Twenty four hours after making his Socceroo debut in Australia’s eye-catching 2-2 draw with Germany in Kaiserslautern, Brisbane Roar central defender Luke DeVere was still coming to terms with what happened.
“It was a bit of a baptism of fire, but you wouldn’t have it any other way,” the 25-year-old told FFA TV.
“It was a great honour and a huge thrill to be out there against the current world champions.
“The more the game went on the more comfortable I felt, but the more fatigued I got.”
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The Brisbane Roar FC man was certainly thrown into the deep end. But he stood firm against the class of the world champions alongside Alex Wilkinson in a first-time outing for the central defensive pairing.
DeVere’s crucial late challenge on Lukas Podolski was a special moment and DeVere’s overall performance now adds depth in the Socceroos’ central defensive ranks, with the Roar man and Alex Wilkinson in particular not taking a backwards step against the world champions.
With Asian Cup-winning central duo Matt Spiranovic and Trent Sainsbury out for the Germany match, their performance underlines the options in that part of the park for Ange Postecoglou.
“The structure is such that it allows players to come in and out [in the squad] as long as you can pick up on those structures and your role in that structure,” noted DeVere.
“Which makes it easier to play well with players you haven’t played with before.”
And with DeVere having worked with Postecoglou at Brisbane Roar earlier in his career during their championship-winning years in the Hyundai A-League, it’s also proving beneficial.
“Ange he’s always backing his players and take it to other teams. And like the Germany game we didn’t want to take a backwards step.
“It’s an exciting time for anyone to be involved.”
