Socceroos defender Ivan Franjic will take no further part in Australia's World Cup campaign after being ruled out with a hamstring tear.
The defender landed awkwardly after a tackle early in the second half of Australia's 3-1 loss to Chile, with scans later revealing he'd torn his left hamstring. The injury is just the latest setback for Franjic, whose preparations were hampered by a knee injury he suffered in the game against South Africa in Sydney late last month.
"Ivan's no good, he had a scan today and has a fairly significant hamstring tear," coach Ange Postecoglou confirmed on Saturday. "That rules him out for the tournament, and that's a real disappointment."
After a shaky start to his first World Cup match the Brisbane Roar defender provided the cross that led to Tim Cahill's goal against the Chileans. He limped off in the 48th minute with Ryan McGowan taking his place.
"He was growing into the tournament and into the game – [in the] first 15 minutes everything was a bit quick for him but after that he settled into the task and set up the goal really well," Postecoglou said. "I'll talk to him later but there's not a lot you can say. But what he's tasted should be motivation to come back for more."
The Socceroos will face Holland in Porto Alegre on Wednesday with Postecoglou saying McGowan will be Franjic's likely replacement.
With no other specialist right-backs in the squad Postecoglou may live to regret his decision to from veteran defender Luke Wilkshire.
"Ryan is a solution, there could be a couple of different things in the way we approach things," the coach said. "Holland represents a different problem to Chile, so we'll have a look in the next couple of days."