Mat Ryan: The coaching staff got it right against UAE
There were celebrations on the pitch and across the nation when the Socceroos defeated the UAE in the AFC World Cup Qualification Play-Off on Wednesday morning.
Despite the visual jubilation of victory, goalkeeper Mat Ryan said the boys were not getting carried away and pointed the finger squarely at the people he felt were responsible for the victory.
The qualification campaign so far has been a roller-coaster at best: a fantastic start to the campaign saw a record number of consecutive victories before Covid set-in and turned the task into a true marathon.
Player and coach unavailability with reasons varying from Covid isolation to being trapped in blizzards led to some unfortunate results and a loss of momentum: in fact the victory against UAE was the first time since 8 October 2021 that the Socceroos have put together consecutive victories.
But all that was in the past after Ajdin Hrustic’s 84th minute winner, and Ryan knew exactly who to thank.
“The analysis from the coaching staff were spot-on in nailing what was needed to be nailed in order for us to be successful and progress to the final play-off,” said Ryan.
“That’s credit to them. As a playing group, we’re embracing their analysis fully: they gave us a game plan that we wanted to stick to and we were able to hold firm to that in order to get the win.”
The plan revolved around getting the ball to Australia’s wide players in specific moments of the game to take full advantage of the UAE’s defence. Along with that, the Socceroos had identified the opposition’s biggest threat and needed to shut him down.
“We had to be careful because they had some fast players out there especially Harib Al-Maazmi who was their left winger.
“We knew that he was a very pacey type, that he had been in good form and scored a good goal against Korea in their previous match. We knew their dangers but our game plan managed to keep him relatively quiet: even when he swapped sides we were able to overcome the challenge.”
“Having Graham Arnold around again has been really key for our preparation. For the last two camps he had Covid and hasn’t been here. But this time around, with the extra time together and having the friendly game against Jordan has helped an enormous amount.”
Ryan also pointed to some shifts in mentality that has proved crucial in the Socceroos qualifying for Tuesday morning’s FIFA Intercontinental Play-off against Peru.
“When we’ve conceded goals in this campaign thus far, it’s been a real shock to the system and we haven’t responded well,” explained Ryan.
“This was mentioned really early on in this camp, and on the back of the Jordan game and now this one we’ve shown a great reaction when we have conceded.
“While conceding is unfortunate, in these two games when it happened we were able to weather the moment, weathered the emotions that come directly after conceding, and we’ve gone to win both games which is very pleasing.”
Now eyes turn to the play-off against Peru.
“The victory is a bit of a funny feeling, because no one's really getting too carried away. We realise it's only halftime really but the boys are eager to get on to the second half and qualify for the World Cup.”
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Intercontinental Play-off
Australia v Peru
Date: Monday, 13 June 2022
Venue: Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Doha, Qatar
Kick-off: 9pm local; 4am AEST (Tuesday, 14 June 2022)
Broadcast: Live and free in Australia via Network 10 and simulcast on 10 Play
Tickets: tickets.qfa.qa