Leckie hopes Milligan stays with Roos
Socceroos forward Mathew Leckie wants his long-time teammate Mark Milligan to be back in camp when qualification gets underway for the 2022 World Cup later this year.
Milligan is contemplating calling time on his 13-year Socceroos' career after Australia's Asian Cup quarter-final exit on Friday.
The 33-year-old midfielder says he needs to think about his future after the 1-0 loss to UAE in Al Ain.
The pair have been international teammates since Leckie's Australian debut in 2012 and the 27-year-old is hopeful Milligan won't hang up his boots.
"He's a leader, he's a great player and obviously he's got decisions to make," Leckie said of the Socceroos captain.
"I don't know what he's going to do but hopefully he sticks around longer.
"We've got a few new younger boys and it's transition, he's managed it very well.
"It was a pleasure to have him as captain, he had a fantastic tournament. Hopefully he can stick around longer."
Leckie's impact on the Asian Cup was limited by a hamstring injury picked up before the tournament while on club duty in Germany with Hertha Berlin.
He came off the bench in the round of 16 clash with Uzbekistan and fired the winning penalty in a shootout to put Australia into the last eight.
Another substitute appearance against the UAE in Al Ain nearly brought a goal when he fed Apostolos Giannou shortly before the hosts' winner but Leckie was offside in the build-up.
He said Australia's struggles in front of goal during the tournament were not unique to them, with fellow big guns South Korea also being knocked out after a 1-0 defeat in their quarter-final clash with Qatar.
"There's a couple of windows over the next six months with the national team so we'll have time to work on it," Leckie said.
"It's never easy ... all the teams are struggling. In modern-day football, when a team sits back and is disciplined tactically it's really hard to break through.
"You saw South Korea struggle, they lost. Japan only just scraped through. Most nations in this tournament now are getting more disciplined tactically and stronger as well."
