Maclaren is shock call-up for Australia

HIBS loan star Jamie Maclaren was a shock inclusion as Australia named their final squad for the World Cup. The 24-year-old was left out of a 26-man group, but boss Bert van Marwijk recalled him a week ago amid concerns over the fitness of fellow striker Tomi Juric. Maclaren, who scored eight goals in 15 games for Hibs on loan from Germans Darmstadt, was given a sixth cap in the Socceroos’ 4-0 win over Czech Republic on Friday. Speaking recently, Maclaren said: ‘There’s been some fantastic footballers that never even made a World Cup. It’s a dream. I used to get up at 3am in Australia to watch them play.’ Celtic’s Tom Rogic is set to be Australia’s key man in Russia.

COSTA RICA routed Northern Ireland 3-0 as they warmed up for the tournament in style. Johan Venegas hit a first-half opener for the Central Americans before Arsenal’s Joel Campbell doubled the lead and Francisco Calvo sealed the win.

MOHAMED SALAH is making progress as he bids to be fit for the World Cup. The Egypt forward suffered a shoulder injury in Liverpool’s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid last week. But yesterday, Salah posted a tweet saying: ‘Good feelings’. A post on Egyptian Football Federation’s Facebook page read: ‘(Mohamed) aims to join the squad in the World Cup.’

BILEL MOHSNI’S dream of lining up against England in Russia is over after he was left out of Tunisia’s final 23-man squad over the weekend.