PARADISE TO ‘HELL’ FOR ROGIC
TOM ROGIC and his Australian team-mates are heading for World Cup “hell”.
The Celtic midfielder could face former Hoops pal Emilio Izaguirre when the Socceroos take on Honduras in the two-legged play-off to reach Russia next summer.
But former Aussie boss Holger Osieck has warned them they are going to “one of the most dangerous cities on earth” and will face rage and hostility from the home fans in San Pedro Sula.
The city was known as the murder capital of the world until last year when Caracas in Venezuela eclipsed it.
Osieck said: “It’s hell. They set you up in the jungle, 2000 metres high, air conditioning that doesn’t work, you cannot close the windows, mosquitoes everywhere.
“You have noise outside the hotel, people stay the entire night, drumming and trumpeting, then in the games with reckless tackles, it’s not easy.”
Current Oz coach Ange Postecoglou will quit after the second leg in Sydney on November 14 with the first game the previous week.
Rogic, who played in Tuesday’s 2-1 extra-time win over Syria that gave Australia a 3-2 aggregate victory, will be a key man but Matt Leckie and Mark Milligan are banned for the away tie.
The playmaker will almost certainly miss Celtic’s league games with St Johnstone and Ross County but could be back for the Champions League tie at PSG on November 22.
Ex-Hoops star Izaguirre was missing as Honduras beat Mexico 3-2 at home to seal a play-off spot while the USA missed out on the finals after a shock 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago.