Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic and key players give their instant reaction to Australia’s FIFA World Cup win against Turkiye.
Popovic made two selection surprises as he benched captain Maty Ryan and veteran midfielder Jackson Irvine but saw immediate vindication as Australia started their FIFA World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win.
“Proud, proud to be here as head coach,” Popovic said after the match on SBS.
“To experience this. Put a smile on these people’s faces who have traveled so far to support us, and happy for this young group of men.
“Proud of the staff for the work they put in and some good decisions on the sideline. Tried to guid them, tried to support the players, they were outstanding.”
Match Report: Australia 2-0 Turkiye
Popovic was brief when asked about the performance of Patrick Beach. The starting goalkeeper for Melbourne City in the Isuzu Ute A-League foiled eight Turkiye shots on target in what was just his third international cap.
“It’s something that we’ve always seen. He stood up today, very happy for him,” Popovic said.
“It was quite special seeing the young boys combining to score a goal,” he said of Sydney FC’s Paul Okon-Engstler providing the assist for Australia’s first goal scored by Nestory Irankunda.
“You can’t underestimate what this will do for their confidence and belief. Emotionally it will take a lot out of the players this game, so we’ve got to get back and recover well and focus on the US.”
Australia’s other goalscorer, Connor Metcalfe, also received special praise.
“He’s probably the fittest that he’s been with us,” Popovic said.
Match Report: Australia 2-0 Turkiye
“You can see the benefit of that. He’s put in a lot of work, I’m happy he got a goal because we keep asking him to shoot more and he should do better with his left foot, perfect stage to score.
“Being a World Cup game is enough, playing a host nation is enough for us. We’ll recover, we’ll prepare and respect a very good US side.”
Former Adelaide United star Nestory Irankunda was understandably elated after the match.
“It’s effing unreal,” Irankunda said, self-censoring his response.
“It’s a dream come true. We worked extra hard, fought until the end.
“You gotta thank the staff, you gotta thank the nation, they’ve all gotta believe in me to do so well. I felt like today getting that goal, it was amazing. It’s just a great feeling.”
More reaction: Surprise selection stars for Socceroos
Irankunda boxed the corner flag in a tribute to the Socceroos’ all-time top scorer Tim Cahill.
“Timmy Cahill’s my biggest inspiration when it comes to football, him and Lionel Messi.
“Tim Cahill, Australia’s greatest in my opinion, I just thought if I scored I would do the same as him and I got to do it.
“We don’t like to hear people talk about about us, because we’re a great team. People underestimate us a lot, but we showed them today we can play.
“They kept the ball a lot more but who scored the goals?”
Australia’s next match at the FIFA World Cup is against co-host USA at 5am AEST on Saturday June 20.
