‘Dream come true’: Baccus over the moon after Socceroos starting debut

Keanu Baccus arrived in Qatar with just one Socceroos cap to his name, but the 24-year-old played himself into the starting XI for the side's Round of 16 clash against Argentina and he could not be happier with his first start. 

Despite his lack of international experience, Baccus featured in all four games in Doha, coming off the bench three times before Graham Arnold handed him a starting debut against the number three-ranked Argentina. 

Reflecting on his performance in Australia’s 2-1 loss to Argentina, Baccus said it was a dream come true to start in a World Cup match of such importance. 

“It’s a tremendous feeling,” Baccus said post-match.

Honestly, it’s so good to put the colours on and play for my country. To get the call up as well and a start was amazing. It’s a dream come true.”

Lionel Messi scored in the 35th minute and won the man-of-the-match award as Argentina ended Australia's World Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory.

While Messi’s performance was lauded throughout the footballing world, Baccus managed to steal possession from the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner on numerous occasions.

Baccus said it was an honour to go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest ever players. 

“It was an amazing feeling knowing I was so close to him (Messi),” Baccus said. 

“Especially knowing the top player and the bar is just there. As a player, I want to raise it, do the best I can and have the best career that I can. 

I need to go back to my club and do the best for them because you never know where that could take me.

“That’s one thing but also the team as well. I’m so proud of them. They have done amazing throughout this whole journey.

“All the boys ran their socks off. I’m so proud of every one of them because they laid the foundations for a player like me to come into this game and start, provide some fresh legs and do what I can do. It was a tough result in the end but I’m very proud of everyone.”

While the Socceroos came into the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ regarded as the underdogs, the side gave it their all on the world stage and reignited a passion for football in Australia. 

Throughout the tournament, the Socceroos displayed the courage and camaraderie that has become a hallmark of Arnold’s game. 

Baccus said he noticed the team chemistry the moment he stepped foot into camp for the first time in September's friendlies against New Zealand.

“As soon as I came into camp, I could tell that the camaraderie was amazing,” he explained.

“You can dream at the start but we really did believe that we could do something in this tournament. We did our best but it's come to an end now. 

“You could see with the subs at the end, they would have been upset not to start today but when they came on, they were tremendous. They played a massive part in us almost equalising at the end.

Australia is a footballing nation. We went toe-to-toe with the best in the world here and proved that we can do that so we are going to continue to grow as a team.

“We will keep that fighting spirit and togetherness that we have and we will only get better.”