saag had an operation on Tuesday. He struggled a little bit,” Veart mentioned,
“We gave him time in the hope it would settle down in this break, but it didn’t.
“The best thing for him for his future career was to go and get it sorted.
“He could be out for the entire season. It all depends on how the operation went, but he will miss at least three months.”
