Socceroos striker Mohamed Toure admitted he feared he had torn his calf during the win over Turkey and will anxiously monitor how the "sore" muscle recovers ahead of Australia's World Cup clash with the United States.
Toure's injury scare
Toure went down clutching his left calf and waved to the trainers shortly before the second-half drinks break in the 68th minute of Australia's impressive 2-0 victory. What initially appeared to be cramp saw Turkish defender Merih Demiral assist Toure in stretching the muscle, but the striker was substituted by Tete Yengi in the 74th minute.
"I thought it was worse than it was, because it just came out of nowhere, and it could be a tear," Toure said. "So now I have to see what happens. I'll ice it up and we'll see."
When asked if there was cause for concern given his history of soft tissue injuries, Toure added: "It's a bit sore now, so we'll see in the week off."
Popovic downplays concerns
Coach Tony Popovic stated there were no injury concerns from the match, though the Socceroos boss is known for keeping his cards close to his chest. Australia will hope Toure's issue is purely cramp-related rather than a strain, given his importance to their attack.
Last week, there were nerves after Toure missed training on Wednesday with what Popovic described as a runny nose, but he recovered in time to start against Turkey.
Toure's impact and confidence
Toure impressed against Turkey with his clever runs and dribbling, particularly early on, and will be crucial again in Friday night's (Saturday morning AEST) clash with the United States. The striker was "surprisingly" not nervous and credited Australia's pre-tournament camp for the team's physical readiness.
"We've worked towards it, so I knew we were ready physically. It just was a challenge mentally and I feel like we accepted the challenge and we stuck to the game plan," he said.
The 22-year-old believes the Socceroys, including close mate Nestory Irankunda, can properly announce themselves on the world stage this month. "We have a great group of boys, very talented," Toure said. "A lot of people say we're too young, but I feel like we have a game plan, and we can stick to it. We can get results."
