Socceroos veteran Aziz Behich won’t play before next month’s pivotal World Cup qualifiers after he was hit with a two-game ban for stamping on an opponent in the Melbourne derby.
The Melbourne City left-back will sit out his club’s next two A-League Men games – against Western United on November 4 and Perth Glory on November 10 – after he was retrospectively cited by Football Australia for stamping on Victory’s Nikos Vergos.
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The incident went unpunished by referee Alex King in Saturday’s derby and was not picked up by VAR.
But FA’s match review panel said on Monday the defender had committed a violent conduct offence that “should have been sanctioned with a direct red card and which escaped the referee’s attention”.
Aziz Behich. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Behich and Vergos were tangled in a tackle before the Socceroos left-back appeared to lash out with his boot.
He was on Tuesday handed a two-game suspension.
It leaves the experienced defender with no time to impress Socceroos boss Tony Popovic and guarantee his selection after being a near ever-present under recently departed head coach Graham Arnold.
Behich has featured in both games so far under Popovic, starting in Australia’s win over China.
He came off the bench in their draw with Japan, where Jordy Bos was given the nod to start.
Popovic has to name his squad for qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on November 8.
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The Socceroos face the Saudis in Melbourne on November 14, before heading to face Bahrain in Riffa on November 19.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Australia are locked in a three-way battle for the second automatic World Cup qualification spot, with each team boasting five points from their opening four games.
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