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Socceroos coach Tony Popovic just dumped the Australian captain, a 100-cap legend in career-best form in a top-five league, at the World Cup for a 22-year-old A-League goalkeeper playing his first full international game.
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Pre-kickoff against Turkiye, Maty Ryan’s bombshell demotion for Patrick Beach sparked outrage and bewilderment.
Post-match, after a stunning eight-save performance from the Melbourne City stopper in a 2-0 win, the call was hailed a ballsy masterstroke from Popovic and Australia quickly moved on.
But what on earth just happened?
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WHAT POPOVIC HAS SAID — AND A ‘SPECULATIVE THEORY’
Popovic has only given the simplest of explanations: that he preferred Beach, who had previously made just two friendly appearances, to Ryan.
“I just wanted to play Patrick. The decision was to play Patrick,” Popovic told SBS before kickoff against Turkiye, before elaborating a little more post-match.
“I’m not going to go into when I delivered that news. That’s between the coach and player. Maty, he’s a super professional, over 100 caps for his country, and he conducted himself as I expected — as a leader, as a top player.
“[The major selection calls] were maybe shocks for a lot of people, but not shocks within our playing group or staff. Because we’re all working together every day, and we can see the quality of these young boys.”
Beach said that Ryan had handled himself with class after the decision, helping him to prepare for the moment.
“A couple of days ago the boss and keeper coach (Frank Juric) pulled me aside and told me that I’d be playing,” Beach told reporters in Vancouver.
“That I’d been performing really well, they have confidence in me, and that gave me all the confidence I needed to get out there and do my job tonight.
“Maty and Paulie (Paul Izzo) both have been really great for me; great goalkeepers, great guys. They’ve given me a lot of support. They had some chats to me before the game, and were very calm, relaxed, and they just said, enjoy it out there, have fun, good luck, and go do what you do, everyone knows what you can do.
“Maty and Paulie have been excellent. All three of us have been pushing each other for the last four or five weeks, relentlessly every week, so the goalkeeper union is very strong.”
That speaks to the quality of the individuals involved. Ryan is a renowned good guy; in a more combustible camp, this decision might have had the capacity to completely derail the campaign. Ryan instead has still been posting joyful images of the Turkiye victory to his social media accounts, speaking to his pride of being an Australian player.
Was there anything murkier to it?
One theory, offered transparently as “pure speculation” by experienced Australian football journalist James Dodd, was that Popovic may have taken issue with a comment that Ryan made on a podcast shortly before the World Cup; the Unscripted podcast with former NRL player Josh Mansour. The episode was published right before Popovic apparently made his decision.
Ryan said: “When I’m going out on the football pitch, the last thing I say is, ‘Ain’t no c*** scoring against me today’.”
Dodd suggested that the crude comment may have been deemed unbecoming of an Australian captain before a major tournament. Popovic has not been asked if it was a factor.
RYAN’S STUNNING RENAISSANCE v BEACH’S REMARKABLE RISE
Irrespective of any of the above, Popovic’s decision was a monumental call.
Ryan just played a monumental role in saving Levante from relegation in La Liga. He had the third-most saves in the Spanish league this season (boosted by playing for a lowly team), making 126 from 36 games at a rate of 69.2% as he faced the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Raphinha and Julian Alvarez.
Ryan has had a rocky ride in club football since spending several seasons in the Premier League with Brighton and Hove Albion, but has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance back in La Liga having had an ill-fated stint at Valencia a decade ago. After standing tall under extreme pressure in a revered competition, he seemed to have made himself a no-brainer selection for the Socceroos at the World Cup.
Legendary Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer called it a “massive, massive call”.
“Sometimes, we can get lulled into the idea that someone gets picked because they’ve always been there and done that – but that wasn’t the case with Mat Ryan, and that’s why I was really surprised. I don’t think Mat’s ever been in better or more consistent form!” Schwarzer wrote in a column for football360.com.au.
“That’s why it was a massive shock. I don’t know what else he could have done, so I feel for him. I’ve been in that position before. I know what that feels like.
“There’s all sorts going through your head. There’s embarrassment, there’s massive disappointment. Then there’s also that element of a responsibility I didn’t have in 2006 against Croatia – he’s captain as well. So he’s got to really dig deep. He’s got to try and put those emotions to one side and be there for the team as well. That is really tough. That has got to be tough. It was for me, when Zeljko Kalac was picked in Stuttgart, and I was not the captain.
“There’s another difference to my situation. Deep down, I felt like I was going to get back into the side for the next game. Especially after that display, Maty probably won’t.”
The decision even made waves abroad, with Premier League-winning goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel weighing in.
“To go and make that decision, that’s a huge decision. I feel for Maty Ryan because he’s the captain of the team so he still has to do a job,” Schmeichel told Fox Sports US.
