Socceroos coach Tony Popovic isn’t second-guessing the shootout that saw his side eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, saying that he would have sent out the same penalty takers and swapped out Patrick Beach for Mathew Ryan once again had the two sides come back the next day.
Locked at 1-1 after 120 minutes in Arlington, Egypt eliminated Australia in the round of 32 as Mahmoud Saber, Ramy Rabia, Mohamed Salah, and Hossam Abdelmaguid converted their spot kicks, while Harry Souttar and Lucas Herrington missed their attempts for the Socceroos.
Brought on for Beach in the 119th minute — inverting qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, when he was replaced by Andrew Redmayne against Peru — Ryan ultimately didn’t get a hand to any of Egypt’s four attempts. Beach said postgame he learned of the change at the same time as the rest of the stadium, while Ryan said he was told just before the 105th minute that, if a substitution window was available, he would be brought on for spot kicks.
“There are many, many reasons why Maty came in,” Popovic said. “And Maty did know about it. When I say know about it, it’s like any decision that’s made on the field. Players are prepped to come on. They’re not guaranteed they’re coming on before the game because, in-game moments, things change. Whether it’s an outfield player or a goalkeeper.
“But he was prepped that there could be a possibility that he comes on. We had one more player available to put on, an outfield player in extra time. We always felt that if we needed that player due to an injury [they’d make that change], but if not, then Maty is a real chance to come on.”
Popovic said that, ultimately, Ryan’s experience was the determining factor in his decision — the veteran keeper denied Salem Al-Dawsari from the spot in a 2-1 win that sealed an historic Socceroos’ win over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah during qualification — and he didn’t regret the call.
“Maty has experience,” said Popovic. “Maty saved two penalties for us in the qualifiers. Maty saved penalties for Levante. Patrick Beach has not saved a penalty, in any shootout, pretty much.
“That’s not to say that Patrick couldn’t have done a good job. But in that moment, it was very clear to me that Maty should come in. And the next day I would have done the same thing.”
The decision to send multiple central defenders out to take spot kicks — Alessandro Circati confirmed postgame that he was set to take the Socceroos’ fifth penalty had it been required — also raised eyebrows.
Popovic, though, said that he was comfortable with the process that went into selecting the takers, making a point to separate it from the outcome, and stated he’d back the same unit if he had the chance again.
“In those moments, you need, firstly, players that want to step up; that physically or mentally can step up, that feel that confidence,” Popovic said. “That’s part of the preparation that goes into it. Then also you have to see, instinctively, how the players are. Harry was an easy choice for us; seeing his temperament, he was our captain, seeing what he did in training, and he was very confident. All the players who took the penalties were confident.
“Maybe some of the players who came off the field may have taken penalties for us, who take them at their clubs. But you know, by the 60th-70th minute, those players were exhausted, so they couldn’t stay on the field.
“You can analyse the takers and what happened. [But] someone has to miss, and someone will go through. There will always be the case in a penalty shootout. If we had the penalty shootout again the next day, the same players would have taken it, and the same goalkeeper would have been in. The same [roles] would have happened.
“That’s not to say that you can’t have other options, and you can’t choose other players. Of course you can. But the flip side to that: Egypt had a penalty shootout in January in the [third-place playoff] of the AFCON; they lost that penalty shootout. Three of the four who took [penalties] against us took penalties in that shootout in January, that loss. Two of them were defenders … Salah missed in January; he didn’t miss at the World Cup.
“You can look at it in many different ways, and there’s no wrong in suggesting that someone else could have taken it as well. But I think you’ve got to assess the actual moment in itself. After 120 minutes, we had an idea of who could take the penalties, and then you’ve also got to see how the player feels and if the player is ready. And those boys were ready to take a penalty without any doubt.”
