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Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic has offered words of support for Lucas Herrington after the Australian teenager missed his spot-kick during the Socceroos’ penalty shootout against Egypt on Saturday morning AEST.
Australia was eliminated from the World Cup after Harry Soutar and Herrington botched spot-kicks during a tense shootout, with Egypt progressing to the Round of 16.
Herrington, who last month became the Socceroos’ youngest World Cup starter, looked distraught after hitting the crossbar with the team’s fourth attempt, all but sealing Australia’s fate.
“Lucas is such a great lad. Has a great head on his shoulders. Great professional,” Socceroos teammate Aziz Behich told media after the loss.
“I just told him for him to even go up and put the ball down was enough for us. Expect big things from him in the future.”
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Speaking on America’s Fox Sports coverage, Ibrahimović encouraged the 18-year-old Herrington to “reach out” if he needed any support following the heartbreaking error.
“Penalty is like lottery. You score, you become a hero, you don’t score, sadly you become zero,” he said.
“I just want to reach out to Herrington. You’re 18 years old, you’re young, this is just the beginning of your career.
“You stepping up there, you showed a lot of courage, not everybody will do that. My friend, you’re the best. Don’t listen to the rest.”
He added: “It’s not easy to step up there to shoot that penalty, and it’s a moment of seconds. “Either it goes well, or it goes not. But listen, Herrington, if you want to reach out, I’m here.”
French superstar Thierry Henry continued: “Don’t be upset; you go there taking it, you miss. I feel for you, but keep your head up.
“I’m thinking about the guy that allowed him to go. You should (say), ‘No, this is not on you. We’re going.’
“So fair play to (Herrington). I know you missed, but we’ll see you again.”
Last week, Herrington contributed a team-high ten defensive interventions during Australia’s group-stage match against Paraguay to help the Socceroos keep a clean sheet and qualify for the knockouts.
He has been linked with a move to La Liga champions Barcelona, where he’s predicted to fetch a price of somewhere between $23 million to $30 million, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
The current Australian record is Leicester City’s $26 million purchase of Harry Souttar from Stoke City in 2023.
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