If Aussie Test cricket captain is the second most important job in the country behind being Prime Minister, goalkeeper for the Socceroos surely wouldn’t be too much further down the pecking order.
Mat Ryan is that man, and he has been for a long time. On Thursday morning (2am AEST) he will step out for a remarkable ninth World Cup match appearance as one of only two current Socceroos to have played at three of football’s showpiece tournaments.
Ryan made history in the 1-0 win over Tunisia as his impressive second-half showing helped secure Australia’s first World Cup clean sheet since 1974.
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Prior to that, however, it had been a rough ride for the 30-year-old on the biggest stage in sport, picking the ball out of the back of the net 18 times in seven matches.
That record is, of course, not all on Ryan – and perhaps unsurprising considering the Socceroos have been among the biggest underdogs at recent World Cups.
But the harsh lessons learned along the way have helped Ryan become what he is today; the skipper and quiet, driving force behind the Socceroos’ quest to make history in Qatar.
Ryan has kept a relatively low profile at the tournament, making few media appearances over the past two weeks. Whether by design or not, it’s in keeping with the lead-by-actions mentor he has become for a youthful Australian squad.
“Matty is a great leader,” Socceroos coach Graham Arnold told foxsports.com of Ryan.
“He communicates well with the players on the pitch and everyone looks up to him because he’s achieved some great things personally in his club career. He has the respect of the playing group, which is important.
“It can be hard to be a captain as a goalkeeper and communicate. So it’s more by actions for him, and he leads by example.”
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Ryan’s words have power too. Understudy Andrew Redmayne revealed Ryan opened up to the team in a pre-tournament honesty session about his tough experiences in Brazil eight years ago, where he conceded three goals in each match.
“We shared experiences and his was about not getting overawed about the event and the magnitude of it,” Redmayne said.
“… That was his main takeaway (from Brazil 2014). He was young, he did kind of get overawed.
“But he’s grown as a person, a professional and I think that those words will help the young boys in the squad.”
With 68 caps to his name Ryan is on the path to become a Socceroos great, if he isn’t one already. However his international career has lacked a defining moment experienced by the likes of legendary redecessor Mark Schwarzer — hero of the infamous 2005 shootout against Uruguay — Tim Cahill or Harry Kewell.
In a twist of fate it was Redmayne that had his own iconic moment in the qualification shootout victory over Peru after Ryan’s ate substitution, a plan devised by goalkeeping coach John Crawley that even Ryan was not aware of.
Ryan’s classy reaction won him plenty of admirers, though he admitted to CODE Sports last month it was “a bit of a kick in the guts to not have that opportunity, the Schwarzer opportunity ….. But the culture we set is no one is bigger than the team”.
Ryan has had to become accustomed to things not quite going to plan in recent years. Since leaving the Premier League with Brighton in 2021 he has struggled for game time in stints at Real Sociedad in Spain and now FC Copenhagen in Denmark.
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But a combination of Arnold’s unwavering support and his professionalism has him well placed to do something special in Qatar.
“Unfortunately the last two years, I’ve been in that scenario quite a bit (lacking first team football),” Ryan said earlier in the tournament.
“But the first thing that I try and do is I try and treat every training session and manipulate it into a match scenario
“I think that’s been the main key thing that has served me quite well throughout these two years and I felt when I have played I’ve continued to play to a high level.
“I get my confidence from that, working hard day-in day-out, staying sharp and I feel no different now.”
It’s the attitude of a man worthy of holding one of the nation’s most important jobs, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Ryan’s own “Schwarzer moment” awaits in Qatar.
