Mat Ryan 'hurting' as major shootout gamble backfires in Socceroos loss
Updated . First published
ARLINGTON: The Socceroos′ wait to win a maiden World Cup knockout match has continued after a heart-breaking round of 32 loss to Egypt on penalties.
Regular time finished 1-1 at Dallas Stadium with goalkeeper Mat Ryan brought on in the final minutes for Patrick Beach, who had been enormous.
Mat Ryan is beaten by a Mo Salah penalty. Robbie Jay Barratt
Australia’s penalty-taking started horribly when Harry Souttar missed the first attempt, sending it high over the crossbar after committing the keeper to the wrong side. Egypt hit their next three while Australia converted two. Young centre-back Lucas Herrington then stepped up and hit the bar, delivering Egypt a chance to progress.
Hossam Abdelmaguid was the man who stepped up and sent Egypt into the round of 16 in a shootout that finished 4-2, with Ryan unable to stop any attempts.
Post-match, an emotional Jackson Irvine said the players weren’t aware the goalkeeping swap was on the cards.
“We didn’t (know), not that we need to be told about that,” he said in the mixed zone.
“It goes without saying the whole unit are ready to contribute in their own way. Maybe I had a little feeling that would happen, but it wasn’t something we were told as players.
“He gave us a little extra energy when he came on.”
Post-match in his press conference, Popovic put the decision down to Ryan’s 100-plus caps.
“We just felt that Maty’s experience would be the difference,” Popovic said. “In the end, it didn’t, it didn’t work out that way, but not because of Maty’s poor judgment or lack of ability; they took critical penalties.”
Mark Milligan said it was a “massive call” considering Beach effectively kept the Socceroos alive in the tournament.
“If it wasn’t for Beach, I think this tournament would have looked a lot worse for the Socceroos,” he said.
“These are the decisions you have to make and the risks you have to take. If we look back at the tournament, we had big decisions against Türkiye that paid off. The decisions after that didn’t pay off like we would have hoped.”
In the mixed zone, Souttar confirmed he wasn’t aware the decision was about to happen and said “I don’t really know” when asked for his reaction.
Ryan explained he’d been told at half-time of extra-time that if there was one more substitution he’d be going on.
“I’m hurting at the moment because I wasn’t able to produce for my teammates and country,” before adding “hurting would be an understatement”.
Mathew Ryan of Australia comes on to replace Patrick Beach late in extra time. Getty
Along with most of his teammates, Beach was unaware of the plan.
“You don’t need the distractions, you don’t need the extra thoughts, the decision was made and I respect the decision,” he said.
“... of course I’d have loved to have been in the penalty shootout but that’s the decision the boss made, I respect him and respect that decision. I understand there would have been previous discussions before this was done and they went with the decision they thought was best, and that’s that.”
Irvine also confirmed the penalty-taker list was always set in stone.
“That was a set list. We did practice shootouts in our training and the staff gave us our numbers ... it was all very calm, it was one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, go and win it,” he said.
Egypt had good news early when Mo Salah was a confirmed starter following a hamstring injury in the last match against Iran.
Mo Salah soaks in the emotional moment after his country's win. Getty Images
However, it was Australia on the attack early with Cristian Volpato hitting the crossbar with an early shot from outside the box after cutting inside to beat an Egyptian defender.
The Aussies looked dangerous in attack over the first 10 minutes with that right-side combination of Volpato and Jordan Bos looking potent.
But disaster struck in the 13th minute when Emam Ashour was left unmarked on the back post from a corner and headed his shot past Beach.
“A free header at the back post is disappointing,” Luke Wilkshire said on SBS.
Before half-time, Volpato would fire another long shot that went wide as Egypt coach Hossam Hassan went ballistic on the sideline.
More agony hit the Socceroos when Bos was tackled heavily on the sideline by Ramy Rabia, although there was no penalty as the Egyptian had taken the ball first.
The referee allowed play to continue as Bos lay in agony before Alessandor Circati kicked the ball out which lead to half-time. Bos was then helped off the field by medical staff and substituted for Kai Trewin when the second half began.
Emam Ashour celebrates his goal. Getty Images
The Socceroos were not switched on after the break with Omar Marmoush running through on-goal seconds into the half. Fortunately, his shot went wide, saving the Australians from an embarrassing start.
But everything changed in the 55th minute when Aiden O’Neill sent a free kick into the box and aimed for the head of Souttar. The centre-back couldn’t get a hair on it but the threat was enough with Mohamed Hany putting the ball into his own net to make it 1-1.
Right before time was called on regular proceedings, Rabia had a header on goal that forced an incredible one-handed save from Beach to put it over the bar.
Before extra-time started, Popovic went to his bench and brought on Paul Okon-Engstler and Awer Mabil with Aiden O’Neill and Connor Metcalfe making way.
Salah had the first chance in extra-time, firing a volley from the far-post over the goal.
Mo Salah of Egypt. Getty Images
A big surprise then came in the last two minutes when Beach was brought off for Ryan, as the latter took the captain’s arm band.
Egypt’s first win came when Salah won the toss and chose for penalties to be taken in front of a sea of red.
The agonising penalty shootout followed with Australia knocked out of the competition.
Salah graciously shook the hands of Australia’s players before celebrating, although he couldn’t catch Herrington who had walked away momentarily in disappointment.
