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Socceroos skipper and goalkeeper Mat Ryan unaware of the plan to replace him with Andrew Redmayne in playoff shootout

Socceroos hero Andrew Redmayne has paid tribute to Mat Ryan for his support following coach Graham Arnold’s shock, but successful, goalkeeping move.

A jubilant Andrew Redmayne celebrates after helping the Socceroos seal a World Cup berth. Picture: Karim Jaafar / AFP
A jubilant Andrew Redmayne celebrates after helping the Socceroos seal a World Cup berth. Picture: Karim Jaafar / AFP
NCA NewsWire

The plan to use penalty-saving specialist Andrew Redmayne if the Socceroos needed a shootout to qualify for the World Cup was so secretive that not even team captain – and first-choice goalkeeper Mat Ryan – was told.

Sydney FC custodian Redmayne became the Socceroos’ unlikely hero on Tuesday morning when he saved a spot kick from Peru’s Alex Valera to seal Australia a berth in this year’s World Cup via a 5-4 penalty shootout success in Qatar.

In a move that has now defined his legacy, Socceroos coach Graham replaced Ryan with Redmayne in the dying stagers of extra time with the game locked at 0-0 and headed for a penalty shootout.

“Andrew Redmayne is a very good penalty saver,” Arnold said.

So good that it was a key factor in the decision to name him as one of the three keepers in Australia’s World Cup playoffs squad.

Still, the decision to replace not only your long-time gloveman, but also the team’s skipper, was a huge gamble.

And for those who had never before seen Redmayne’s dancing pre-penalty antics on his goal line – which worked for Sydney against Perth in the 2019 A-League grand final – the risk seemed even greater.

But Arnold’s bold move paid off come Peru’s sixth penalty in a gut-wrenching shootout that also included misses from Vakra’s teammate Luis Advíncula, whose effort hit the post, and Australia’s Martin Boyle, whose spot kick was saved by Redmayne’s counterpart Pedro Gallese.

“The idea was floated at least a month ago,” Redmayne said.

“(Socceroos goalkeeper coach) John Crawley threw out the theory behind it and he said to get ready for that, so it was always in the back of my head and for the UAE game (last week) and also this game.

“It was kind of planned between myself and the staff. I don’t think any other players knew about it.”

Socceroos goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne (left) celebrates with teammate Aziz Behich after Australia’s shootout success. Picture: Karim Jaafar / AFP
Socceroos goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne (left) celebrates with teammate Aziz Behich after Australia’s shootout success. Picture: Karim Jaafar / AFP

Including Ryan. But you wouldn’t have thought that the way the captain gave Redmayne a cuddle and encouraged him when the substitution was made.

“Maty was full of support coming off and then just before the penalties as well, he was pumping me up and he was getting me ready, asking me if there’s anything I need,” Redmayne said.

Redmayne, 33, Ryan, 30, and the other goalkeeper in Australia’s squad – 37-year-old Danny Vukovic – were at one stage all in the same Central Coast Mariners squad whose goalkeeper coach at the time was Crawley.

The respect between the quartet is enormous.

“The goalkeeping union within his group … we’ve been through a hell of a lot the last few years,” Redmayne said.

“All four of us (including Crawley) have copped our share of criticism over the years, but we know the job, and we know how to get the best out of ourselves and the little things we do in training to kind of tick each other along.

“I’m under no illusion about where I stand in the team and where I stand in football in Australia, but I’m just glad that I was able to play a small role (against Peru) because Maty’s played the bulk of the games throughout this qualifying campaign and he’s been phenomenal.

“I’m no hero. I just played my role like everyone else did.”

The Socceroos certainly had to qualify the hard way after they finished third in Asia Group B behind Saudi Arabia and Japan. It was widely viewed as a seemingly impossible journey of winning two sudden-death games against the UAE (who finished third in Asia Group A) and then Peru in the intercontinental playoff within a week.

And it came with a coach whose position came into question after Australia failed to earn automatic qualification. It will be etched into the sport’s history alongside the 2006 qualification when the Socceroos downed South American heavyweights Uruguay home-and away.

Now Arnold is entitled to high praise, having led his Australian side into a fifth-straight World Cup.

“The doubters don’t bother me,” he declared after the win. “I only care about the players.”

“I’m just so proud of the players. Really, no one knows what these boys have been through to get to here. It was so hard.

“The whole campaign and the way they have stuck at it. The way they have committed themselves to it. Incredible.”

Australia will face world No.3 France, Denmark and Tunisia in Group D of the finals in Qatar which start on November 21.

Defender Aziz Behich said the Socceroos’ gruelling qualification campaign had deserved a spot in the last 32.

“Of course (the shootout was) stressful (with) what’s at stake ... I trust our players,” he said.

“We’re going to another World Cup and I can’t wait.”

NCA NEWSWIRE

Marco Monteverde
Marco MonteverdeSports reporter

Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/socceroos-skipper-and-goalkeeper-mat-ryan-unaware-of-the-plan-to-replace-him-with-andrew-redmayne-in-playoff-shootout/news-story/b360aba3111559199730ff098977524f