Thirteen of the fourteen Socceroos who took the pitch on Saturday night against France have at some stage have played in the Hyundai A-League.
Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory boasted the most representatives in last night’s side with four each, and every Australian Hyundai A-League club can claim at least one player from the side.
There were two players against France who currently ply their trade in the Hyundai A-League, however: Josh Risdon and Daniel Arzani.
JOSH RISDON
Tasked with facing the likes of Antoine Greizmann, Ousmane Dembélé, and Kylian Mbappé, the pressure was on the now-Western Sydney Wanderers man to step up to the plate.
Risdon did just that, putting in a solid shift and keeping those men at bay for the most part.
He was involved in one of the matches key moments – the first penalty to be awarded by VAR in FIFA World Cup™ history after he was adjudged to have fouled Antoine Greizmann.
Greizmann scored the penalty which Risdon conceded and earned a yellow card for, the only blight on an otherwise good performance.
DANIEL ARZANI
The explosive winger from Melbourne City only made his Socceroos debut on June 1 in a friendly win over the Czech Republic and scored his first international goal a few days later against Hungary.
Arzani came off the bench in the 84th minute shortly after Australia had gone behind, with the task of using his pace and trickery to create a chance to draw the Socceroos level for the second time in the match.
What a moment.
Daniel Arzani takes to the pitch as the youngest player at the #WorldCup.
France 2-1 Australia#FRAAUS #OptusSport #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/uSTJupJnGG
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) June 16, 2018
While he wasn’t able to make a big impact on the match, Arzani did break one record. He became the youngest player to ever make a FIFA World Cup™ appearance for Australia, at 19 years and 163 days old.
