Brilliant footage has been revealed of the emotional moment Socceroos bolter Cameron Devlin was told by coach Graham Arnold he was going to the World Cup.
Arnold revealed on Monday midfielder Cameron Devlin was “in tears” when he was informed he had made the 26-man squad for Qatar.
And a video posted on Twitter by the Socceroos captures the phone call, with Devlin clearly overcome by emotion.
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“Oh god. Arnie you’re going to make me cry. Thank you so much,” Devlin said.
Arnold tells him: ““you don’t have to thank me. It’s your work you’ve been doing at Hearts. That desire and that commitment, mate and what we need is that little kicking Cam Devlin at the World Cup that’s going to run like a lunatic for 90 minutes.”
“The f***ing World Cup Arnie … that is f***ing out of control. Best f***ing news I’ve ever had in my life,” Devlin says, fighting back tears.
“That kicking Cam Devlin will be in full force, let me tell you. I’ve never felt more ready for something in my life.”
The video also shows congratulatory calls with Jason Cummings and Craig Goodwin, with the Arnold even convincing the former the break into a rendition of Grease Lightning.
Devlin, who made his Socceroos debut in September against New Zealand, is one of a whopping 17 players headed to the World Cup for the very first time.
Arnold admitted throughout the process of selecting his final squad that several tough phone calls had to be made to those who hadn’t made the cut.
But the emotional chat with Devlin is the exact type of call that gives Arnold that extra spring in his step.
“The great news is and the great story is when you ring up a kid like Cam Devlin, who’s doing exceptionally well at Hearts,” Arnold said on Tuesday.
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“… Letting these kids fulfil their dreams is incredible. Those stories and moments are great.
“But the hard ones, the hard stories and tough stories outweigh them a little bit at the moment.
“But once we see those boys, we’ll be right.”
Devlin will be joined by Hearts teammates Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson in the squad, providing several familiar faces in what will be the opportunity of a lifetime.
The tough-tackling midfielder has also worked with Arnold previously, having been promoted from a reserve player into Arnold’s Australian Olympic squad in Tokyo last year after squad sizes were expanded.
Although he did not see any minutes, it gave Arnold a glimpse of what he can do and no doubt played a pivotal role in the Socceroos boss’ thinking when it came to the 26-man squad.
