Socceroos striker Andrew Nabbout has expressed his disappointment over being unable to play in the World Cup match against Peru tonight. The 25-year-old who dislocated his right shoulder during Australia's 1-1 draw with Denmark, had been adamant just four days ago his "World Cup run wasn't over", despite the differing view held by coach Bert van Marwijk.
However, ahead of the Socceroos' nail-biting fixture with Peru, Nabbout gave an interview with SBS Arabic24 in which he appeared more resigned to his fate.
“[I feel] very disappointed. Obviously I want to keep playing, I want to help my country as much as possible, and now it’s difficult because I dislocated my shoulder for the second time, so soon I’ll need an operation and I don’t know if I’ll be able to play," Nabbout told SBS Arabic24.
"They play with a lot of passion... We play with a lot of structure and discipline."
Socceroos striker Andrew Nabbout in action during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group C match between Denmark and Australia. Source: Getty Images Europe
It's the latest impressive sign of potential for the forward, who only made his international debut for Australia three months ago in Oslo against Norway.
While Nabbout has only scored one goal in six appearances for the Socceroos, he has been coach Bert van Marwijk’s first-choice number 9 since he took control of the Australian national team.
"I think we definitely can win."
Andrew Nabbout's hard-working performance has already caught the attention of his host country. Source: FIFA
"We've done the video analysis of Peru and we know exactly how they play and they play with a lot of passion. So we know the areas that we can hurt them and we're going to do that tomorrow," he said.
"Of course [the Socceroos play with passion too] but we play with a lot of structure and discipline. And that's what we know. We know if we can keep our discipline through the whole game we're definitely going to create chances and score goals.
"I think we can win if we play the same way [we did] against Denmark and France. I think we definitely can win."
Nabbout added how overwhelmed the team had been to find so many Australian fans cheering them on in Russia.
Andrew Nabbout waves to the crowd with his good arm after dislocating his shoulder during the 2018 FIFA World Cup match between Denmark and Australia. Source: FIFA
"It's amazing. There are so many supporters here. They all travelled a long way to support us," he told SBS Arabic24.
"In both of the games that we've played now the support has been so loud it feels like we're playing in Australia.... It feels like a home-game. "
SBS will be starting its special pre-game coverage at 11pm Tuesday (AEST) with the game kicking-off at midnight.
SBS Radio will be broadcasting from 11.30pm on SBS Radio 2 in English and in SBS Radio 3 in Spanish.
Listen to the full interview with Andrew Nabbout in the audio file above.
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