Emotional Socceroos stars broke down in the aftermath of the devastating 2-1 defeat to Argentina that eliminated the Australians from the Qatar World Cup.
A number of stars were in tears on the field at the final whistle, after their greatest-ever World Cup campaign came to a cruel end.
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Midfield star Jackson Irvine fought back tears as he fronted the cameras immediately after the match.
Irvine said: “Yeah, we gave it everything, just like we have every minute of this competition. So proud of all the players and the staff. Yeah, just not enough on the day.”
“I think we did everything we could have. We stood up to be compact and disciplined in our shape. We were excellent defensively, we gave up very little until obviously the end – you have to have a go with the last 15 minutes. I think we did everything we could to give ourselves a chance in the game.
“When Argentina are celebrating like this, a victory against Australia, I think it shows what kind of opposition we gave them today.”
Asked about the impact on Australian football and the fans back home, Irvine said: “It’s difficult to comprehend everything at the moment. It’s all quite raw … But yeah, I hope we made everyone proud.”
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Defender Harry Souttar said the team was ‘really gutted’ – though he had to mind his words after the defeat.
“Don’t think I can say it on TV to be honest with you … Just really gutted for the lads. I think you’ve seen how much it means to us. How much effort we put in. Yeah, we took it right to the end.
“What can I say, they’re a world class team. Simple as that. They’ve got world class players that can turn it on an instant, like you seen with the first goal.
“We’re gutted. We’re so disappointed. But I think we can be proud of ourselves and the journey that we’ve had.”
