The Socceroos are going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
In wild, euphoric scenes Australia bested Peru 5-4 in a nailbiting penalty shootout in Doha on Tuesday morning (AEST) to complete what coach Graham Arnold said is “one of the greatest achievements ever”.
November’s World Cup will be Australia’s fifth consecutive appearance at the world’s biggest sporting event.
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Arnold made a bombshell selection gamble in the final minute of extra time by taking captain Mat Ryan out of the game to put Andy Redmayne in goals — and it proved to be one of the greatest tactical decisions Australian football has ever known.
It said everything about the magnitude of the Socceroos’ achievement that Arnold became emotional and was briefly unable to speak when interviewed on Channel 10 after the win.
When asked to describe the moment Arnold was lost for words.
“I called out Anthony Albanese the other day to give everyone a day off to celebrate this because I believe this is one of the greatest achievements ever to qualify for this World Cup the way we had to do things,” he said.
“It’s been tough, but we did it.
Arnold tried to give his players the spotlight — but his success in the face of so much criticism was one of the big talking points to emerge from the contest.
“The doubters don’t bother me, it is these boys I care for,” he said.
“It’s the game I care for, and I do it for my family.”
He also confirmed the decision to drop Ryan for Redmayne was made for the simple reason of trying to get in the Peru team’s head.
The Socceroos trailed early in the penalty shootout when Martin Boyle’s first shot was saved, however, Aaron Mooy, Craig Goodwin, Ajdin Hjrustic, Jamie Maclaren and Awer Mabil all converted from the spot.
Redmayne was the fairytale hero at the end as he made two saves to send Australia to the World Cup.
Socceroos players went bananas as they rushed to celebrate with Redmayne after the save — and there were tears of joy seen on sections of the team.
Redmayne’s moment will go down in Australian sporting history — and so will Arnold’s decision to roll the dice.
Socceroos great Andy Harper applauded Arnold’s performance after the coach was very nearly sacked earlier this year. Arnold’s contract now extends through to the end of the World Cup campaign.
“There was so much pressure on the coach,” he said.
“Questions of the coach. A queue of people waiting to take a baseball bat to the coach. And Redmayne saves the team, the campaign and now Australia is off to a fifth consecutive World Cup.”
Arnold’s qualification campaign involved 20 matches beginning in 2019 — with 16 of those matches played overseas.
Australia can now turn its attention to the Qatar World Cup in 2022, beginning November 21, where they will be in Group D against France, Denmark and Tunisia.
Graham Arnold gambles everything with shocking late substitutions
Socceroos captain Mat Ryan has been taken from the field in the 119th minute ahead of penalty shootouts.
The shock move from Graham Arnold sees Andy Redmayne step into goals for the sudden-death shootout.
Arnold made a double swap with Craig Goodwin brought on to replace Aziz Behich.
Football journalist Daniel Garb was stunned by the decision to sub Ryan out of the game.
“My goodness. A call for the ages one way or another,” he posted on Twitter.
Socceroos go agonisingly close to late winner
Peru settled into the match in the second half and Australia’s opportunities on goal had dried up before Aziz Behich nearly broke the deadlock with a cutting run outside the box before his shot went agonisingly close to the left side of the goal in the 83rd minute.
Ajdin Hrustic then had the best opportunity of the match in the 88th minute when he had the ball at his feet in the box before his shot went straight at keeper Pedros Gallese./-