Getting knocked out of the World Cup is hard enough to take, but when your glaring mistake plays a pivotal part in that, then it makes it even more difficult to swallow.
That’s something former Arsenal goalkeeper and loanee Mat Ryan will be feeling right now because his error led to Australia being knocked out of the Qatar World Cup to Argentina.
Gary Neville stated that Ryan trying to play out from the back, which led to Julian Alvarez closing him down, knicking the ball off him and then scoring was pure ‘madness’ from the player.
The game was hard enough for Australia because they were coming up against one of the pre-World Cup favourites, who had Lionel Messi cooking like his old days.
The former Barcelona star had put his side ahead in the first half, before Ryan’s error, following a backpass, then led to Argentina’s second.
And whilst the Aussies pulled a goal back, they ended up losing 2-1, with Neville questioning Ryan’s actions, as he told beIN SPORTS.
“This is madness,” said Neville. “Kick it now! Is the pace of the ball back to the keeper ready for him to kick it first time? Or is it ready for him to control?”
RYAN’S ERROR
On paper, Australia faired very well and perhaps punched above their weight, especially given some of the teams that got knocked out of the group stages.
Germany were the biggest team to head home early after a horror performance during the group stages.
Whilst Ryan will still be hurting for his error, the Germans will be kicking themselves too because, for two World Cups in a row, they were out before the knockout stages.
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