Brad Jones Leaves Australia Squad After Family Tragedy

Middlesbrough goalkeeper Brad Jones has left the Australian national football squad on the eve of the World Cup in South Africa after his son Luca, 4, was diagnosed with cancer.

The shocking news Jones’s young son has leukaemia left the Australian squad, known as the Socceroos, in tears after being told the tragic news on Saturday prior to their friendly against the US on Saturday.

Jones immediately left South Africa and flew to France to be with Luca, who was with family in St Tropez.


Fifa may now give the Socceroos permission to replace Jones, who was the team’s reserve keeper behind Mark Schwarzer, less than a week before Australia’s first World Cup match.

“We decided to let him go to his family and let him stay there as long as he likes,” Australia coach Pim Verbeek said at the team’s training camp near Johannesburg yesterday.

“We expect him not to come back, that says enough about the seriousness of the matter.”

Socceroos captain Lucas Neill said the close-knit Australian squad had been affected by the news, which had made the warm-up game against the US, which they lost 3-1, particularly difficult.

“We consider ourselves a family, and the news we heard ... it was devastating. It hit all the boys for six, as we say in Australia, it took us all back,” Neill said in Johannesburg yesterday.

The Football Federation of Australia has applied to Fifa to be able to replace Jones in the squad if necessary under special circumstances provisions, and is awaiting written approval.

Emergency goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic has been training in South Africa despite not being part of the official squad and is now on standby to replace Jones.

Australia begin their Group D campaign against Germany on June 13 and also play Ghana (June 19) and Serbia (June 23).

Mr Verbeek also said that Everton midfielder Tim Cahill, a key player in the Australian side, would be back in training later today after a hospital check-up showed a neck injury suffered in the defeat to the US was not serious.