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Seven A-League Socceroos given all clear for Qatar World Cup

Mathew Leckie will link up with the Socceroos in Qatar after the weekend's A-League Men action.

Mathew Leckie will link up with the Socceroos in Qatar after the weekend's A-League Men action. Photo: AAP

The seven A-League players selected in Graham Arnold’s World Cup squad for the Socceroos have come through unscathed from their last club games before the tournament.

They will fly out to Qatar on Sunday night as planned.

Mathew Leckie, Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Redmayne, Garang Kuol, Jason Cummings, Danny Vukovic and Craig Goodwin all played one last match for their club sides after being unveiled among the 26-man squad on Tuesday.

None had his role cut down, despite the risk of last-minute injury.

Kuol made the most of his time on the pitch, scoring his first two goals of the season, although he still ended on the losing side for Central Coast Mariners.

After coming on in the 55th minute, the Premier League-bound forward first converted a penalty and seven minutes later belted the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle.

His teammate Vukovic had a tougher day out, accidentally volleying a pass from teammate Nectarios Triantis straight to Macarthur’s Al Hassan Toure, who slotted home an easy chance.

“It was a poor back pass from Nectar,” Mariners coach Nick Montgomery said.

“Danny knows he should have just gotten rid of it.”

Cummings, meanwhile, had what would have been the Mariners’ first goal taken away from him as the referee had already blown for a foul in the area before the ball went in.

The striker’s subsequent penalty thundered into the arms of Bulls keeper Nicholas Suman.

In the first game of the weekend, Adelaide skipper Goodwin was instrumental in a 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory, converting a penalty and later setting up Ben Warland to seal the result.

Melbourne City pair Leckie and Maclaren combined to take down the Newcastle Jets 2-1, with Leckie named player of the match and Maclaren scoring the goal that sealed victory.

Leckie survived a scare after a challenge from Brandon O’Neill – who raked his studs across the attacker’s shins and was cautioned by the referee – but the City attacker shrugged the dust-up off post-match.

Sydney FC goalkeeper Redmayne travels to Qatar as a back-up option for captain Mat Ryan and produced a brilliant save in the second half of the Sky Blues’ 1-0 loss to Western Sydney on Saturday.

The popular stopper narrowed the angle on Wanderers’ forward Milos Ninkovic, who booted his strike straight into his former teammate’s arms.

Ninkovic was not to be denied, though, with Kusini Yengi sealing a 1-0 derby win for Western Sydney following an assist from the ex-Sky Blues favourite.

-AAP

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