Shootout heartbreak for the Socceroos: Egypt hold their nerve and a big bench gamble backfires

[Odd Maverick]

Australia's wait for a second knockout win goes on and this one will sting for years. Emam Ashour put Egypt ahead early, an own goal dragged the Socceroos level in the second half, and neither side could find another through extra time before Egypt took the shootout 4-2

The story dominating the coverage back home is the bench call at the death, with Popovic rolling the dice on a big shootout gamble that blew up in his face and Mat Ryan left fronting the cameras afterwards visibly hurting. Hindsight is undefeated in these situations, but the second guessing has already started and it will not stop for a long time

Credit where it is due though, Egypt defended their box like it owed them money for 120 minutes and their penalties were ice cold, with Salah having recovered from that hamstring worry just in time to take his place in the side. They have quietly become the most stubborn knockout team at this tournament

Australian members, commiserations, the floor is yours first. Was the gamble defensible in the moment or a coach overthinking the biggest night of his tenure? And neutrals, how far can this Egypt side actually go defending like that?

[Seb51]

Australian here and I have watched the shootout back three times like a crime scene. The gamble was defensible for exactly as long as it worked, which was zero seconds

[RayOfLight]

Coaches get called brave when it works and reckless when it fails and the decision was identical in both universes. I hate it here but that is the truth of it

[RedWrench]

Disagree, some gambles are bad BEFORE the outcome. You do not change a settled routine at the highest pressure moment of these players' careers, that is not boldness, it is noise

[BrokenDave72]

Egypt are the tournament's doormen, nobody gets in the box without ID and a reason. Defending like that plus one moment of quality wins knockout football, ask half the World Cup winners in history

[Skibidi98]

Salah passing fit changed everything before a ball was kicked, Australia had to defend the THREAT of him for 120 minutes and it warped their whole shape

[Vacant Niamh]

The own goal equaliser summed up the Socceroos night, even the good moment was not really theirs

[Karen88]

Harsh, they were the better side for most of the second half and extra time. The margin between this and a famous win was a coin flip from twelve yards

[Craig]

Penalties are not a coin flip and Egypt just proved it, four takers, four different corners, keeper sent the wrong way each time. That is practice, not luck

[Runtime Arrow]

Feel for Ryan most of all, servant of that team for over a decade and the night ends with him explaining someone else's decision. Football captaincy is a rough job

[ArmandoCardoso]

Neutral answer, Egypt can absolutely reach the last eight defending like this and there is no shame in the method. Nobody asks how the quarterfinalists got there in December