Sydney FC winger Ali Abbas is one step closer to making his long-awaited return to the A-League after making his comeback from injury in a National Youth League match.

Exactly 365 days after suffering the most horrific injury of his career, Abbas finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel by playing his first match of football. The Iraqi international managed to play 75 minutes at left back during Sydney FC Youth's 1-0 win over FFA Centre of Excellence on Sunday to draw a close on the most difficult time of his career, one where many questioned whether he would play again. It was the biggest leap the 29-year-old took towards playing first team football again and is hopeful of being available for selection by early January.

"My body felt a little bit better and I was happy to play 75 minutes and just get the legs to see what's happening, it's been a long time now, 12 months. It felt really good, the knee. I'm not fit but it will take a lot of work for all of us to get fit," Abbas said. "It's been a long, long time and we haven't got there yet but I'm really happy where I am today and just sometimes, it's hard for me to keep thinking about the injury because it's always on my mind. Sometimes you have to focus on just the knee, how I can get back and thank god it happened today."

Abbas suffered three separate injuries as a result of one heavy tackle from former Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder Iacopo La Rocca on November 30, 2014 which ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, medial crucial ligament and tore his meniscus. The initial prognosis was that he would not play any professional football in 2015 at best and at worst, his professional career faced the daunting prospect of an abrupt end at the age of 28. Abbas admits the thought of a forced retirement crossed his mind in the immediate aftermath of his major knee reconstruction.