Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against the Socceroos.Credit:Getty Images
Then,just as they were trying to push off it and mount a comeback,skipper Mat Ryan made the most glaring error of his international career. It stands out because there aren’t many of them to speak of,but coming as it did during the team’s biggest moment,it was as cruel as it gets.
Receiving a back pass from Kye Rowles in a tight area,Ryan had two opponents on him when his heavy touch put him and Australia under immense and immediate pressure. With Rodrigo de Paul on his case,the 30-year-old lost control,and Julian Alvarez pounced to tap home into an empty net in the 57th minute. He later admitted he should have belted the ball clear.
Bent but not broken,substitute Craig Goodwin’s deflected shot 20 minutes later,recorded as an own goal via Enzo Fernandez,sparked a furious late rally – and Aziz Behich,who was earlier in a scrap with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner that might have angered him into action,embodied Messi with a spectacular run cutting in from the left flank,dancing past three Argentinian defenders,which almost produced an equaliser. So did boy wonder Garang Kuol,who forced a strong save out of Emiliano Martinez in one of the last actions of the match.
But it was not to be. One day,the Socceroos will look back on their campaign in Qatar and proudly say they went toe-to-toe with the world’s third-best team and their iconic captain and gave them basically nothing,until he found something for them.
Messi tussles with Aziz Behich.Credit:Getty Images
Had you offered this outcome to them on the first day of camp,they’d have probably bitten your hand off. Instead,they’ll wonder what might have been if they were just a little sharper,a little more alert,and had a bit more skill to land some better punches on their world-class opponents,who were genuinely relieved when the final whistle blew. They knew they had been thoroughly tested.
Argentina will move onto a quarter-final showdown with the Netherlands. The Socceroos will pack their bags,but they won’t go home empty-handed – they’ve well and truly won back a nation that had long fallen out of love with them,and will look towards the future with renewed confidence about the role they can play at soccer’s top table.