Football Australia’s two most senior officials have once again given Tony Popovic their backing despite the Socceroos boss receiving backlash after Australia bowed out of the World Cup on penalties against Egypt.
Popovic’s decision to take off goalkeeping revelation Patrick Beach and replace him with veteran shot stopper Mat Ryan for the penalty shootout has copped widespread ridicule.
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As has the call to place the responsibility of taking the fourth penalty on the 18-year-old shoulders of Lucas Herrington.
The latter even led Socceroos great Robbie Slater to write: “The minute Lucas Herrington stepped up for the penalty kick I felt angry. The whole country should be.”
Football Australia chief executive Martin Kugeler and executive director of football Heather Garriock were asked by reporters whether they agreed with Popovic’s massive calls.
Beach and Ryan told reported in the mixed zone after the game that they found about the switch at the last minute, but Garriock was confident that the 119th minute substitution came off the back of sufficient planning.
“Tony Popovic is a brave coach,” Garriock said.
“(We saw) in the first game the courageous decisions he makes.
“He’s obviously a methodical coach.
“But I wasn’t surprised when he substituted Beach for Ryan and the reason why is because that thought process would have been much prior to that. It was more the experience side of things that he focused on and he’s got experts in those fields. Obviously Frank’s (Juric) the goalkeeper coach.
“So that would have been thought out and I have full belief in what Tony decides.”
As for Herrington, Kugeler said that the teenager was “devastated” but was full of praise for the way the centre back handled himself with the media post-game.
The Barcelona-linked youngster told SBS that he was confident but he will “move on” and will “get back to working” on his game after “the first big speed bump” of his young career.
“I briefly saw him after the game down in the sheds. Like all the players, he was devastated and obviously had to digest,” Kugeler said.
“I’m not sure if you all have seen his interview after the game: what a mature interview, right? An eighteen year old, playing not only this game, a fantastic game, also the previous game being one of the key pillars to take us into the knockout stages.
“To take us the whole way, 120 minutes, stepping up. What that shows us, the future is bright for Australian football. The future is bright, not only because of him.
“You look at the young squad that we had, complemented by the experienced players, but this young squad will continue to grow. They will continue to grow with the experience that they’ve gained here at this tournament. And they will become better. Asia Cup (next), they will be better in four years time and a lot of those players have got not only one but multiple tournaments in there.
Socceroos lose to Egypt on penalties | 12:01
“I’m watching like you guys as a fan of that – having the courage to step up in a moment like that just shows the character of a player. But it also shows the character of Tony Popovic and the coaching staff to trust the players.
“You can’t just (think he’s) 18, I don’t let him take a penalty. You trust the players, you trust the players that you put on the pitch, you trust the players who feel confident in the moment and you support them.
“And you also support them afterwards and I really hope that not only friends and family, the coaching staff, but all of us, all the nation, stays behind him and the entire team.”
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Garriock added: “What a courageous 18-year-old.
“The tournament that Herrington played was incredible. In fact, arguably man of the match of yesterday. He’s cool, calm, collected.
“I’m the conversation was, we’ve done the penalties throughout training. Who’s been the best? The coaching staff would have assessed that. I know that he’s been one of the top penalty takers.
“More importantly, when you’ve got a player that puts their hand up, regardless of age, then you’re going to select that player to perform on the day.
“So age shouldn’t come into it. Tony’s reinforced the message about age.
“He started him, he’s believed in him, but not just him, in other younger players. And I think that’s really, really important.
Zlatan sends message to 18yo Aussie | 00:41
“He’s only going to grow out of this, out of this journey, but just to see the maturity on the kid was unbelievable.
“If I reflect on my career and if we look at a young Kyah Simon in the Asian Cup final in 2010, she was 16 years old, she converted the penalty, she was a hero. Lucas Harrington, if you convert the penalty, you would have been a hero too.”
Football Australia also came under fire from some quarters for handing Popovic a contract extension before the World Cup began.
The only person to ever play for and manage the Socceroos at a World Cup is signed on until the end of next year’s Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
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It is a tournament that the Australians will be among the favourites for as Japan were the only other AFC nation to make it out of their group this World Cup.
And the Football Australia hierarchy are backing Popovic to recreate Ange Postecoglou’s team’s triumph on home soil in 2015.
“Obviously every fan believes (they are) a great national coach,” Kugeler said.
“And every fan will think about what can be done better. But the coaching staff and Tony Popovic is always in the best place to judge in that moment what is needed for the team.
“In hindsight, everyone always knows better. But you have to make those calls in the moment based on what you’ve seen in training…
“Tony Popovic has absolutely our confidence.”
Popa sheds light on Mat Ryan sub… | 00:26
Kugeler added: “He took us to direct qualification, a winning streak of 11 games, building depth of the squad. And then let’s look at this World Cup. Australia played one of the European powerhouses with Turkey in the first game.
“You all have seen the scenes in Vancouver, a 2-0 win that I don’t think many expected from the team, with a few very bold calls and decisions at the time. How the team came back in the second half against the US, the home nation in an electric atmosphere in Seattle. Then the very mature, very composed performance against Paraguay. Paraguay, a team that beat Germany in the round of 32. So getting out of a very difficult group in qualifying for the round of 32 has been an enormous success.
“So yes we’re absolutely happy about the decision to extend this contract.
“He is the right person to now take this group into the next major tournament and apply all the experiences, all the learning from this tournament into the next major tournament.”
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