Socceroos 'will miss' Tom Rogic at Qatar World Cup: John Aloisi

There were major concerns Rogic would not make the cut for Arnold's squad headed to Qatar before the teams were announced earlier this month.

Rogic had been on the periphery of the Socceroos since he sensationally withdrew from the team citing "personal reasons", at a time when they needed him most during their World Cup qualifying campaign.

And when he resurfaced in September with West Bromwich Albion in the English Championship, Rogic hasn't been playing enough minutes to show he was the same dangerous player that left the Socceroos.

Still, when the hammer finally dropped and Rogic was officially left out of the 26-man squad, many Australian fans and pundits were left wondering whether it was a grave error that would haunt Arnold.

Aloisi was one such person. He is adamant that Rogic could have had an impact for the team, but not knowing the reasons the former Tuggeranong junior dropped out of the squad in May did make it a complicated matter.

"It's been a tough last six months for Tom Rogic," Aloisi said. "We don't know the personal issue that he faced and why didn't go to the last qualifier, but we know his quality."

Aloisi is still confident the Socceroos can surprise in the group stage in Qatar, but admitted that not having Rogic was a big loss.

"We're going to miss that quality a little bit, because he's also got that experience of playing in World Cups, and playing in big games," he said.

"We've got 17 players that haven't been to World Cups, this is their first time.

"We could have done with someone like Tom, but Graham Arnold has decided to go with the squad that he has, and let's hope that they perform."

AUSTRALIA'S GROUP D MATCHES

France v Australia - Wednesday November 23, 6am

Tunisia v Australia - Saturday November 26, 9pm

Australia v Denmark - Thursday December 1, 2am

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