Socceroos coach Tony Popovic made one of his biggest gambles of the World Cup during Australia’s Round of 32 clash against Egypt, switching goalkeepers moments before the penalty shootout in Arlington.
Popovic dropped a bombshell during Australia’s tournament opener against Turkiye last month, benching captain Mat Ryan in favour of the less experienced Patrick Beach.
However, the 22-year-old more than proved himself by producing eight saves during the group-stage contest, also keeping a clean sheet against Paraguay to help Australia qualify for the knockouts.
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On Saturday morning AEST, scores were tied at 1-1 deep into extra time when Popovic made the switch, substituting out Beach in 119th minute for Ryan, who took the captaincy armband from Harry Souttar.
“I think it is good management, you get on your specialist penalty saver,” former England forward Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“If one is better than the other then you get him on.
“Tony Popovic thinks Mathew Ryan is the guy.”
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Although it appeared to be a preconceived plan, Beach didn’t look terribly impressed with the decision, especially considering he had just made a clutch save.
The 22-year-old later confirmed he only learned he would come off when his number appeared on the big screen; it was not a pre-game decision.
“I’m assuming Patrick Beach knew about the situation but he didn’t look very happy about it,” BBC One commentator Robyn Cowen said.
At the end of extra time, Egypt’s players were seen frantically analysing footage of Ryan on a laptop.
The footage they were watching appeared to be of Kylian Mbappe successfully scoring against Ryan when Real Madrid played Levante in a 2-1 win in January.
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On that night, Mbappe scored after Ryan tried to psyche the Frenchman out, feigning movement to his right multiple times before eventually diving. Mbappe casually finished to his left with Ryan well off-centre.
Egypt captain Mohamed Salah seemingly benefited from the last-minute homework, taking pace off his shot as Ryan once again prematurely moved, albeit to his left.
The goalkeeper switch ultimately didn’t pay off for the Australians — Souttar and teenager Lucas Herrington both missed their attempts, with Ryan failing to save any of Egypt’s four spot-kicks, ending the Socceroos’ World Cup campaign.
“It was a massive, massive call for leave out Mat Ryan when he did,” former Australian representative Mark Milligan said on SBS.
“Ryan at the time had done nothing to warrant what was coming. He’s coming off the back of a fantastic season.
“But if it weren’t for Beach, this tournament would have looked a lot different before this game.”
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Asked about the decision during the post-game interview, Popovic explained: “That was always an option for us, with his experience.
“Then you’ve got to see how the game plays out, sometimes in extra-time players go down and you need to make the changes and you don’t have a sub available.
“But we had one available with a couple of minutes to go, and we put Ryan on.”
It comes four years after Ryan was substituted off for fellow goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne during Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Peru in 2022, with the 37-year-old famously saving Alex Valera’s spot-kick to send the Socceroos to Qatar 2022.
Egypt with face either Argentina or Cabo Verde in the Round of 16.