In short
- Goalkeeper Patrick Seaside and his different teammates had been stunned by his substitution simply earlier than the penalty shootouts.
- Egypt transformed all 4 penalties to remove Australia from the World Cup.
Within the 119th minute of Australia’s World Cup conflict with Egypt, Tony Popovic made a surprising name — he changed younger goalkeeper Patrick Seaside with skilled Mathew Ryan, who hadn’t performed a single minute within the event.
The gamble didn’t repay.
Egypt transformed all 4 penalties to remove Australia from the World Cup after a 1–1 draw following additional time, prompting criticism of the pinnacle coach.
Benching Seaside, who had a formidable event, caught many abruptly — together with himself.
“I did not know [about the substitution], I discovered on the similar time you guys did. I simply noticed, clearly, my identify got here up, and simply jogged off,” he advised SBS.
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“[I] knew that it was clearly a plan behind one thing there, and I used to be simply pleased I did my half for the crew after I was on the sector.”
“Each goalkeeper desires to go the entire approach and be the person there and attempt to do their finest whether or not it is myself or Matty [Ryan] … We each know that the one vital factor is that the crew wins”.
“There was a choice made that they thought was finest, and we simply acted on it.”
The 22-year-old Melbourne Metropolis goalkeeper made the headlines when he began in Australia’s first match towards Türkiye and was within the lineup for all different matches, whereas many anticipated him to be Popovic’s third-choice keeper.
Another gamers, together with Jackson Irvine and Harry Souttar, stated they had been additionally unaware of the choice.
“Most likely simply earlier than half-time of additional time, I received advised that if we weren’t going to make any extra subs, proper on the finish they had been going to place me in there,” he stated.
“I ready as if I used to be going to play earlier than the sport or be in that state of affairs as I at all times do … Hurting in the mean time as a result of I wasn’t capable of produce for myself, for my teammates and for the nation.”
It’s not the primary time a supervisor has determined to vary their goalkeeper throughout a World Cup knockout match simply earlier than a penalty shootout.
Within the 2014 World Cup quarterfinal, Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal substituted his keeper Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul, who saved two of the penalties towards Costa Rica.
However the threat did not pay dividends for the Socceroos this time.
Popovich has defended his choice, saying the crew “felt that Maty’s expertise could be the distinction”.
“In the long run, it didn’t, it didn’t work out that approach, however not due to Maty’s poor judgment or lack of potential; they took important penalties,” he stated.
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