“But inside he’s not just angry, he’s hurting. It’s a pride thing.
“You’re so lonely as a goalkeeper already and now you’ve been taken out on the bench and to have to sit there. You have to put that to one side — that hurt, ego, pride to one side. Now you have to find a different way to help your team.
“You’ve been preparing the whole season, ‘How do I captain my side in the World Cup?’. Now he has to captain in a different way.”
This is not the first time that Popovic has shown an eagerness to look elsewhere.
Ryan was dropped for the first three World Cup qualifiers under Popovic’s watch, with Aston Villa back-up Joe Gauci preferred. The veteran reclaimed his spot but the seeds of his expendability had been sown.
In Australia’s penultimate game before the World Cup, a 1-0 friendly loss to Mexico, Popovic started Ryan in goals. For the final warm-up against Switzerland, Beach took his place in what few saw as a change in pecking order. Beforehand, Beach may even have been considered the No.3 option behind Randers FC keeper Paul Izzo.
Now we know better — and a new star has been born.
“Unbelievable, really. It was unbelievable,” Socceroos great Mark Bosnich told SEN of Beach’s performance against Turkiye.
“I think you’ve got a big star in the making there.
“To come into such a big game like he did, and to perform as he did … Remember, he made eight saves. I think that’s the most saves by any goalkeeper since (Guillermo) Ochoa, the Mexican goalkeeper, a couple of World Cups ago.
“And to keep a clean sheet as well, to come in for the captain … there was no debate beforehand about anything.
“Last week against Switzerland in that friendly, he was outstanding. I actually made that point quite a few times, but no one had any inkling that that position was up for grabs.”
One other thing that may have been another factor: Beach is a bigger keeper than Ryan, standing 189cm against the veteran’s 184cm, with longer limbs. Who knows: perhaps Ryan would not have gotten a finger to the Abdulkerim Bardakci that Beach touched magnificently onto the post.
Beach kept nine clean sheets for Melbourne City this season in the A-League, saving 67.7% of the shots he faced.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW
Unless Popovic for some reason fancies Ryan over Beach for tactical reasons against USA or Paraguay, the veteran’s fourth World Cup may be over before it began.
Barring a stinker from Beach, Ryan has likely lost the keeping position for the tournament.
For Australia’s sake, he will suck it up and be a good team man, full of positivity and ready to play if needed. But it will sting.
“I’ve been there, I know what that feels like. It’s tough,” Schwarzer told the ABC.
“I think he’ll have so many mixed emotions. He’s a very experienced guy. He’s had setbacks before, and he’s been left out before. It’s not the first time it’s happened to him.
“It’s the first time it’s happened to him in a World Cup, though, so that’s the big thing.
“He’s just gotta get his head down, he’s got to work hard. The difficulty for him, and I say this respectfully, is that because Patrick played so well, it’s like ‘Well, I’m not going to play the next game.‘
“He’s going to celebrate the victory obviously and how big it is, but deep down you feel like you should’ve been, could’ve been, would’ve been part of it. Even though you are part of it, you’re on the periphery a little bit.”
It was noted that Ryan was perhaps the only player who did not rush from the bench to celebrate Nestory Irankunda’s opening goal against Turkiye. That may have been veteran cool-headedness more than sour grapes; he did join the mob to mark Connor Metcalfe’s second goal, which clearly put Australia on track for victory.
Ryan’s vacated captaincy armband had a natural home, with towering defender Harry Souttar stepping in while delivering a masterclass in central defence.
“What a save!” Beach goes full stretch | 00:22
As for Beach?
If he can deliver the same level that he did against Türkiye then he should be just fine. The real battle may be keeping a lid on the hype, with speculation already starting about a dream club switch overseas.
If he keeps on this trajectory, the sky is the limit.
“People have already contacted me,” Bosnich said.
“But eyebrows have been raised all around the world already to say, well, who is this young kid?
“Obviously, we’ve got a great tradition with goalkeepers from the past, and we have produced very good goalkeepers.
“But I think the most important thing for him, and I’ve said this all along to people that I’m close with, we’ve got to be careful with this young kid.
“I know it’s understandable, because eyebrows have been raised. There’s no doubt about that. I’ve had calls already.
“(But) we’ve just got to try to make sure the ones that are in positions of influence, we don’t want to go overboard, because there’ll be plenty of time for that afterwards. He’s shown on the world stage how good he actually is.”
Remarkably, Beach originally came through the same A-League system that Ryan did, at Central Coast Mariners. The humble club with the stacked trophy cabinet boasts two World Cup captains — Ryan and Mile Jedinak, who is on Popovic’s coaching staff at this tournament.
