Behich, a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo at Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, has suffered an ankle injury and won’t make the trip home for the matches in Sydney next Thursday and in Canberra on March 26.
He joins fellow Asian Cup squad members Martin Boyle, Marco Tilio and Aiden O’Neill as sidelined players who weren’t in the Socceroos’ 25-man contingent announced on Thursday by national coach Graham Arnold.
Star winger Boyle is still recovering after landing on his head in a nasty fall while playing for his Scottish club Hibs in their 2-0 Scottish Cup quarter-final weekend loss to Rangers.
Fellow attacker Tilio – who is on loan to Melbourne City – is sidelined with a hamstring injury, while O’Neill is nursing an ankle injury, but the Belgium-based midfielder would have missed the matches regardless after slapped with a two-game international suspension after being sent off in the Socceroos’ 2-1 Asian Cup quarter-final loss to South Korea last month.
Hrustic has missed the Socceroos’ past 11 matches due to a lack of first-team football at his former club, Italian top-flight outfit Hellas Verona.
However, having made the move last month to Dutch club Heracles, the 27-year-old Dandenong product is again playing regular football.
Hrustic’s creativity will be welcomed by a Socceroos squad that suffered from not having a genuine playmaker at the Asian Cup.
Perth Glory forward Adam Taggart has been rewarded for his impressive A-League form.
His brace in the Glory’s 2-2 weekend draw with Newcastle at HBF Park, where Arnold was in attendance, lifted his season goals tally to 14 in 18 appearances.
Taggart, 30, made his most recent appearance for the Socceroos in September 2022, when he came on as a second-half substitute in Australia’s 1-0 win over New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium.
The squad also includes Western Sydney attacker Brandon Borrello, who missed the Asian Cup because of an ankle injury.
“We selected a number of younger, inexperienced players for the Asian Cup with the view of giving them more opportunities at international level as well as exposing them to tournament conditions,” Arnold said.
“It’s part of our continued regeneration of the senior national team squad, ensuring that in two years’ time we have the depth and experience required to succeed on international football’s biggest stage.”
The Socceroos top Group I of the Asian Football Confederation’s second round of qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with six points from two matches.
Lebanon is in second spot, four points adrift of the Australians in a group that also includes Palestine and Bangladesh, who each have one point.
The top two nations from each of the nine groups will progress to the third round of qualifiers. where the 18 teams will be split into three groups of six.
