"Corona" increases Australia's troubles with the World Cup qualifiers

Due to the Corona virus, Australia is facing more trouble in its quest to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, after winger Craig Goodwin and midfielder Jackson Irvine were excluded from the squad before his last two qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia this month.

The Australian national team is also missing playmaker Aaron Mooy due to his infection with Corona, while coach Graham Arnold is subject to isolation after contracting the infection for the second time in two months.

The Australian Football Association said today that Irvine, the German player of St. Pauli, contracted the Corona virus before leaving Germany for Sydney, while Godin, the Adelaide United player, was considered a close contact of one of the infected people.

The federation added in a statement that it had been decided to include Melbourne's Victory winger Ben Fulami for the first time, along with Blackpool midfielder Kenneth Dougal.

The Australian national team will meet its Japanese counterpart in Sydney next Thursday and then face Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on the 29th of this month.

The Australian team needs to win both matches to ensure automatic qualification for the world finals to be held in Qatar.

The Australian team occupies third place among the teams of the second Asian group, three points behind Japan, which is in second place, while Saudi Arabia leads the standings, one point ahead of Japan.

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