Harry Souttar: “We win as a team, we lose as a team”
Australia’s AFC Asian Cup 2023 journey comes to an end in the Quarter-Finals after extra-time against Korea Republic.
The Socceroos left everything on the field at Al Janoub Stadium but ultimately fell short in the final eight as two set-pieces after the ninetieth minute cancelled out Craig Goodwin's first-half opener.
With a late Hwang Hee-chan penalty taking the game to extra-time, Australia were dealt a tough blow as a pin-point Son Heung-min freekick flipped the script, and a late Aiden O’Neill red card reduced The Socceroos down to ten men in Al Wakrah.
Harry Souttar went forward as a target man as Australia searched for a late equaliser, but despite a strong effort from the team, Korea Republic advance to the Semi-Finals in this replay of 2015 Grand Final.
A difficult end to a promising campaign, Souttar spoke after the match about the technical Korean side and the dangers they posed.
“Tough game,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game.”
“Yeah, thirty seconds away from going through, but as we said in the changing room, we win as a team, we lose as a team.
“We created a good few chances and defended alright.
“We always thought it was gonna be tough, they've got great players that play in the pocket that come inside and are very technical on the ball and can create moments from nothing.
“Although they’ve probably not been at their top form for the group stages, they're a very good team.”
With the side 1-0 up as the clock wound down, the Socceroos conceded a penalty allowing Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan the opportunity to equalise from the spot.
Reflecting on that passage of play, Souttar was candid but bullish about the overall collective responsibility of the squad.
“Yeah, listen, can we defend it beforehand? Probably.
“I don’t want to single anyone out because I've made mistakes in the past, you know, the Mexico game comes to mind.
“Like I said earlier, we win as a team, we lose as a team. [The penalty] only makes it one-one, we're still in the game, we’re still creating chances after that.”
The AFC Asian Cup 2023 represented Souttar's first time competing at the tournament as the imposing defender made his mark marshalling the Socceroos defence and contributing a goal against Indonesia.
“First and foremost, I really enjoyed it.
“I always love to come to Qatar,” Souttar said. “Special memories. Disappointing memories. This tournament just adds another few on.
“It's just so special coming here with the boys.
“We’re so close, so tight, and that’s what’s going to get us through these bad moments.
“Everyone’s together, and everyone, like I said before, everyone wins together, loses together, we’re all in it together
“We’ve got to take the positives, if we can, from the tournament, and make sure we do better in the future.”