Socceroo defender Brad Smith endured heartbreak in the FA Cup as Liverpool were dumped out 2-1 in the last minute of extra-time while in Germany Mitch Langerak's Cup hopes are also over.
In a pulsating replay at Upton Park overnight, Hammers defender Angelo Ogbonna headed in at the far post just seconds before the match was set to go to penalties in the FA Cup fourth round.
The result was cruel on the Jurgen Klopp’s side and Smith, who produced another eye-catching display at left back.
The 21-year-old got forward regularly and some of his crossing deserved better than the Reds attackers managed to deliver.
Smith wasn’t the only Aussie to suffer Cup despair on Wednesday morning.
In Germany, Mitch Langerak made his long-awaited debut for VFB Stuttgart in the DFB Pokal quarter-final against his former club Borussia Dortmund.
Langerak, who won the German Cup during his time at Dortmund, did all he could to deny his former club with a string of fine saves during the 90 minutes.
But the visitors class shone through in the end as goals to Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a last-minute effort by Henrikh Mkhitaryan handed Dortmund a 3-1 win.
In a strange twist, the match was delayed by several minutes due to a bizarre protest by the travelling fans.
Unhappy over ticket prices, Dortmund supporters hurled a number of tennis balls onto the pitch which held up play as the stewards took time to remove them from the playing surface.
