“It was a special moment”: Martin Boyle reflects on first goal at major tournament

Chandler Milligan 1706059834,1706069872

Martin Boyle slots home an ice-cold penalty to score his first goal at a major tournament as our Socceroos battled for a 1-1 draw to secure a first-place finish in Group B

A Martin Boyle penalty, a heroic Harry Souttar sliding challenge, and a resilient late resistance saw our Socceroos top Group B with a disciplined performance against a defiant Uzbekistan side.

It wasn’t pretty, but our rotated Socceroos XI remained steadfast in this top-of-the-table clash, with Martin Boyle stepping up to the mantle after an earlier Kusini Yengi header had been chalked out for offside. With immense pressure in first-half stoppage, Boyle swept a sharp, low strike into the bottom right corner with cool composure.

Chatting with Aziz Behich following the match, Martin Boyle reflected on the moment he scored his first goal in a major tournament and his seventh goal in the Green & Gold.

“It was a special moment”, Boyle said, “The family were here to see it, the kids were watching back home, so yeah, very special moment for me.”

With his priorities in the right place, our #6 added, “Unfortunately, we never got the result, but top of the group was the most important thing.”

Despite a late equaliser from Azizbek Turgunboev, our Socceroos remain unbeaten, topping Group B with a new national team record for the longest period without conceding.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1749771698763633004

“So, Who’d you bully off the pen?” Behich quipped.

“Yengi, believe it or not”, Boyle said.

“I felt quite a bit bad. Obviously, I know he wanted his first goal, but I scored [the penalty] against Mexico, made me step up and do it again. Thankfully, I did.”

“We trust you, mate”, Behich said. “We trust you.

“It's good. It's good to top the group. Now we recover and go again through to the next round.”

Australia v Uzbekistan | Extended Highlights | AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023

Putting the banter aside, Behich reflected on the result against a strong Uzbekistan side pushing for our place at the summit of the Group B table.

“Obviously, they got the goal”, Behich said, “they were pushing for the win because obviously they wanted to top the group.

“But look, I think the boys did well to just, you know, see the game out.

“You know, we had to play the game both ways.

“We started off really well on the front foot, but like I said, you're gonna have patches in games where the other team are going to have opportunities.

“As a unit, as a group, we did really well to hold them off.”

With Uzbekistan fighting for our spot at the top of the table, it was never going to be an easy game. Martin Boyle discussed the challenge as we shared the points at Al Janoub Stadium.

“Our main objective is to finish top of the group, which we've succeeded in doing”, Boyle said. “It's unfortunate not to get the win, but I say, it was a hard-fought draw today.

“Every game is difficult. We have to take it game by game and eye up every other opponent.

“We created a lot of chances today; we could have put more away, but you know, fair play to them; they stayed in the game, and they got their goal.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1749776231258849547

While Boyle occupies the attacking end of the pitch, he reflected on our run of six consecutive clean sheets coming to an end in the 80th minute.

“Yeah, that'll hurt us tonight.

“Obviously, we wanted to come in here and keep another clean sheet like we did the other two games.

“We can't keep a clean sheet every game. We know that. But we've been defensively solid before this game, and I'm sure we will hopefully maintain clean sheets in the next round.”

With the group stages now behind us, Boyle talked about where our Socceroos need to improve as we head into the deep end of the tournament.

“I think we have to be a bit more ruthless at the top end”, Boyle said.

“We know that we are creating a lot of chances. You know, the link play is good.

“We're getting in the right areas to score goals, and we just have to put them away, and obviously, we need to take the pressure off the defence”.

With our Round of 16 opponent yet to be confirmed, Aziz Behich discussed our mentality heading into the knockout stages.

“Look, it's a whole different game. You know, it's a one-off game.

“And you know, I think it's going to be a tough game, whoever we play against, but we're confident, and you know, we've got a great squad.

“For now, it's all about just recovery, making sure everyone gets their bodies right.

“We're all looking forward to it.”

After topping Group B, the Socceroos will take on the third-place finisher from Group C or Group D at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Sunday, 28th January, at 2:30 pm local time and 10:30 pm AEDT.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1749789662808519104

Australia: 1 (Martin Boyle 45+1')
Uzbekistan: 1 (Azizbek Turgunboev 80')
Date: Tuesday, 23rd January 2024
Venue: Al-Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar